HUMAN RIGHTS. In this file photo, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet speaks during the inauguration of the 'Seminar of Afro-descendant Women of Latin America' in San Jose, Costa Rica, on December 03, 2019. File photo by John Duran/AFPis not a"blank check" to flout civil liberties, the UN human rights commissioner warned on Thursday, April 9, as she criticized some states' adoption of"unlimited" emergency powers.
In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban is now ruling by decree until his government says the crisis has passed. "In some countries we have already seen reports of journalists being penalized for reporting a lack of masks, health workers reprimanded for saying they lack protection, and ordinary people arrested for social media postings about the pandemic.Bachelet also called on governments to"greatly increase access to accurate information and statistics" on the pandemic, stressing that"transparency is paramount and can be life-saving in a health crisis.