Virus used as excuse to quell dissent

Since President Aleksandar Vucic announced an open-ended state of emergency on March 15, parliament has been sidelined, borders shut, a 12hour police-enforced curfew imposed and people over 65 banned from leaving their homes — some of Europe’s strictest measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Serbian leader, who makes dramatic daily appearances issuing new decrees, has assumed full power, prompting an outcry from opponents who say he has seized control of the state in an unconstitutional manner.

Rodoljub Sabic, a former state commissioner for personal data protection, says by proclaiming a state of emergency, Vucic has assumed “full supremacy” over decision-making during the crisis, although his constitutional role is only ceremonial.

In ex-communist Eastern Europe and elsewhere, populist leaders are introducing harsh measures including uncontrolled cellphone surveillance of their citizens and lengthy jail sentences for those who flout lockdown decrees.

The human rights chief of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said while she understands the need to act swiftly to protect populations from the COVID19 pandemic, the newly declared states of emergency must include a time limit and parliamentary oversight.

“A state of emergency — wherever it is declared and for whatever reason — must be proportionate to its aim, and only remain in place for as long as absolutely necessary,” said the OSCE rights chief, Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir.

In times of national emergency, countries often take steps that rights activists see as curtailing civil liberties, such as increased surveillance, curfews and restrictions on travel, or limiting freedom of expression.

China locked down whole cities earlier this year to stop the spread of the virus as India did with the whole nation. Amnesty International researcher Massimo Moratti said states of emergency are allowed under international human rights law but warned that the restrictive measures should not become a “new normal.” “Such states need to last only until the danger lasts,” he told AP.

In European Union-member Hungary, parliament on Monday passed a law giving Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government the right to rule by decree for as long as a state of emergency declared March 11 is in effect.

The law also sets prison terms of up to five years for those convicted of spreading false information about the pandemic and up to eight years for those interfering with efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, like a curfew or quarantine.

“Orban is dismantling democracy in front of our eyes,“said Tanja Fajon, a member of the European Parliament. This is not the way to address the very real crisis that has been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said David Vig, Amnesty International’s Hungary director.

In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu’s caretaker government authorised unprecedented electronic surveillance of Israeli citizens and a slowdown of court activity that forced the postponement of Netanyahu’s own pending corruption trial.

In Russia, authorities turned up the pressure on media and media users to control the narrative amid the country’s growing outbreak. Under the guise of weeding out coronavirusrelated “fake news,” law enforcement has cracked down on people sharing opinions on social media, and on media that criticise the government’s response to the outbreak.