Protecting Human Rights During Pandemic Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3819 To encourage the protection and promotion of internationally recognized human rights during the novel coronavirus pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 21, 2020 Mrs. BLACKBURN (for Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. WICKER, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. CRAMER, and Mrs. LOEFFLER)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To encourage the protection and promotion of internationally recognized human rights during the novel coronavirus pandemic, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Human 4 Rights During Pandemic Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) The United States led the drafting of the 8 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which en- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3819 IS shrines the commitment of countries around the 1 world to the protection and promotion of universal 2 human rights and values that are indispensable for 3 human dignity, including the rights to life, liberty, 4 security of person, freedom of movement, religion, 5 speech, peaceful assembly, association, freedom of 6 expression and the press, and freedom from arbi- 7 trary detention, discrimination, or invasion of pri- 8 vacy. 9 (2) Authorities in more than 83 countries, in- 10 cluding the United States, have declared states of 11 emergency and restricted the movement of people 12 due to the threat of the novel coronavirus, which 13 causes COVID–19, and which the World Health Or- 14 ganization designated a global pandemic on March 15 11, 2020. 16 (3) During public health emergencies, it may be 17 necessary and appropriate for governments to take 18 extraordinary action to halt the spread of disease 19 through steps such as restricting the movement of 20 people, closing businesses, and limiting access to 21 public spaces. 22 (4) States are legally obligated to continue to 23 protect the human rights of their citizens at all 24 times, subject to the principles of limitation and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3819 IS derogation, even and especially during national 1 emergencies. 2 (5) In many countries with COVID–19 cases, 3 governments have taken steps that violate the 4 human rights of their citizens without clear scientific 5 or public health justifications, or any end date or 6 functional oversight. 7 (6) In some countries, including China and 8 Russia, governments are using existing and emerg- 9 ing surveillance technologies, including artificial in- 10 telligence and facial recognition software, without 11 appropriate safeguards, which violates the human 12 rights of their citizens, such as the rights to privacy 13 and freedom of movement, while claiming such ac- 14 tions are necessary to combat the novel coronavirus. 15 (7) In some countries, including Azerbaijan, El 16 Salvador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, and the Phil- 17 ippines, governments with a history of repressing 18 human rights are exploiting the current crisis to 19 consolidate power, sideline representative legislative 20 bodies, and silence criticism. 21 (8) In several countries, including Algeria, 22 Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Hon- 23 duras, Hungary, Iran, Jordan, Russia, South Africa, 24 Tajikistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Turkey, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3819 IS Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe, govern- 1 ments have restricted the ability of journalists and 2 other individuals to distribute or publish information 3 related to the novel coronavirus, including by impos- 4 ing criminal penalties, which violates the universal 5 human rights of free speech and freedom of the 6 press, and limits people’s access to information. 7 (9) Governments in countries with a history of 8 discrimination against minority populations, includ- 9 ing India and Uganda, have used the novel 10 coronavirus pandemic response to further discrimi- 11 nate against vulnerable populations. 12 (10) Actions taken by foreign governments, 13 under the guise of the coronavirus, that weaken 14 democratic institutions and restrict internationally 15 recognized human rights, contrary to the principles 16 of limitation and derogation, pose a threat to the 17 health, economic, and national security interests of 18 the United States. 19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 20 It is the Sense of Congress that— 21 (1) the United States should lead the inter- 22 national community in its efforts to respond to the 23 novel coronavirus pandemic; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3819 IS (2) the United States, in implementing emer- 1 gency policies at home and through its diplomacy 2 and foreign assistance abroad, should promote the 3 protection of internationally recognized human 4 rights during and after the coronavirus pandemic; 5 (3) the Department of State and the United 6 States Agency for International Development (re- 7 ferred to in this Act as ‘‘USAID’’) should provide 8 assistance and implement programs, directly or 9 through nongovernmental organizations or inter- 10 national organizations, that— 11 (A) support democratic institutions, civil 12 society, free media, and other internationally 13 recognized human rights during, and in the 14 aftermath of, the novel coronavirus pandemic; 15 and 16 (B) ensure attention to countries in which 17 the government’s response to the pandemic vio- 18 lated human rights and democratic norms; and 19 (4) in implementing emergency policies in re- 20 sponse to the novel coronavirus pandemic— 21 (A) governments should fully respect and 22 comply with internationally recognized human 23 rights, including the rights to life, liberty, and 24 security of the person, the freedoms of move- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3819 IS ment, religion, speech, peaceful assembly, asso- 1 ciation, freedom of expression and of the press, 2 and the freedom from arbitrary detention, dis- 3 crimination, or invasion of privacy; 4 (B) emergency restrictions or powers that 5 impact internationally recognized human rights, 6 including the rights to freedom of assembly, as- 7 sociation, and movement should be— 8 (i) narrowly tailored, proportionate, 9 and necessary to the government’s legiti- 10 mate goal of ending the pandemic; 11 (ii) limited in duration; 12 (iii) clearly communicated to the pop- 13 ulation; 14 (iv) subject to independent govern- 15 ment oversight; and 16 (v) implemented in a nondiscrim- 17 inatory and fully transparent manner; 18 (C) governments— 19 (i) should not place any limits or 20 other restrictions on, or criminalize, the 21 free flow of information; and 22 (ii) should make all efforts to provide 23 and maintain open access to the internet 24 and other communications platforms; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3819 IS (D) emergency measures should not dis- 1 criminate against any segment of the popu- 2 lation, including minorities, vulnerable individ- 3 uals, and marginalized groups; 4 (E) monitoring systems put in place to 5 track and reduce the impact of the novel 6 coronavirus should, at a minimum— 7 (i) abide by privacy best practices in- 8 volving data anonymization and aggrega- 9 tion; 10 (ii) be administered in an open and 11 transparent manner; 12 (iii) be scientifically justified and nec- 13 essary to limit the spread of disease; 14 (iv) be employed for a limited dura- 15 tion of time in correspondence with the 16 system’s public health objective; 17 (v) be subject to independent over- 18 sight; 19 (vi) incorporate reasonable data secu- 20 rity measures; and 21 (vii) be firewalled from other commer- 22 cial and governmental uses, such as law 23 enforcement and the enforcement of immi- 24 gration policies; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3819 IS (F) governments should take every feasible 1 measure to protect the administration of free 2 and fair elections. 3 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 4 It is the policy of the United States— 5 (1) to encourage the protection and promotion 6 of internationally recognized human rights at home 7 and abroad at all times and especially during the 8 novel coronavirus pandemic; 9 (2) to support freedom of expression and free- 10 dom of the press in the United States and elsewhere, 11 which freedoms are critical to ensuring public dis- 12 semination of, and access to, accurate information 13 about the novel coronavirus pandemic, including in- 14 formation authorities need to enact science-based 15 policies that limit the spread and impact of the 16 virus, while protecting human rights; 17 (3) to support multilateral efforts to address 18 the novel coronavirus pandemic; and 19 (4) to oppose the use of the novel coronavirus 20 pandemic as a justification for the enactment of 21 laws and policies that use states of emergency to vio- 22 late or otherwise restrict the human rights of citi- 23 zens, inconsistent with the principles of limitation 24 and derogation, and without clear scientific or public 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3819 IS health justifications, including the coercive, arbi- 1 trary, disproportionate, or unlawful use of surveil- 2 lance technology. 3 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 7 mittees’’ means— 8 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 9 the Senate; 10 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 11 the Senate; 12 (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 13 the House of Representatives; and 14 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 15 the House of Representatives. 16 (2) INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED HUMAN 17 RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘internationally recognized 18 human rights’’ means— 19 (A) the human rights enshrined in the 20 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, includ- 21 ing the rights to life, liberty, security of person, 22 the freedom of movement, religion, speech, 23 peaceful assembly, association, freedom of ex- 24 pression and the press, the freedom from arbi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3819 IS trary detention, discrimination, or invasion of 1 privacy; and 2 (B) all other rights indispensable for 3 human dignity. 4 SEC. 6. FUNDING FOR PROGRAMS AND COUNTRIES. 5 (a) PROGRAM PRIORITIES.—Amounts appropriated 6 pursuant to section 9 may be made available for fiscal 7 years 2020 through 2025, to carry out the Foreign Assist- 8 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), including pro- 9 grams to support democratic institutions, freedom of the 10 press, civil society, and human rights defenders in coun- 11 tries where government measures taken in response to the 12 novel coronavirus pandemic, including emergency meas- 13 ures, violated or seriously undermined internationally rec- 14 ognized human rights according to the principles set forth 15 in section 3(4). Programs carried out under this sub- 16 section shall be designed— 17 (1) to strengthen and support all internationally 18 recognized human rights, freedom of the press, 19 human rights defenders, and civil society; and 20 (2) to restore and strengthen democratic insti- 21 tutions. 22 (b) STRATEGY.— 23 (1) INITIAL STRATEGY.—Not later than 30 24 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3819 IS Secretary of State and the Administrator of USAID 1 shall jointly submit an initial strategy for carrying 2 out the programs referred to in subsection (a) to the 3 appropriate congressional committees. 4 (2) STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not later than 90 days 5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 6 retary of State and the Administrator of USAID 7 shall submit a 5-year strategic plan to the appro- 8 priate congressional committees that lays out the 9 steps the Department of State and USAID will take, 10 through diplomacy and foreign assistance, to address 11 the persistent issues related to internationally recog- 12 nized human rights in the aftermath of the novel 13 coronavirus response, including identifying the re- 14 sources necessary to implement such strategic plan. 15 (c) CONDITIONING OF SECURITY SECTOR ASSIST- 16 ANCE.—Section 502B(a)(4) of the Foreign Assistance Act 17 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304) is amended— 18 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 19 the end; 20 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 21 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(C) has engaged in the systematic viola- 24 tion of internationally recognized human rights 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3819 IS through the use of emergency laws, policies, or 1 administrative procedures.’’. 2 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 3 (a) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after 4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 5 State shall publish on the Department of State website, 6 and submit to the appropriate congressional committees, 7 a report that describes— 8 (1) for each country and territory included in 9 the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Prac- 10 tices, whether and how each country or territory has 11 adhered to the principles set forth in section 3(4) in 12 responding to the novel coronavirus pandemic; 13 (2) with regard to each country in which the re- 14 sponse to the novel coronavirus pandemic violated o [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]