Leiden University Student Repository

Nieuwenhof, Romy van den (2021)

International Human Rights Law and the Response to COVID-19: The Human Toll

Bachelor thesis | Security Studies (BSc)

The current COVID-19 pandemic has grown to be one of the worst pandemics ever faced. In order to fight this virus, measures have been adopted that restrict personal freedom. It is therefore of great importance to acknowledge the human rights costs of all the measures imposed to tackle COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to examine to what extent human rights were violated, with specific attention to freedom from discrimination, freedom of information, freedom of movement and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention during the current pandemic. To fulfill the aim, a qualitative content analysis was applied, which analyzed five speeches by Western countries and five speeches by Asian countries. Differences and similarities were examined and subsequently the impact on human rights was analyzed. Six main themes emerged: mitigation, collaborative behavior, support, speech, treatment and justification. The key findings of this study are that human rights were evidently violated...Show moreThe current COVID-19 pandemic has grown to be one of the worst pandemics ever faced. In order to fight this virus, measures have been adopted that restrict personal freedom. It is therefore of great importance to acknowledge the human rights costs of all the measures imposed to tackle COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to examine to what extent human rights were violated, with specific attention to freedom from discrimination, freedom of information, freedom of movement and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention during the current pandemic. To fulfill the aim, a qualitative content analysis was applied, which analyzed five speeches by Western countries and five speeches by Asian countries. Differences and similarities were examined and subsequently the impact on human rights was analyzed. Six main themes emerged: mitigation, collaborative behavior, support, speech, treatment and justification. The key findings of this study are that human rights were evidently violated during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, none of the analyzed speeches attempts to justify its measures in relation with human rights. Additionally, only a few speeches openly state from where their information originates. This is problematic and simultaneously open for improvement.Show less

COVID-19

human rights

crisis response

decision-making

pandemic crisis management

Author

Nieuwenhof, Romy van den

Faculty

Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs

Supervisors

Bartolucci, A.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en