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Newsletter 141 11 February 2022
Convoys & Coups
The New Face of Covid Protest
First Ottawa, then Canberra and Wellington: the "Freedom Convoy" action by Canadian truckers, attracting demonstrators from across the country, has now inspired similar protests in Australia, New Zealand and beyond. On 6 February Ottawa's mayor declared a state of emergency due to the "serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents" after a week of demonstrations against COVID-19 measures, with thousands of truckers blocking city streets and insisting they will not leave until Canada ditches vaccine mandates. Observers noted the significant presence of Confederate flags and swastikas, and extensive intimidation tactics, raising questions about what is spurring these protests and their links to far-right movements.
Canberra's protests saw claims of "segregation" and discrimination against the 5% of the population who have spurned vaccines (although not all attending were anti-vaxxers). Some representatives of the convoy were welcomed into Parliament House by Liberal MP Craig Kelly, now leader of the United Australia Party. In New Zealand authorities closed public access to the parliamentary precinct to prevent more protesters from joining - some of whom were even carrying Canadian flags. Similar protests have taken place in France, and US truckers have indicated they are planning to take similar action. What they really want can be quite unclear, with muddled messages coming from those taking part.
In Ottawa, one of the groups organizing the convoy, Canada Unity, expressly called on the Canadian people to take over the government and abolish vaccine mandates. While that shows the level of estrangement from reality of these groups, our Beyond Covid feature in this update focuses on analysis of the rash of real coups in states across the African continent since August, which deserve close attention from democrats worldwide. Yet, as the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) issues its gloomy 2021 democracy report, experts on democracy in Africa still see cause for hope. In this update we're highlighting:
- Multiple items on the "Freedom Convoy" phenomenon
- Blog posts on vaccine mandates and other Covid challenges
- Partygate analysis of the crisis surrounding Boris Johnson
- New analyses of military takeovers and democracy in Africa
- New report on digital democracy - Visions of the Internet in 2035
- Webinars this week and next
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Freedom Convoys
We've gathered some key readings on the freedom convoys in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand:
Canada
Ismail SHAKIL & Anna Mehler PAPERNY, ‘Canada scrambles to end vaccine protests as bridge blockades drag on’ Reuters (10 February 2022)
Justin LING, '5G and QAnon: how conspiracy theorists steered Canada’s anti-vaccine trucker protest' The Guardian (9 Febryary 2022)
Chantal DA SILVA, ‘Key U.S.-Canada border crossing blocked by truckers as Covid protest spreads’ NBC News (9 February 2022)
Paula NEWTON & Aya ELAMROUSSI, ‘Protesters angry over Canadian Covid-19 mandates have blocked key roads and bridges. Now a judge has temporarily banned some from honking their horns’ CNN (9 February 2022)
Sam CABRAL, ‘Freedom Convoy: How might Canada's trucker protest end?’ BBC News (9 February 2022)
AL JAZEERA, ‘Canada truckers protest: ‘It has to stop,’ PM Justin Trudeau says’ (8 February 2022)
Joe HERNANDEZ, ‘Truckers in Ottawa block a key border crossing, as their protest morphs and drags on’ National Public Radio (8 February 2022)
Chantal DA SILVA, 'Ottawa declares state of emergency as trucker protest paralyzes capital’s core' NBC News (7 February 2022)
Geoffrey STEVENS, 'Don’t be fooled, the ‘Freedom Convoy’ has nothing to do with freedom' The Hamilton Spectator (30 January 2022)
Leyland CECCO, 'Canada truckers’ vaccine protest spirals into calls to repeal all public health rules' The Guardian (28 January 2022)
Australia
Amelia MCGUIRE, ‘‘On my own terms’: Why vaccine mandate protesters are in Canberra’ Sydney Moring Herald (9 February 2022)
Markus MANNHEIM, ‘Canberrans frustrated as COVID-19 vaccine protests continue to disrupt ACT as parliament returns’ ABC News (8 February 2022)
Michael E. MILLER & Frances VINALL, ‘Australian lawmakers fear escalation of Canberra protests influenced by Canadian truckers’ The Washington Post (8 February 2022)
Ben WESTCOTT, ‘Anti-vaxxers block Australia’s capital as Canada’s COVID protest mayhem goes global’ Fortune (7 February 2022)
New Zealand
ABC NEWS, 'Clashes at New Zealand parliament as protests inspired by Canada's 'Freedom Convoy' continue for third day' (10 February 2022)
Eva CORLETT, '‘We stand with Ottawa’: muddled messages and fraying consensus at New Zealand’s anti-vax protest' The Guardian (9 February 2022)
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Blog Posts
A range of new blog posts address vaccine mandates in the USA and compulsory vaccination, as well as legal responses to the pandemic:
Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog
Anne Marie LOFASO, ‘Vaccine Mandates in the United States: Multi-level Actors and Rights in Tension: Federal Government Mandates (Part III)’ OHRH Blog (3 February 2022)
Anne Marie LOFASO, ‘Vaccine Mandates in the United States: Multi-level Actors and Rights in Tension: State Mandates (Part II)’ OHRH Blog (3 February 2022)
Anne Marie LOFASO, ‘Vaccine Mandates in the United States: Multi-level Actors and Rights in Tension: Private Employers (Part I)’ OHRH Blog (2 February 2022)
EJIl Talk!
Julia KAPELAŃSKA-PRĘGOWSKA, ‘Inadequate State Response to Protect Life and Health in Times of COVID-19 as a Violation of Human Rights Obligations – the Example of Poland’ EJIL Talk! (7 February 2022)
Verfassungsblog
Natálie DŘÍNOVSKÁ, Michal KOVALČÍK & Zuzana VIKARSKÁ, ‘The Taming of the Czech Executive: Another Judicial Intervention into Pandemic Measures’ Verfassungslog (4 February 2022)
Stefan BRAUM, ‘On the Right to Compulsory Vaccination’ Verfassungsblog (2 February 2022)
The Loop
Michael HAMELEERS, ‘Covid-19 disinformation: how smaller untruths can be more infectious than hard lies’ The Loop (3 February 2022)
Verso Books Blog
Enzo TRAVERSO, ‘Twenty-First Century Fascism: Where We Are’ Verso Blog (3 February 2022)
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Partygate: PM Johnson Under Pressure
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces escalating political pressure as the scandal surrounding his government's partying during lockdown intensifies. Dubbed Partygate, it has turned minds not just to Johnson's precarious position, but impeachment rules and what we mean by the rule of law. Some are perplexed that Johnson has breezed through government attacks on institutions such as parliament and the election commission, and lie after lie. Is this simply the last straw, or the fact that Partygate makes governance deficiencies visible in a way that undermining institutions does not?
Paul BURGESS, 'A Rule of Law Surprise Party(gate)' UKCLA Blog (10 February 2022)
Chris MONAGHAN, 'Party-gate as a Ground for Impeachment? Perhaps, But We Need to Modernise Impeachment Before It Is Fit For Purpose' UKCLA Blog (26 January 2022)
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Africa: Democracy Remains the Answer
Last Tuesday, assailants surrounded government buildings in Bissau, capital of Guinea-Bissau, where a five-hour gun battle ensued. President Umaro Sissoco Embalo was later reported unharmed, and said the attack was linked to decisions he had taken “to fight drug trafficking and corruption”.
The incident took place after at least six recent military coup d’etats on the continent since August - one in Burkina Faso, one in Guinea, two in Mali, one in Sudan and one in Chad. With another country on the list, voices claiming that democracy simply doesn’t work on the continent grow louder. Leonard Mbulle-Nziege and Nic Cheeseman counters on BBC, offering that it only becomes a problem when supposedly democratic leaders start engaging in undemocratic strategies typically to hold onto power against the people’s will.
Leonard MBULLE-NZIEGE and Nic CHEESEMAN, ‘Coups in Africa: Why they don’t spell the end of democracy’ BBC News (8 February 2022)
AL JAZEERA, ‘Guinea-Bissau launches major probe into foiled coup’ (2 February 2022)
Being primarily situated within the Sahel, a combination of ecological fragility, limited arable land, extraordinary population growth rates, economic crisis, widespread poverty and inequality makes it that much more difficult and complex to improve national living standards; and civilian governments, not for lack of trying, are taking the blame.
“If solutions are to be found for problems as many and varied as these, they are unlikely to come via men in khaki or by diktat. Democracy is clearly no magic bullet, but bringing people together in a national project based on choice and participation is likely to be part of the answer.”
WORLD POLITICS REVIEW, ‘Don’t Write Off Democracy in Africa Just Yet’ (2 February 2022)
See also:
DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA, 'Making sense of the coup in Burkina Faso' (4 February 2022)
COUNCIL ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ‘Understanding South Sudan’s Postwar Struggle for Democracy and Accountability’ (28 January 2022)
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Visions of the Internet in 2035
How will the evolution of online public spaces affect their role in democracy in the coming years? What would a "new and improved" digital realm look like in 2035? Will it be fully able to facilitate free speech and open conversations, or will ongoing concerns about the destructive forces in culture and technology continue to plague online life and disrupt beneficial change? The new PEW Research Center report seeks to resolve these questions by analysing insights and responses canvassed from hundreds of technology experts.
See also International IDEA's recent blog post on digital democracy in Asia:
Alberto Fernandez GIBAJA, ‘Repressing democracy online in Asia, one law at a time’ International IDEA Blog (8 February 2022)
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COVID-DEM is You
Every day we work with people worldwide to build this platform for helping us understand how the pandemic is challenging and re-shaping democracy globally, and the many ways we can defend and improve our democracies. Our sincere thanks to every one of you who has helped us to develop COVID-DEM into what it is today. Don't hesitate to send us your work and suggestions, to coviddem@gmail.com or through our online form.
Dr Tom Gerald Daly
Director
Find out more about Tom here.
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