Corona has helped us call out impunity in our midst

Thursday was International Human Rights Day 2020. Human rights defenders globally marked the day by reflecting on how the world can recover better from Covid-19. Given our national experience this year, the theme was apt.

Two words - distress and defiance - best describe 2020. For the best part of the year, the pandemic brought moments of panic and even pandemonium. The Constitution, our highest text, was subjected to the greatest test since its promulgation ten years ago. Our personal freedoms were restricted in a way we have not seen since the State of Emergency in the 1950s.