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View all search resultsHuman rights in ASEAN at stake during pandemic
Human rights groups have been most alarmed by the option of announcing a state of emergency to tackle COVID-19 because it poses the most serious challenge to the protection of human rights.
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A
lthough countries have different responses to the pandemic, physical distancing has been the common approach, ranging from controls on movement to lockdowns, curfews, quarantine and states of emergency.
Of all the measures, human rights groups have been most alarmed by the option of announcing a state of emergency to tackle COVID-19 because it poses the most serious challenge to the protection of human rights. The term “state of emergency” creates a category in which a government is permitted to impose limitations on human rights.
The idea of a “state of emergency” is also shaped by a dichotomy between normality and exception with the regard to respecting human rights. It shifts the way we perceive the relationship between principles of justice and principles of order, and holds that societal goals – often defined by the state – are superior to individual rights.
There are three countries in ASEAN that have declared states of emergency to deal with the pandemic. Cambodia’s Senate passed the Law on National Administration in the State of Emergency on April 30, which provides the government with “extraordinary powers” in the time of emergency for a period of three months.
The Philippines Congress issued Republic Act 11469 declaring a national emergency due to COVID-19 on March 23 for the period of six months, and Thailand adopted the Emergency Decree proclaiming a state of emergency on March 26 for one month, which was later extended for another one month.
According to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, a state of emergency should only be declared by a state if it meets two fundamental conditions: first, the situation amounts to a public emergency that threatens the life of the nation and its existence; and second, the measures are absolutely necessary to address the situation.
Public health is a legitimate reason to restrict human rights, as stated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but it should always be subject to the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality. Moreover, the rule of law must be respected at all the times regardless of a state of emergency.
