Political RIghts in Times of Pandemic - A Code of Conduct for City Governance

This paper discusses the implementation of a COVID-19 related Code of Conduct for local urban governments and argues that the code should consider a line-up of complementary political rights: Right to Political Participation and the related Access to Information, as well as the Right to Health as the cornerstone of the Right to Life. The disconnect between day-to-day local policymaking and consideration for human rights appears inconsequential in the event of COVID-19 pandemic. Urban governments bear the in-depth understanding of the intricacies of their communities, which make them uniquely positioned to manage such a fast-moving and ever-changing emergency. Despite their vast and onerous responsibilities, they do so without the benefit of a human rights framework, which leaves local governments vulnerable to not only potential violations of political rights of the urban population but may also negatively impact the ability of public officials to effectively protect citizens in their response to the pandemic.