Amplified Vulnerabilities and Reconfigured Relations: COVID-19, Torture Prevention and Human Rights in the Global South

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has reconfigured personal, organisational and political landscapes in quite radical ways. This paper reflects on the differentiated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and responses to it. We unpack some of the effects of the crisis on populations already subject to harassment, persecution and deprivation due to their marginal position in society or their resistance to state power. We illuminate how the current crisis is much more than a health crisis; the ways it exacerbates already existing deprivations; and how it might reveal hitherto unrecognised opportunities through which to make the world a more, rather than less, just and equitable place. Focus is on the way the crisis calls forth amplified forms of repression and consonantly amplified forms of vulnerability as well as reconfigured spaces for the operation of civil society organisations. We forward one key proposition, namely that while securitised responses to the crisis reveal an inherent conservatism, civil society responses reveal an agility and a capacity to innovate. While the inherent conservatism of securitised responses gives cause for serious concern, there is some hope to be found in the potential for innovation of civil society organisations. The revelation of humankind's shared vulnerability that is a feature of the crisis may serve as a springboard for the propagation of progressive change if we keep in mind the fundamentally human, and thus relational, nature of human rights and anti-torture work.

The Missing Millions: Uncovering the Burden of Covid‐19 Cases and Deaths in the African Region

“…News media and human rights reports also highlight police violence against citizens and journalists in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Namibia, and South Africa (BBC News 2020a; Bearak 2020; Burke 2020; Ezeibe et al 2022;Odigbo, Eze, and Odigbo 2020;Segun 2021;The Economist 2020). In at least a few cases, officials used COVID-19 as a cover to consolidate power and to hoard financial and other social resources and to enact violence against already marginalized groups (Caracciolo et al 2021;ILGA World 2020;McCool 2020;Odigbo, Eze, and Odigbo 2020).…”

“…In at least a few cases, officials used COVID‐19 as a cover to consolidate power and to hoard financial and other social resources and to enact violence against already marginalized groups (Caracciolo et al. 2021; ILGA World 2020; McCool 2020; Odigbo, Eze, and Odigbo 2020).…”

Exploring the Psychological, Social, and Human Rights Dynamics and Consequences of COVID-19 Control Measures: A Systematic Review

“…A systematic review of 13 selected studies aimed to explore the psychological and social impact of COVID-19 control measures and their implications for human rights. The studies covered a range of topics, including the human rights and marginalization of older adults (26,27), intimate partner violence (28), mental health rights (29), government responses (30), torture prevention (31), impacts on rural survivors of intimate partner violence (32), human rights derogation (33), the rights of children and youth (34,35), the unintended consequences of COVID-19 vaccine policy (36), COVID-19 control measures in African countries and the psychological and financial impact of travel restriction (37,38).…”

Quince días largos: la pandemia en una comunidad terapéutica para usuarios de drogas en Lambayeque (2020-2021)

“…Finalmente, la literatura que considera la pandemia nos ubica en el contexto de los riesgos sociales de la intervención en salud mental. Se ha dado cuenta del efecto de la pandemia sobre grupos ya en riesgo de violencias, maltratos, encierros, como las poblaciones penitenciarias en países del sur global (Jefferson et al, 2021;Meini, 2020). La psicología, por su parte, ha retomado los estudios de la relación entre adicción y tratamiento durante la emergencia sanitaria.…”