Interdependence and indivisibility of human rights: A renewed glance in the face of Covid-19

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic and its multidimensional effects demand the reinforcement of a holistic approach to human rights, centered on their interdependence and indivisibility. The article advocates for a legal dogmatic reinterpretation and a “reverse” strengthening of both principles arguing that safeguarding economic, social, cultural and environmental rights (ESCER) also requires the guarantee of civil and political rights. The reinforced character stems from the urgency of attending people and groups in a situation of vulnerability. The article discusses the theoretical base of the emerging ius constitutionale commune on human rights to confront the pandemic. Based on the bibliographic method, the argument is developed in three stages: in the pre-covid-19 stage of the Universal Declaration itself and the regional instruments for the protection of human rights in the case of Latin America; the reverse interpretation in face of covid-19 in terms of the universal, regional and national standards, taking the Argentine case as a reference; and the post-covid-19 academic discourse, to reinforce the language
of indivisibility and interdependence as a route to gain leverage for profound transformations. The current challenges reveal the potential of human rights as a language to guide States towards compliance with the standards that form the basis of the new postpandemic ius commune.