Human Rights and Disability Advocacy
Penulis
: Maya Sabatello and Marianne Schulze
Subyek
: People with disabilities—Civil rights—History, People with disabilities—Legal
status, laws, Human rights advocacy—History, Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol (2007 March 30), Nongovernmental
organizations—Political activity
Penerbit
: University of Pennsylvania Press
Ringkasan :Th e UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities came into
force on Saturday 3 May 2008, thirty days aft er the twentieth nation had
deposited its documents of ratifi cation with the United Nations (Article
45(1)). It had taken relatively little time for twenty countries to ratify the
CRPD since it was opened for signing in March 2007, and remarkably, when
France deposited its document of ratifi cation in February 2010, it became
the eightieth nation to do so.
Th e CRPD takes a rather modern and pragmatic approach to the rights
of us persons with disabilities. First, Article 3 sets forth eight key principles,
including nondiscrimination and equality, with my favorite principle being
inherent dignity. Second, as well as including civil and po liti cal rights, it also
encompasses economic, social, and cultural rights. Th us, the rights to adequate
health information and care and education come squarely within the
scope of the CRPD. Th ird, the special plight of women and children with
disabilities are recognized in Articles 6 and 7 of the CRPD. In other words,
as well as having the burden of disability, women and children are also discriminated
on the grounds of sex or age. Finally, although Article 35 requires
states parties to periodically report in much the same way as do the other
UN treaty bodies, the CRPD goes farther by requiring them to establish a
domestic body to both monitor and implement the CRPD. Under Article 33,
as well as erecting one or more focal points in government, states parties are
required to establish a framework to monitor and implement the CRPD. Th is
framework may contain human rights agencies, but two other groups must
be represented. Th ey are disabled people’s organizations and persons with
disabilities acting in their individual capacities. In a book of this nature, it is
not for its preface to chart the history of the CRPD. However, it is essential to appreciate that the “movers and shakers” for the CRPD were civil society,
that is, DPOs and persons with disabilities. Without the expertise and pressure
from civil society that changed the minds of many governments, I venture to
conclude that we would not have this convention at the present time.
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