Through Others’ Eyes

In late July, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights published a comprehensive report and evaluation of member state responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, the report discusses the few member states that initially postponed elections and notes:

“Other elections, such as presidential elections in Belarus, Iceland and the United States, parliamentary elections in Mongolia and local elections in
Bosnia and Herzegovina are maintained on schedule.”

[Eds.: With relief, we note that there is currently general agreement on that among both parties in the U.S. as well.]

Regarding the U.S., the report observes that the pandemic has had particularly devastating effects on black and brown people, and also on women, who have disproportionately lost employment during the pandemic. The report also describes anti-Asian discrimination and statements, including from high U.S. government officials, and chronicles widespread harassment of Asians.

The purpose of the report, however, is not to grade governments, but to identify concerns, make recommendations, encourage State members to face up to problems and exert peer pressure to do better. As for the U.S., good practices identified include the support for undocumented immigrants in California and Chicago, and reinstatement of email FOIA requests to the FBI. 

The report concludes with an offer that may unfortunately have little meaning in the U.S. as the nation withdraws from its international commitments:

“[I[t is expected that all participating States will fully account for how they have responded to the Covid-19 crisis while living up to their human dimension commitments in the course of the regular human dimension mechanisms designed for mutual accountability within the OSCE. It is also anticipated that they will duly report on how human rights and fundamental freedoms were upheld in the various treaty-based frameworks and
mechanisms, such as within the Council of Europe and the United Nations. For instance, states should include an analysis of the impact of pandemic response into state reports to ICCPR, IESCR, CEDAW, the CRC and others of which participating States may be signatories, and they should consult with relevant civil society and affected groups and communities in preparation of these reports. ODIHR remains at the disposal of participating States to assist them in this endeavour.”

However, even if the government doesn’t use the information in this report, U.S.-based advocates may find it valuable.