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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Human 

5 Rights During Pandemic Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The United States led the drafting of the 

9 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3819.IS S3819

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1 shrines the commitment of countries around the 

2 world to the protection and promotion of universal 

3 human rights and values that are indispensable for 

4 human dignity, including the rights to life, liberty, 

5 security of person, freedom of movement, religion, 

6 speech, peaceful assembly, association, freedom of 

7 expression and the press, and freedom from arbi8 trary detention, discrimination, or invasion of pri9 vacy. 

10 (2) Authorities in more than 83 countries, in11 cluding the United States, have declared states of 

12 emergency and restricted the movement of people 

13 due to the threat of the novel coronavirus, which 

14 causes COVID–19, and which the World Health Or15 ganization designated a global pandemic on March 

16 11, 2020. 

17 (3) During public health emergencies, it may be 

18 necessary and appropriate for governments to take 

19 extraordinary action to halt the spread of disease 

20 through steps such as restricting the movement of 

21 people, closing businesses, and limiting access to 

22 public spaces. 

23 (4) States are legally obligated to continue to 

24 protect the human rights of their citizens at all 

25 times, subject to the principles of limitation and 


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1 derogation, even and especially during national 

2 emergencies. 

3 (5) In many countries with COVID–19 cases, 

4 governments have taken steps that violate the 

5 human rights of their citizens without clear scientific 

6 or public health justifications, or any end date or 

7 functional oversight. 

8 (6) In some countries, including China and 

9 Russia, governments are using existing and emerg10 ing surveillance technologies, including artificial in11 telligence and facial recognition software, without 

12 appropriate safeguards, which violates the human 

13 rights of their citizens, such as the rights to privacy 

14 and freedom of movement, while claiming such ac15 tions are necessary to combat the novel coronavirus. 

16 (7) In some countries, including Azerbaijan, El 

17 Salvador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, and the Phil18 ippines, governments with a history of repressing 

19 human rights are exploiting the current crisis to 

20 consolidate power, sideline representative legislative 

21 bodies, and silence criticism. 

22 (8) In several countries, including Algeria, 

23 Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Hon24 duras, Hungary, Iran, Jordan, Russia, South Africa, 

25 Tajikistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Turkey, 


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1 Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe, govern2 ments have restricted the ability of journalists and 

3 other individuals to distribute or publish information 

4 related to the novel coronavirus, including by impos5 ing criminal penalties, which violates the universal 

6 human rights of free speech and freedom of the 

7 press, and limits people’s access to information. 

8 (9) Governments in countries with a history of 

9 discrimination against minority populations, includ10 ing India and Uganda, have used the novel 

11 coronavirus pandemic response to further discrimi12 nate against vulnerable populations. 

13 (10) Actions taken by foreign governments, 

14 under the guise of the coronavirus, that weaken 

15 democratic institutions and restrict internationally 

16 recognized human rights, contrary to the principles 

17 of limitation and derogation, pose a threat to the 

18 health, economic, and national security interests of 

19 the United States. 

20 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

21 It is the Sense of Congress that— 

22 (1) the United States should lead the inter23 national community in its efforts to respond to the 

24 novel coronavirus pandemic; 


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1 (2) the United States, in implementing emer2 gency policies at home and through its diplomacy 

3 and foreign assistance abroad, should promote the 

4 protection of internationally recognized human 

5 rights during and after the coronavirus pandemic; 

6 (3) the Department of State and the United 

7 States Agency for International Development (re8 ferred to in this Act as ‘‘USAID’’) should provide 

9 assistance and implement programs, directly or 

10 through nongovernmental organizations or inter11 national organizations, that— 

12 (A) support democratic institutions, civil 

13 society, free media, and other internationally 

14 recognized human rights during, and in the 

15 aftermath of, the novel coronavirus pandemic; 

16 and 

17 (B) ensure attention to countries in which 

18 the government’s response to the pandemic vio19 lated human rights and democratic norms; and 

20 (4) in implementing emergency policies in re21 sponse to the novel coronavirus pandemic— 

22 (A) governments should fully respect and 

23 comply with internationally recognized human 

24 rights, including the rights to life, liberty, and 

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1 ment, religion, speech, peaceful assembly, asso2 ciation, freedom of expression and of the press, 

3 and the freedom from arbitrary detention, dis4 crimination, or invasion of privacy; 

5 (B) emergency restrictions or powers that 

6 impact internationally recognized human rights, 

7 including the rights to freedom of assembly, as8 sociation, and movement should be— 

9 (i) narrowly tailored, proportionate, 

10 and necessary to the government’s legiti11 mate goal of ending the pandemic; 

12 (ii) limited in duration; 

13 (iii) clearly communicated to the pop14 ulation; 

15 (iv) subject to independent govern16 ment oversight; and 

17 (v) implemented in a nondiscrim18 inatory and fully transparent manner; 

19 (C) governments— 

20 (i) should not place any limits or 

21 other restrictions on, or criminalize, the 

22 free flow of information; and 

23 (ii) should make all efforts to provide 

24 and maintain open access to the internet 

25 and other communications platforms; 


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1 (D) emergency measures should not dis2 criminate against any segment of the popu3 lation, including minorities, vulnerable individ4 uals, and marginalized groups; 

5 (E) monitoring systems put in place to 

6 track and reduce the impact of the novel 

7 coronavirus should, at a minimum— 

8 (i) abide by privacy best practices in9 volving data anonymization and aggrega10 tion; 

11 (ii) be administered in an open and 

12 transparent manner; 

13 (iii) be scientifically justified and nec14 essary to limit the spread of disease; 

15 (iv) be employed for a limited dura16 tion of time in correspondence with the 

17 system’s public health objective; 

18 (v) be subject to independent over19 sight; 

20 (vi) incorporate reasonable data secu21 rity measures; and 

22 (vii) be firewalled from other commer23 cial and governmental uses, such as law 

24 enforcement and the enforcement of immi25 gration policies; and 


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1 (F) governments should take every feasible 

2 measure to protect the administration of free 

3 and fair elections. 

4 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

5 It is the policy of the United States— 

6 (1) to encourage the protection and promotion 

7 of internationally recognized human rights at home 

8 and abroad at all times and especially during the 

9 novel coronavirus pandemic; 

10 (2) to support freedom of expression and free11 dom of the press in the United States and elsewhere, 

12 which freedoms are critical to ensuring public dis13 semination of, and access to, accurate information 

14 about the novel coronavirus pandemic, including in15 formation authorities need to enact science-based 

16 policies that limit the spread and impact of the 

17 virus, while protecting human rights; 

18 (3) to support multilateral efforts to address 

19 the novel coronavirus pandemic; and 

20 (4) to oppose the use of the novel coronavirus 

21 pandemic as a justification for the enactment of 

22 laws and policies that use states of emergency to vio23 late or otherwise restrict the human rights of citi24 zens, inconsistent with the principles of limitation 

25 and derogation, and without clear scientific or public 


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1 health justifications, including the coercive, arbi2 trary, disproportionate, or unlawful use of surveil3 lance technology. 

4 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com8 mittees’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

10 the Senate; 

11 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

12 the Senate; 

13 (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

14 the House of Representatives; and 

15 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of 

16 the House of Representatives. 

17 (2) INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED HUMAN

18 RIGHTS.—The term ‘‘internationally recognized 

19 human rights’’ means— 

20 (A) the human rights enshrined in the 

21 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, includ22 ing the rights to life, liberty, security of person, 

23 the freedom of movement, religion, speech, 

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1 trary detention, discrimination, or invasion of 

2 privacy; and 

3 (B) all other rights indispensable for 

4 human dignity. 

5 SEC. 6. FUNDING FOR PROGRAMS AND COUNTRIES. 

6 (a) PROGRAM PRIORITIES.—Amounts appropriated 

7 pursuant to section 9 may be made available for fiscal 

8 years 2020 through 2025, to carry out the Foreign Assist9 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), including pro10 grams to support democratic institutions, freedom of the 

11 press, civil society, and human rights defenders in coun12 tries where government measures taken in response to the 

13 novel coronavirus pandemic, including emergency meas14 ures, violated or seriously undermined internationally rec15 ognized human rights according to the principles set forth 

16 in section 3(4). Programs carried out under this sub17 section shall be designed— 

18 (1) to strengthen and support all internationally 

19 recognized human rights, freedom of the press, 

20 human rights defenders, and civil society; and 

21 (2) to restore and strengthen democratic insti22 tutions. 

23 (b) STRATEGY.— 

24 (1) INITIAL STRATEGY.—Not later than 30 

25 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 


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1 Secretary of State and the Administrator of USAID 

2 shall jointly submit an initial strategy for carrying 

3 out the programs referred to in subsection (a) to the 

4 appropriate congressional committees. 

5 (2) STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not later than 90 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of State and the Administrator of USAID 

8 shall submit a 5-year strategic plan to the appro9 priate congressional committees that lays out the 

10 steps the Department of State and USAID will take, 

11 through diplomacy and foreign assistance, to address 

12 the persistent issues related to internationally recog13 nized human rights in the aftermath of the novel 

14 coronavirus response, including identifying the re15 sources necessary to implement such strategic plan. 

16 (c) CONDITIONING OF SECURITY SECTOR ASSIST17 ANCE.—Section 502B(a)(4) of the Foreign Assistance Act 

18 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304) is amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

20 the end; 

21 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period 

22 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(C) has engaged in the systematic viola25 tion of internationally recognized human rights 


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1 through the use of emergency laws, policies, or 

2 administrative procedures.’’. 

3 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

4 (a) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

6 State shall publish on the Department of State website, 

7 and submit to the appropriate congressional committees, 

8 a report that describes— 

9 (1) for each country and territory included in 

10 the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Prac11 tices, whether and how each country or territory has 

12 adhered to the principles set forth in section 3(4) in 

13 responding to the novel coronavirus pandemic; 

14 (2) with regard to each country in which the re15 sponse to the novel coronavirus pandemic violated or 

16 seriously undermined internationally recognized 

17 human rights in a manner inconsistent with the 

18 principles of limitation and derogation, a description 

19 of— 

20 (A) the actions of the United States Gov21 ernment to address such restrictions through 

22 diplomacy and the use of foreign assistance; 

23 and 


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1 (B) any efforts made by each country to 

2 respond to and resolve such human rights con3 cerns; 

4 (3) with regard to each country in which the re5 sponse to the coronavirus pandemic violated or seri6 ously undermined internationally recognized human 

7 rights, a description of the impact of noncompliant 

8 policies on— 

9 (A) the population’s access to health care 

10 services; 

11 (B) the population’s access to services for 

12 survivors of violence and abuse; 

13 (C) women and ethnic, religious, sexual, 

14 and other minority, vulnerable, or marginalized 

15 populations; and 

16 (D) the government’s efforts and ability to 

17 control the pandemic; 

18 (4) whether any foreign person or persons with19 in a country have been determined to have com20 mitted gross violations of internationally recognized 

21 human rights during the novel coronavirus pandemic 

22 response, including any sanctions imposed on such 

23 persons in accordance with United States law; 

24 (5) actions taken by the Global Engagement 

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1 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

2 2017 (22 U.S.C. 2656 note) to counter disinforma3 tion related to the novel coronavirus pandemic; and 

4 (6) the United States Government’s efforts 

5 around the world— 

6 (A) to counter disinformation related to 

7 the novel coronavirus pandemic; and 

8 (B) to disseminate accurate information 

9 about the pandemic. 

10 (b) MONTHLY REPORTS.—Not later than 30 days 

11 after the publication of the report required under sub12 section (a), and monthly thereafter until the date that is 

13 60 days after the date on which the World Health Organi14 zation declares that the novel coronavirus pandemic has 

15 ended, the Department of State and the United States 

16 Agency for International Development shall provide, to the 

17 appropriate congressional committees— 

18 (1) a briefing containing updates on any new 

19 developments related to issues covered in the report 

20 published under subsection (a); and 

21 (2) a list of the countries that have removed 

22 coronavirus-related emergency restrictions impacting 

23 internationally recognized human rights, including 

24 details regarding the restrictions that were removed. 


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1 (c) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the date on which the World Health Organization declares 

3 that the novel coronavirus pandemic has ended, the Sec4 retary of State shall submit a report to the appropriate 

5 congressional committees that— 

6 (1) lists the countries whose emergency meas7 ures or other legal actions limiting internationally 

8 recognized human rights in a manner inconsistent 

9 with the principles of limitation and derogation ex10 tended beyond the end of the pandemic; 

11 (2) describes such countries’ emergency meas12 ures, including— 

13 (A) how such procedures violate or seri14 ously undermine internationally recognized 

15 human rights; and 

16 (B) an analysis of the impact of such 

17 measures on— 

18 (i) the government’s efforts and abil19 ity to control the pandemic within the 

20 country; 

21 (ii) the population’s access to health 

22 care services; 

23 (iii) the population’s access to services 

24 for survivors of violence and abuse; and 


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1 (iv) women and ethnic, religious, sex2 ual, and other minority, vulnerable, or 

3 marginalized populations; 

4 (3) describes— 

5 (A) any surveillance measures implemented 

6 or utilized by the governments of such countries 

7 as part of the novel coronavirus pandemic re8 sponse; 

9 (B) the extent to which such measures 

10 have been, or have not been, rolled back; and 

11 (C) whether and how such measures im12 pact internationally recognized human rights; 

13 and 

14 (4) indicates whether any foreign person or per15 sons within a country have been determined to have 

16 committed gross violations of internationally recog17 nized human rights during the novel coronavirus 

18 pandemic response, including a description of any 

19 resulting sanctions imposed on such persons under 

20 United States law. 

21 SEC. 8. COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 116(f)(1) of the Foreign 

23 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(f)(1)) is amend24 ed— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub2 paragraph (D); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(C) A description of— 

6 ‘‘(i) any misuse by the government of such 

7 country of any emergency powers; 

8 ‘‘(ii) any failure by the government of such 

9 country— 

10 ‘‘(I) to state the specific duration of 

11 the powers referred to in clause (i); 

12 ‘‘(II) to clearly articulate the purposes 

13 of such powers; or 

14 ‘‘(III) to notify the United Nations re15 garding the use of such powers, as re16 quired by applicable treaty; 

17 ‘‘(iii) any failure by the government of 

18 such country— 

19 ‘‘(I) to abide by the stated purposes of 

20 the powers referred to in clause (i); or 

21 ‘‘(II) to cease the use of such powers 

22 after any specified term expires; 

23 ‘‘(iv) any violations by the government of 

24 such country of non-derogable rights; 


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1 ‘‘(v) any discriminatory implementation by 

2 such government of the powers referred to in 

3 clause (i); 

4 ‘‘(vi) the impact of such powers on the ac5 cess of the people of such country to health care 

6 services; and 

7 ‘‘(vii) the development and proliferation of 

8 surveillance technologies in such country, in9 cluding new or emerging technologies used by 

10 the government of such country in the surveil11 lance of civilian populations in ways that are in12 consistent with the standards described in sec13 tion 3(4)(E) of the Protecting Human Rights 

14 During Pandemic Act.’’. 

15 (b) HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 502B(b) of the For17 eign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304(b) is 

18 amended by inserting ‘‘Each report under this sec19 tion shall include the information described in sec20 tion 116(f)(1)(C).’’ after ‘‘the Secretary of State.’’. 

21 (2) BRIEFING.—The Assistant Secretary of 

22 State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor 

23 shall be available to brief the Committee on Foreign 

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1 ing the annual Country Reports on Human Rights 

2 Practices during the 90-day period beginning on the 

3 date on which the reports are released. 

4 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

6 as may be necessary to carry out— 

7 (1) the strategy described in section 6(b)(1); 

8 (2) the 5-year strategic plan described in sec9 tion 6(b)(2); and 

10 (3) the reporting requirements set forth in sec11 tion 7. 

Æ 


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