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RIGHTS: Objects of "Charity and Pity" No More
By Mithre J. Sandrasagra
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 29, 2007 (IPS) - A new treaty designed to promote and
protect the rights of the world's 650 million persons with disabilities
opens for signature at the United Nations on Friday.
At its core, the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
ensures that persons with disabilities enjoy the same human rights as
everyone else, and are able to lead their lives as fully-fledged citizens
who can make valuable contributions to society.
Once the convention is ratified, "We will no longer be objects of charity
and pity," Thomas Schindlmayr, a U.N. disability expert, told reporters
here Thursday.
"Just two days ago, because of my impairment, I would have had severe
limitations here - there was no ramp to the podium," Schindlmayr noted of
the U.N. headquarters press briefing room. Using this example, he stressed
that the problems commonly associated with disabilities have more to do
with the environment than with the disabled themselves.
In a perfect world, the rights enumerated in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights would be enough to protect everyone, according to the U.N.
But in practice, certain groups - such as women, children and refugees -
have fared far worse than others, and international conventions are in
place to protect and promote the human rights of these groups.
The disabled often lack the opportunities taken for granted by mainstream
populations. They encounter a myriad of physical and social obstacles that
prevent them from going to school, getting jobs, accessing information,
obtaining proper health care - and from "fitting in" and being accepted.
Under the convention, "We get the right to own properties, to sign
documents, to live where and with whom we want, to acquire an education, a
standard of living, a job on an equal basis with others," Lex Grandia,
president of the World Federation of the DeafBlind (WFDB), a Denmark-based
group, told IPS.
"I strongly believe that this new instrument comes at a time when there
are broad shifts in attitudes within societies towards the rights of
persons with disabilities," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise
Arbour told a panel in Geneva Monday.
Arbour called on member states to protect and respect the rights of the
disabled - who comprise 10 percent of the world's population, the world's
largest minority - by implementing the landmark convention, and added
that she plans to elevate the profile of this issue by ensuring that her
office takes the lead in establishing partnerships with civil society and
governments.
Sheikha Hessa al-Thani, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Disability, said
that the "complementary relationship" between the two areas - social
development and human rights - to which the issue of people with
disabilities belongs "had now found expression in the brilliant document,"
the convention.
"Disability will move from the charity model to a human rights model,"
Robert Martin, a member of the British-based Inclusion International, told
IPS.
"The convention gives us a set of principles as to how existing human
rights in other U.N. conventions should apply to those of us with a
disability," Martin said, adding that, "Practices and policies, including
those in the social welfare sphere, will have to change to meet the new
standards."
Speaking from the perspective of a person with an intellectual disability,
Martin said the convention "will focus attention on those of us who have
often been invisible or hidden away from society."
"All too often we were not treated as full citizens even in our own
country. Laws passed to protect us were often used against us," Martin
stressed.
Grandia agreed. "There are laws preventing us from taking roles in
society, such as being a judge, juror, witness, exercising rights such as
the right to vote and exercising legal capacity by making our own
decisions," he said, adding that there are also laws on the books
"authorising sterilisation, institutionalisation and forced medical
interventions."
"All these laws are incompatible with the convention and a human
rights-based approach to disability, and must be eliminated," Grandia
stressed.
More than 50 countries - including Algeria, Austria, Chile, China, El
Salvador, Germany, South Africa and Thailand - have indicated that they
will sign the new convention on Friday.
Some 30 countries - including Brazil, Republic of Congo, Costa Rica,
Ghana, Italy, Jordan, Luxembourg and Seychelles - will also sign the
Convention's Optional Protocol on Communications, which will allow
individuals petitioning on alleged rights violations to invoke a committee
of experts once all national recourse procedures have been exhausted.
A.L. Abdul Azeez, deputy permanent representative of Sri Lanka to the
U.N., told IPS Thursday that Sri Lanka, in hopes of becoming a "regional
trendsetter" in this area, has already taken the necessary steps to
implement the convention prior to its signing and ratification.
"These steps include the introduction of accessibility and usability
measures for disabled persons in public places and within the transport
sector," Azeez said.
Asked why some countries would not sign the convention, Martin told IPS
that "some countries may not sign because they may feel they do not have
the resources that will be needed to make the convention a reality."
The countries that concern Martin most are the ones who "were not in the
room" at the Ad-Hoc Committee negotiating sessions in New York which led
to the adoption of the final draft of the convention.
Martin said that many of the countries that did not participate were from
the South, and he noted that civil society groups from the South were also
noticeably absent from negotiations.
"Those who negotiated the convention realised that there would be certain
costs involved in its implementation, but the convention does not impose a
timeline, it does not say that all buildings need to be renovated ASAP,"
Schindlmayr told IPS.
"There is only one thing that the convention says that should be done
right away - awareness-raising activities," Schindlmayr said. "These
activities would not cost a lot, would change people's minds and opinions
about disabilities, and would make the most significant change for the
lives of people with disabilities."
The United States, which played an important role in the negotiations that
led up to the convention, is not expected to sign it on Friday.
"Our view is that the U.S. actually already has in existence on the
federal level, the state level and the local level a very good framework
of laws and practices to assist citizens with disabilities," Paul Denig,
with the U.S. State Department, told The New Standard online newspaper
recently.
The framework Denig is referring to is the 1990 Americans with
Disabilities Act.
The new convention will enter into force when ratified by 20 countries.
(END)
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