Photo: OSCE PA. Webinar of parliamentarians on “Respecting Human Rights and Maintaining Democratic Control during States of Emergency”
On May 8, OSCE PA held an online discussion on the topic “Respecting Human Rights and Maintaining Democratic Control during States of Emergency,” where over 50 Members of Parliament from more than 30 countries in the OSCE region participated.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, two-thirds of OSCE countries have entered state of emergency or other extraordinary measures to combat the challenge. Concerns were raised, howerer, that such actions are at the cost of citizens’ rights, or that parliaments may not be able to fully deal with the situation. In such contemplation, Kyriakos Hadjiyianni, Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Human Rights committee, said, “We must address the health of our population without forgetting the health of our democratic systems.”
During the discussion, parliamentarians shared their countries’ approaches and discussed the effectiveness of such actions. They agreed that some limits on individual rights are necessary in times of crisis, while some warned the dangers of abuse of extraordinary powers by governments. They also noted that the role of parliaments to check and balance between citizens’ rights and governmental power is crucial.
Concluding the webinar, Kari Henriksen, OSCE PA Vice-President and Rapporteur of the Human Rights Committee, hoped for opportunities to strengthen democracies after the COVID-19 crisis. She added that societies must move forward with a focus on how to rebuild with increased respect for human rights to ensure they are more sustainable and can better address future crises.
[Sources]
OSCE PA. (2020, May 8). States of emergency stress-testing democracy, OSCE parliamentarians hear in COVID-focused webinar. Retrieved from https://www.oscepa.org/news-a-media/press-releases/2020/states-of-emergency-stress-testing-democracy-osce-parliamentarians-hear-in-covid-focused-webinar
BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr) |
