5.4. STAY-AT-HOME ORDERS, CURFEWS AND QUARANTINES In response to other crisis situations, states have issued emergency measures that require people to stay at home or to obtain permission to be outside during certain hours, for instance, justified as means to maintain public order or to protect people from imminent environmental disasters. During the COVID-19 pandemic, participating States have enacted various measures to ensure physical and social distancing that have required individuals to isolate themselves. Measures have ranged in intensity, from enforced quarantine of travellers after crossing the border or people who were diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus (additionally people who came into contact with those under treatment for COVID-19), to curfews that allow people to leave their homes only during specific times and with permission, to stay-at-home orders that permit people to leave for a limited time and for essential activities, but still allow some freedom of movement. Such measures have been enforced by the police, subject to administrative fines or arrest, or by the military. In most OSCE participating States, public transport was also limited or suspended at the time such measures were instituted. Some participating States issued more restrictive measures for elderly people (for instance, total curfews were imposed on people aged 65 or over during the most restrictive lockdown periods;106 in the United Kingdom, the government identified “clinically extremely vulnerable” persons and advised them to take more drastic social isolation measures and to “shield”, meaning to isolate themselves as much as possible.107) The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned “unacceptable and unlawful” responses to people who have broken lockdowns and curfews, including when law enforcement has used excessive force and detention.108 106 Such measures have been recommended in the majority of OSCE participating States, and specifically enacted in Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Turkey and Uzbekistan, as well as in Hungary for people over age 70. See: International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL), “COVID-19 Civil Freedom Tracker, <https://www.icnl.org/ covid19tracker/>. 107 The classification of “clinically extremely vulnerable people” is primarily based on medical factors. See: Public Health England, “Guidance on Shielding and Protecting People Who Are Clinically Extremely Vulnerable from COVID-19”, 14 July 2020, <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19#staying-at-home-and-shielding>. 108 OHCHR, “COVID-19: Exceptional Measures Should Not Be Cover for Human Rights Abuses and Violations – Bachelet”, 27 April 2020, <https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews. aspx?NewsID=25828&LangID=E>. 34