Abstract In response to the rise of ‘populism’ and the perceived threat to human rights that it represents, human rights advocates have argued that NGOs must speak to the economic anxieties of majority populations by increasing work on economic and social rights. In this essay, I present a counter-argument to this proposal, drawing on insights from the COVID-19 pandemic and my experiences working at Amnesty International and monitoring emergency powers during the pandemic for Covid State Watch. I argue that international human rights NGOs should retain a focus on civil and political rights for three reasons. The COVID-19 pandemic has (1) revealed and reinforced the vast repressive power of the state and consequent serious risks to civil and political rights in the global North and (2) demonstrated that human rights NGOs are often alone in challenging restrictions to civil and political rights, especially during crises. I further suggest that, in contrast to the civil and political rights sphere, (3) human rights NGOs offer little ‘value added’ in the field of economic and social rights in the global North. I conclude by proposing that human rights serve their most useful function when they protect those who few others are willing to defend, such as the vector of disease, the terrorist and the criminal.

中文翻译：

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流行病权力：为什么人权组织不应失去对公民和政治权利的关注

摘要 针对“民粹主义”的兴起及其所代表的人权威胁，人权倡导者认为，非政府组织必须通过增加经济和社会权利方面的工作来解决大多数人口的经济焦虑。在这篇文章中，我利用对 COVID-19 大流行的见解以及我在国际特赦组织的工作以及在大流行期间为 Covid State Watch 监控紧急权力的经验，提出了对该提案的反驳。我认为，出于三个原因，国际人权非政府组织应该保持对公民权利和政治权利的关注。COVID-19 大流行 (1) 揭示并加强了国家的巨大镇压能力，以及随之而来的全球北方公民和政治权利面临的严重风险，以及 (2) 表明人权非政府组织往往独自挑战对公民和政治权利的限制。政治权利，尤其是在危机期间。我进一步建议，与公民和政治权利领域相比，(3) 人权非政府组织在全球北方的经济和社会权利领域几乎没有提供“增值”。最后，我提出，当人权保护那些很少有人愿意捍卫的人，例如疾病的传播者、恐怖分子和罪犯时，它会发挥最有用的作用。(3) 人权非政府组织在全球北方的经济和社会权利领域几乎没有提供“附加值”。最后，我提出，当人权保护那些很少有人愿意捍卫的人，例如疾病的传播者、恐怖分子和罪犯时，它会发挥最有用的作用。(3) 人权非政府组织在全球北方的经济和社会权利领域几乎没有提供“附加值”。最后，我提出，当人权保护那些很少有人愿意捍卫的人，例如疾病的传播者、恐怖分子和罪犯时，它会发挥最有用的作用。