ocument - Date Friday | 03 April 2020

cument - Date Friday | 03 April 2020

Media reports as well as reports from NGOs show that some health care facilities in Slovakia restricted women's right to a birth companion of her choice during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, some health care facilities deny women access to pain relief (epidural analgesia), or perform caesarean section, or separate women from their newborns without proper medical indication. Some doctors are using the COVID-19 pandemic to suspend abortion care.

The Public Defender of Rights is concerned that these practices are not in line with international human rights standards and World Health Organization's guidelines.

In relation to the limitation on the exercise of the women's right to a birth companion, the Public Defender of Rights stresses that in line with World Health Organization's guidelines, pregnant women, including those with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infections, have the right to high quality care before, during and after childbirth. A safe and positive childbirth experience includes having a companion of choice present during delivery. In addition, World Health Organization called on health workers to take all appropriate precautions to reduce risks of infection by using protective equipment and respecting hygiene principles. The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women recommended for states to guarantee women's right to a birth companion of her choice.

According to the World Health Organization, companion of choice during labour and childbirth has a proven impact on the positive course of labor. It increases likelihood of vaginal birth, thereby reducing unnecessary caesarean section and represents psychological and emotional support for women. Its presence may thus reduce the likelihood that medical interventions in labor will be necessary, requiring the intervention of medical staff.

In relation to the reported denial of access to pain relief, the Public Defender of Rights stresses that the UN the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment concluded that the de facto denial of access to pain relief, if it causes severe pain and suffering, constitutes cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The Public Defender of Rights is concerned that restrictions on access to safe abortion might cause an increase in unsafe abortion rates. At the same time, the Public Defender of Rights stresses that restrictions on the provision of health services are disproportionately affecting women living in poverty, women with disabilities, victims of rape and domestic violence.

Any limitation on the exercise of the rights and freedoms, even in times of epidemic and emergency, can only be undertaken if such intervention pursues a legitimate aim, is necessary and must be proportionate in the way it isimplemented.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      The Public Defender of Rights considers essential that healthcare institutions apply uniform standards and procedures based on the latest scientific evidence while promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms of all individuals. The Public Defender of Rights therefore recommends that the Minister of Health of the Slovak Republic adopts appropriate measures to ensure that all women and girls have access to a full range of sexual and health services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, published today her annual activity report covering 2019. The report provides an overall picture of the main problems, challenges and opportunities that European countries are facing in the field of human rights. “The image I get from my work is of a Europe circling a roundabout, uncertain about its direction and the human rights obligations which member states voluntarily agreed upon,” says the Commissioner, adding that the current COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating long-standing problems and emphasising the weaknesses of Europe’s human rights protection system. 

The Commissioner observes that in 2019 as in previous years, there have been growing challenges to human rights standards and principles all over the continent. In some cases, hostility to human rights as universal, indivisible and legally binding has increased, fuelling a corrosive narrative that endangers the principles and standards on which Europe has been built over the past seven decades.

Five of the topics covered in this report illustrate particularly well the ongoing backlash in Europe: the growing political and societal acceptance of racism; the disregard of the human rights of migrants and refugees; the threats to women’s rights; the repression of dissent; and the erosion of judicial independence.

“Antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Gypsyism have reached alarming levels”, says Commissioner Mijatović. “Incidents of desecration of cemeteries, assaults on people wearing religious symbols, and attacks on places of cult have recurred in several European countries. Hate speech and crimes against Roma also remained widespread”.

The Commissioner also expresses concerns about European countries’ handling of migrants and asylum-seekers. “The increasing normalisation of illegal pushbacks, as well as acts aimed at dehumanising people attempting to cross borders, are particularly worrying. In some member states, severe humanitarian crises regarding reception conditions have been allowed to develop and worsen. The lives of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers have also been put at risk by the short-sighted decision to reduce state search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean".

Another widespread problem that the Commissioner underscores is gender inequality. “Progress is slow in bridging the gender pay gap, addressing discrimination at work and tackling women’s underrepresentation in political decision-making. Women are also still confronted with various obstacles preventing their full access to sexual and reproductive health and rights and an endless stream of sexist hate speech. What has already been achieved in terms of gender equality is threatened by discourse and initiatives from some ultra-conservative groups aimed at relegating women to traditional roles, in contradiction with human rights standards.”

Freedom to speak out and manifest dissent has also come under frequent attack. “Several peaceful demonstrators have been seriously injured through the disproportionate use of force by the police”, says Commissioner Mijatović. “Human rights defenders and journalists continued to work in hostile environments in a growing number of European countries. Legislation has been misused to detain and prosecute them, while public discourse by some political leaders has legitimised smear campaigns, threats and intimidation”.

The attempts by some national authorities to use their leverage to influence and instruct the judiciary, and to threaten judges for using their right to freedom of expression to state their opinion about an issue of public interest in the justice field are also among the Commissioner’s main concerns.

Lastly, the Commissioner warns against the risks that unregulated uses of digital technologies and artificial intelligence pose to human rights, in particular privacy, equality, and freedom of expression and assembly, stressing that much remains to be done in order to find the right balance between technological development and human rights protection.“

At the moment, states’ attention, resources and efforts are rightly devoted to heading off the COVID-19 pandemic and to protecting the health and lives of millions of people in Europe. Once the pandemic is under control, however, states will have to redouble their efforts to solve long-standing shortcomings in law, practice and discourse that are so damaging to human dignity and human rights”.

• Read the annual activity report 2019 by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights