At the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres warned Wednesday that authoritarian governments are exploiting the pandemic to crack down on human rights.

Secretary-General António Guterres: “Against the background of rising ethnonationalism, populism, authoritarianism and the pushback against human rights in some countries, the crisis can provide a pretext to adopt repressive measures for purposes unrelated to the pandemic.”

Secretary-General Guterres has called for a global ceasefire of all warring parties in order to focus on battling the coronavirus pandemic.