Human rights declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, in countries from Angola to the US to New Zealand
Human rights activists and international leaders first warned in April 2020 that countries could use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to crack down on human rights.
Human rights refers to a wide range of political and social rights recognized by international law. It includes everything from people’s right to work and receive an education to people’s right to freely express their opinions and participate in politics.
Human rights scholars and I show in new research that human rights violations ultimately happened in 2020. Each of the 39 countries we analyzed – including Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States – saw an overall decrease in human rights in 2020.