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Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee, 29 July - 9 August 2002 : NGO Bulletins : Disability Negotiations Bulletin #9 August 9, 2002 Today's Weather Forecast Mostly sunny High: 81º F/ 29ºC  Low: 63º F/23ºC Exchange Rate 10 US Dollars Norwegian Kroner (NOK) = 77.09 Canadian Dollar (CAD) = 15.807 Chilean Peso (CLP) = 7,010.8 South African Rand (ZAR) = 104.35 Ad Hoc Committee Meeting Today's Schedule: 9:00 - 9:45am & 1:00 - 1:45pm Disability Caucus Conference Room D 10am  - 1pm & 3pm - 6pm Ad Hoc Committee Meeting Conference Room 4 2:30 pm NGO Briefing Chairman Conference Room D Thanks to the following organizations for providing translations: French Disabled Peoples’ Int’l Japanese Japan Council on Disability Spanish Mexico Disability Office Inter-American Institute on Disability Maria Veronica Reina Emmanuelle Gutierrez SPECIAL THANKS Sponsorship for today’s Disability Negotiations Bulletin was provided by DPI. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Open Letter to the Delegates Acknowledgment of the Bureau Human Rights and Global Realities Disabled Peoples'  International (DPI) National Institutions and Their Role A New UN Voluntary Fund? Open Letter to the Delegates WILL THEY OR WON’T THEY? As the work of the Ad Hoc Committee ends, people with disabilities still face the same question we did two weeks ago: Will the Committee recommend to the General Assembly that urgent work be undertaken to elaborate a human rights convention for persons with disabilities? As this final Disability Bulletin goes to press we still have no answer. Return to top Acknowledgement of the Bureau The Disability Caucus applauds the positive involvement of the Bureau of the Ad Hoc Committee. Members of the Bureau have, both individually and collectively, made a tremendous effort to act in the spirit of inclusion. In view of the progress made and in the interests of continuity, the disability community respectfully invites each of the members of the Bureau to continue in this vital role and invites the States to endorse this invitation. Return to top Human Rights and Global Realities The Right: People with disabilities have the right to live with their families, marry, have intimate relationships and raise their own families. The Reality: People with developmental disabilities in Michigan in the United States are prohibited under the Michigan criminal code from marrying, having children, or having intimate relationships. The Reality: The Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission reported more than 1,000 sterilization operations on girls with developmental disabilities between 1991 and 1997. Of these, 17 had court approval. Commissioner Elizabeth Hastings reported that there was some anecdotal evidence from the national health scheme that in some cases doctors had listed their work as surgery for appendicitis or other conditions. The Right: People with disabilities have the right to the equal opportunity to gain employment. They have the right to do work freely chosen by them, and the right to receive fair pay and favorable working conditions for that work. The Reality: Messrs. Boonmul and Klubprasert, both attorneys with disabilities in Thailand, were legally prohibited from taking a test to become judicial officials because they are disabled. An appeals court judge was quoted as saying that society expects a judge to be “graceful.” The Reality: A recent decision by the United States Supreme Court found that it is permissible for employers not to hire a person with a disability, if the work involved might be a threat to that person’s health. In other words, people with disabilities in the U.S. do not have the right to decide whether they wish to perform hazardous work. The Right: People with disabilities have the right to a nationality, and to move freely within the countries where they live. The Reality: Many people with disabilities are discriminated against in their access to public transport. Michael Watson, an electric wheelchair user in the UK was refused access to trains operated by Central Trains, despite the fact that he had contacted the company in advance to check accessibility, and he had used similar trains operated by other companies. Return to top Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) The purpose of Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) is to promote the Human Rights of People with Disabilities through full participation, equalization of opportunity and development. DPI is a grassroots, cross-disability network with member organizations in over 160 countries, over half of which are in the developing world. DPI is administrated through the headquarters in Winnipeg, Canada and through eight Regional Development Offices. DPI has consultative status with the ECOSOC, UNESCO and the ILO, and has official observer status at the United Nations General Assembly. The main functions of DPI are Development, Human Rights, Communications, Advocacy and Public Education. Disabled Peoples’ International, 101 – 7 Evergreen Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3L 2T3, Canada E-mail: dpi@dpi.org Return to top SPECIAL THANKS A very special thanks to Leo Valdes, founding Director of World Enable, who has posted all of the Disability Negotiations Bulletins and Daily Summaries from the Ad Hoc Committee Meeting on his website. To access a copy of any of these documents, go to www.worldenable.net/rights, or there is a prominent link on the home page, www.worldenable.net. A special thanks also to Clint Rapley with DESA for helping to coordinate this effort. National Institutions and Their Role The realization of human rights will not be achieved through legislation or administrative regulation alone. To assist in effectively implementing international legal obligations, the U.N. has called for the establishment of independent national bodies. This “call” can be found in the Human Rights Commission’s 1991 Paris Principles and the 1993 General Assembly resolution “National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.” The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights strongly supports effective protection of human rights of persons with disabilities and has established a technical assistance program to implement the principles contained in these documents. The High Commissioner’s program involves active assistance in the development of national institutions, including: promoting the concept of national institutions; strengthening institutions by conducting training; information on the effective investigation of human rights institutions; training in conflict of resolution; advice on domestic implementation of international instruments; training and assistance in drafting reports for relevant U.N. treaty bodies; training and information on the effective investigation of human rights violations; training in conflict resolution; assistance in establishing partnerships; information on obtaining and managing resources; assistance in conducting reviews and evaluations; and the provision of human rights fellows to assist in staffing national institutions. These institutions have different models including “human rights commissions”, ombudsmen, or specialized bodies dedicated to specific, usually vulnerable, groups. Charlotte McClain, who is an advisor to the South African delegation at the Ad Hoc Meeting has stated that “[n]ational institutions have a critical role to play because their mandates include the protection of human rights of all citizens and that includes the rights of people with disabilities. . . . Also, the added value . . . [national institutions] bring is that their role is to monitor international instruments at the domestic level, so their inclusion in the process of developing a convention such as this is logical, more importantly, necessary.” National institutions can also play an important part in the negotiation of a treaty on disability rights. The Director of the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons in South Africa, Sebenzile Matsebula, has stated that “[t]he importance of working with national institutions is that when the convention comes out they will play a key role in monitoring. As such, during the development [of the convention] we need them on board so they can identify critical areas.” While the number of independent national institutions has substantially increased over past few years, there still remains much work to do in sensitizing these bodies on viewing disability as a human rights issue. Return to top A New UN Voluntary Fund? In order for the Ad-hoc Committee process to continue moving forward, the creation of an effective funding instrument to ensure full participation is essential. Many options could be pursued; one approach would be to create a new UN Voluntary Fund to help underwrite the cost of continued participation by both NGOs and government delegations in our ongoing discussions related to the elaboration of a convention. If a Voluntary Fund is established governments, civil society and the private sector would be asked to contribute, while the UN would manage the fund and ensure accountability and transparency. NGOs and delegations in need of financial assistance could apply to this fund, thereby assuring their continued participation in the process. Through whatever means necessary, NGOs join the call by many delegations to consider the most effective way to continue the useful collaboration between delegations and civil society that has been so evident here over the past two weeks. We look forward to continuing our work together and urge all interested parties to move quickly to establish an effective mechanism. The International NGOs who have participated in producing this daily bulletin would be happy to assist Governments in reaching out to other NGOs in their own countries. If you are interested in contacting NGOs in your country, please contact any member of the publication staff listed below. Return to top Supporting Organizations and Publication Staff This Bulletin is supported by the following group of non-governmental organizations, who are committed to the development of a strong and effective international convention on the human rights of people with disabilities and a process for its development that is transparent, inclusive and participatory. If your organization would like to add its name to this group, please contact Elaine Belmear at ebelmear@landminesurvivors.org. If you have suggestions for the Bulletin, please contact a member of the Publication Staff. American Association of People with Disabilities American Council of the Blind Center for International Rehabilitation China Disabled Persons’ Federation Council of Canadians with Disabilities Disability Awareness in Action Disabled Peoples’ International European Disability Forum Inclusion International Inter-American Institute on Disability Israeli Association Against Psychiatric Assault Japanese Federation of the Deaf Landmine Survivors Network Mental Disability Rights International Not Dead Yet North Saskatchewan Independent Living Centre Inc. People Who Rehabilitation International Support Coalition International United States International Council on Disabilities World Blind Union World Federation of the Deaf World Federation of the Deafblind World Federation of Mental Health World Institute on Disability World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry Publication staff: Joelle Balfe, Campaign Development Group, USA Elaine Belmear, Landmine Survivors Network, USA Rosangela Berman-Bieler, Inter-American Institute on Disability, Brazil Steven Estey, Disabled Peoples’ International, Canada Richard Light, Disability Awareness in Action, UK, (DPI Representative) Janet E. Lord, Landmine Survivors Network, USA Kicki Nordstrom, World Blind Union, Sweden Return to top