CRPD

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Human rights

WNUSP Newsletter

CRPD

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 13, 2006, and entered into force on May 3, 2008. WNUSP was very happy with the resulting text. We will be updating these materials as soon as possible.

News update

Two important documents have come out from the United Nations that support WNUSP's advocacy.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak says, "The acceptance of involuntary confinement and involuntary treatment runs counter to the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" and that these practices may constitute torture or ill-treatment.

Read the report and materials from an expert seminar on torture and persons with disabilities, including a presentation by WNUSP co-chair Tina Minkowitz

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/disability/torture.htm

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says, "Deprivation of liberty based on disability is contrary to international human rights law, is intrinsically discriminatory, and is therefore unlawful. Such unlawfulness also extends to situations where additional grounds - such as the need for care, treatment and the safety of the person or the community - are used to justify deprivation of liberty." OHCHR interviewed WNUSP members Myra Kovary and Karl Bach Jensen about their personal experiences of detention, in connection with Dignity and Justice for Detainees Week, Oct. 6 - 12, 2008.

Read the Information Note on Persons with Disabilities in Detention and other materials

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/DetaineesWeekInitiative.aspx

Position papers

Position paper on the principles for the protection of persons with mental illness
The World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP) voted at its July 2001 General Assembly in Vancouver to call for the United Nations General Assembly to revoke the Principles.
Read the paper here.