CoronaCrime #100 - Authoritarianism and Human Rights

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a terrible toll on lives, illness, and economic devastation and it is having diverse effects on violence and crime. Daily Prevention News publishes weekly a Corona Crime Issue dedicated to collecting related news and information.

1. Authoritarianism and perceived threat from the novel coronavirus
   The threat of COVID-19 has triggered nationalism, prejudice and support for anti-democratic political systems around the world. Authoritarianism—an individual's orientation toward social conformity and individual autonomy—shapes interpretations of and responses to threat. We drew on theories of authoritarianism and threat to propose that authoritarians and libertarians will interpret the threat of COVID-19 in distinct ways. Source: International Journal of Psychology
2. Human Rights During the Pandemic: COVID-19 and Securitisation of Health
   This article analyses the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its securitising effect on health and human rights globally. It asks whether measures taken to control the pandemic comply with the emergency provisions and limitations allowed under human rights treaties, and whether they will lead to more permanent securitisation of the health sector. It examines the impact of some pandemic control measures introduced in Western countries on human rights to answer the question of how the latter will be affected long-term. Source: Nordic Journal of Human Rights
3. Trend toward authoritarian governance continues – Democracy under pressure worldwide
   Democracy is losing ground: For the first time since 2004, our Transformation Index (BTI) counts more autocratically governed states than democracies. Among the 137 countries surveyed, only 67 are still democracies, while the number of autocracies has risen to 70. Economic and governance performance also show downward trends, with the coronavirus pandemic having exposed and exacerbated existing weaknesses. However, civil society engagement offers a ray of hope, directed in many places against rising levels of inequality and efforts to dilute democratic standards. Source: Bertelsmann Foundation

Please find more information and news about the interlinkages between the Coronavirus, Crime and Violence in German published every Tuesday on our German News Service Tägliche Präventions News.