Former Minister of Justice warns of global human rights crackdown under cover of COVID-19

Former Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler warned of an international effort to suppress human rights under "the cover of the COVID-19 pandemic and the intensification of the global political pandemic" on Monday.

The former Paul Martin-era justice minister and human rights activist made the comments at the second annual Global Conference for Media Freedom, which Canada is co-hosting alongside Botswana.

Cotler described a global political pandemic as being "characterized by resurgent global authoritarianism, the backsliding of democracies, and global assaults on media freedom where journalists are increasingly under threat and under assault." He particularly singled out media freedom, claiming that it is being increasingly assaulted under the guise of stopping the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

While Cotler did not cite an example of the alleged attack on media freedom in response to the pandemic, his comments echo concerns laid out in a policy paper submitted to the conference by the Canadian government. The report specifically called out the Chinese government, alleging "[after] first aggressively attempting to silence doctors who issued initial warnings, the government moved quickly to control the flow of information about the spread of the virus, targeting the few independent reporters who dared to expose the extent of the infection."

"In many countries, measures reflected deliberate efforts to use the virus as a pretext to expand government information control, while in others, authorities may have acted out of genuine public health motives but with clear disregard for the role the free press plays in protecting public health," the report continued.

The Global Conference for Media Freedom has come under scrutiny, however, as the co-hosting nation of Botswana has a troubling track record in regard to press freedom, over which concerns have grown since the outbreak of the pandemic. A platform at the previous year's conference was also given to Malaysia, where their former Minister of Communication appeared to call for stricter global laws against "hate speech" despite his prime minister describing himself as a "proud anti-Semite" while peddling anti-Semitic stereotypes and conspiracy theories.