Human Rights. YES! Action and Advocacy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
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Human Rights. YES! Action and Advocacy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Janet E. Lord, Katherine N. Guernsey, Joelle M. Balfe & Valerie L. Karr Nancy Flowers, Editor HUMAN RIGHT EDUCATION SERIES Topic Book 6 A Publication of the University of Minnesota Human Rights Resource Center Developed and Coordinated by Blue Law, LLP in partnership with Disabled Peoples’ International Funded by Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs Copyright © 2007 Human Rights Resource Center, University of Minnesota ISBN: 0-96-75334-4-5 Human Rights. YES! may be reproduced without permission for educational purposes only. Excerpted or adapted material from this publication must include full citation of the source. To reproduce for any other purposes, a written request must be submitted to the Human Rights Center, University of Minnesota. 3HUPLVVLRQLVJUDQWHGIRUQRQJRYHUQPHQWDORUJDQL]DWLRQVDQGQRQSUR¿WJURXSVWRWUDQVODWH into languages other than Arabic, French, and Spanish. The only conditions for other language versions are 1) that the language of the United Nations bodies appears in its entirely, 2) that no human rights are deleted, and 3) that the Human Rights Resource Center receive D QRWL¿FDWLRQRILQWHQWLRQWRWUDQVODWHE DKDUGFRS\RIWKHWUDQVODWLRQDQGF DQHOHFWURQLF version of the translation and permission to make it available on its website and on www.humanrightsyes.org. University of Minnesota Human Rights Center 229 19th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55455 1-888-HREDUC8 [email protected] http://www.hrusa.org About the Human Rights Education Series The Human Rights Education Series is published by the University of Minnesota Human Rights Resource Center. Edited by Nancy Flowers, the series provides resources for the ever- growing body of educators and activists working to build a culture of human rights in the United States and throughout the world. Other publications in the series include: Human Rights Here and Now: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Rights: Human Rights A Human Rights Perspective edited by Nancy Flowers by David M. Donahue Economic and Social Justice: The Human Rights Education Handbook: A Human Rights Perspective Effective Practices for Learning, Action, and by David Shiman Change by Nancy Flowers Raising Children with Roots, Rights and Responsibilities: Lifting the Spirit: Celebrating the UN Convention on the Rights Human Rights and Freedom of Religion or of the Child Belief by Lori DuPont, Joanne Foley, and by the Tandem Project and Annette Gagliardi Human Rights Resource Center Cover Art: Muhammad Al Malki. Human Rights. YES! TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD by Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights…………… iii INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………... viii PART 1: UNDERSTANDING DISABILITY AS A HUMAN RIGHT……………….………. 1 PART 2: THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Chapter 1 Equality and Non-discrimination ……………………………………. 24 Chapter 2 Accessibility …………………………………………………………… 36 Chapter 3 The Right to Participation in Political and Public Life …………….. 49 Chapter 4 Freedom of Expression and Opinion..……..……………………….. 60 Chapter 5 The Right to Life and Protection in Situations of Risk .………….... 70 Chapter 6 Freedom from Torture and Other Forms of Abuse .….………….... 83 Chapter 7 Privacy, Integrity, Home, and the Family …………………………... 96 Chapter 8 The Right to Health .………………………..……………………….. 108 Chapter 9 The Right to Habilitation and Rehabilitation ……………………… 127 Chapter 10 The Right to Work ……………………………..……………………. 138 Chapter 11 Living Independently and with Dignity in the Community ………. 148 Chapter 12 Access to Justice ….……..…………………..…….……………….. 158 Chapter 13 The Right to Education ……………….…..……….….……………. 165 Chapter 14 The Right to Participation in Sport and Culture .…….…………… 176 Chapter 15 The Human Rights of Children with Disabilities ...…………….…. 191 Chapter 16 Non-discrimination and Equality for Women with Disabilities ….. 206 Chapter 17 The Rights of Other Populations ……………...……………………219 PART 3: ADVOCACY! TAKING ACTION FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES………………………………………………………………………………….. 229 ANNEXES: 1. Human Rights Documents……………………. ………………..………..….. 244 x Full Text Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) ………………244 x Plain Language UDHR ………………………………………………………249 x Summary UDHR …………………………………………………………….. 252 x Full Text Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ………..253 x Plain Language CRPD ………………………………………………………274 x Summary CRPD …………………………………………………………….. 286 x List of Human Rights Instruments ………………………………………….290 2. Facilitating Human Rights Education………………..……….…………….. 291 3. General Resources………………..…………………………………………….299 4. Glossary ………………..………………………………………………………...300 5. Topic Index …………..………………………………………………………......306 ABOUT THE PROJECT PARTNERS Advocating Change Together (ACT) is a grassroots disability rights organization run by and for people with developmental and other disabilities. ACT’s mission is to help people across disabilities see themselves as part of a larger disability rights movement and make connections with other civil and human rights efforts. Blue Law, LLP is a service-disabled, veteran-owned law firm specializing in international law and international development programming. Based in Washington, DC, Blue Law's human rights and disability practice group works with disabled peoples organizations, international human rights institutions, and governments to advance disability inclusion in international development programming worldwide. Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) is the only global, grassroots, cross-disability network of national organizations and assemblies of persons with disabilities. The goals of DPI are to advance the human rights of persons with disabilities through full participation, equalization of opportunity and development; promotion of the economic and social integration of persons with disabilities; and development of and support to disabled peoples’ organizations (DPOs). Established in 1981 and based in St. John’s, Canada, DPI has a presence in more than 140 countries. The Harvard Project on Disability (HPOD), located at Harvard Law School, is an interdisciplinary law and policy center dedicated to improving the circumstances of persons with disabilities, primarily through implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities. HPOD advises governments and national human rights institutions regarding domestic disability laws and policies, provides capacity building and human rights training to international and local disabled persons and their representative organizations, and conducts academic research. HPOD acknowledges support from a grant by the Foundation Open Society Institute (Zug). The University of Minnesota Human Rights Resource Center, an integral part of the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center, works to create and distribute human rights education via electronic and print media; to train activists, professionals, and students as human rights educators; and to build advocacy networks to encourage effective practices in human rights education. ABOUT THE PROJECT FUNDER The Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs, located in Doha, Qatar, is a Center of Excellence designed to provide comprehensive services to children with developmental disabilities, their families and the community. Established as an initiative of the Chairperson of the Supreme Council of Family Affairs, Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Bin Abdullah Al-Missned, the Shafallah Center reflects her belief in the vitality and importance of the family’s and the child's role in society. The Center provides state-of-the-art services, educational facilities, and a dedicated staff to enable students to learn, grow, and integrate successfully into their community. The Shafallah Center’s dedication to the human rights of all persons with disabilities is clearly demonstrated by its very generous support of all stages of the development of Human Rights. YES! educational materials FOREWORD BY THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS On current estimates, one in ten people lives with a disability. Of these, a high proportion live in poverty, on the margins of society, and their rights are all too often breached. In many cases, people are simply unaware that they have rights and unaware of the opportunities that exist to combat inequality and bring about positive change. The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol has provided us with the means to shift disabling attitudes and environments in society and empower persons with disabilities to realize their rights. Now is the time to bring this new Convention home, to people, and I believe that “Human Rights. YES!” offers a much-needed tool to achieve this. The curriculum is an accessible and easy-to-use training manual and provides a major resource for human rights advocates and practitioners to strengthen advocacy and human rights education. The division of the training material into three chapters – elaborating upon the human rights context of disability, a right-by-right explanation of the Convention and plans for future advocacy and action – comprehensively covers the human rights of persons, focusing in particular on the new Convention but drawing also from the body of law and experience of the broader human rights system. Importantly, each unit encourages participants in the course to make commitments to promote respect for the rights of persons