; (2) authorities in more than 82 countries, including the United States, have declared states of emergency due to the threat of COVID–19, which the World Health Organization designated a global pandemic on March 11, 2020; (3) governments in certain countries with COVID–19 cases, such as Cambodia, Egypt, Hungary, India, Turkey, China, and the China Liaison Office in Hong Kong, have taken measures that violate the human rights of their citizens without clear public health justification, oversight measures, or sunset provisions; (4) governments in 25 countries, including Kenya, Iran, the Philippines, Thailand, and Jordan, have taken measures that affect expression and restrict freedom of the press; (5) against a backdrop of rising nationalism, populism, authoritarianism and pushback against human rights in some countries, the crisis can provide a pretext unrelated to the pandemic for governments to engage in repression, including measures that undermine democratic institutions, quash legitimate dissent, and attack journalists, activists, and disfavored social groups, like refugees and migrants, with far-reaching consequences that outlive the current crisis; (6) the United States Government, implementing emergency policies at home and through its diplomacy and foreign assistance abroad, should assertively champion the protection of internationally recognized human rights during and after the COVID–19 pandemic