Author: Csenge Schőnviszky
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Republic of Korea: UN Committee against Torture Calls for Right to Remedy for Victims of Institutionalisation
On July 26, the UN Committee against Torture issued its Concluding Observations on the sixth periodic report of the Republic of Korea under the UN Convention against Torture. The Committee called on the Republic of Korea to provide remedies to victims of torture with disabilities affected by institutionalisation. In doing so, the Committee took an…
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Guardianship Overturned: Hungarian Court Recognises Young Man’s Autonomy
In March, Validity achieved a victory for a young man with disabilities when a Hungarian appeals court replaced his guardianship by supports in decision-making. Bence, a 31-year-old Hungarian man, experienced a profound shift in his life following the death of his grandmother, his primary support person, in 2018. Before her passing, Bence enjoyed a life…
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Unveiling Injustice – Conference and new reports launched
Today, in collaboration with the Network of Independent Experts-NIE and the KERA Foundation, the Validity Foundation launched two major reports in Sofia, Bulgaria, during an international conference titled “Unveiling Injustice: Deinstitutionalisation and intersectionality in disability rights.” One of the reports is the outcome of a series of pre-unannounced monitoring visits, which we conducted to 14…
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The European Committee of Social Rights publishes a new decision against Czechia concerning the use of cage beds
The European Committee of Social Rights, in a decision of 14 February 2024, has delivered a verdict addressing severe human rights violations in Czechia. This decision follows a meticulous examination prompted by a complaint filed in 2019 by the Validity Foundation in partnership with the Forum for Human Rights, highlighting the egregious use of cage…
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The European Committee of Social Rights requests that Council of Europe Member States introduce proper inclusive education and deinstitutionalisation processes.
At the end of March 2024, the European Committee of Social Rights published its Conclusions 2023 and Findings 2023 and called on Council of Europe Member States to introduce proper inclusive education and deinstitutionalisation processes. The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) published its 2023 Conclusions in respect of the articles of the European Social…
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Empowering Advocacy: Ivana Jankovic’s impactful week with Validity in Budapest
Validity had the honour of hosting Ivana Jankovic, a passionate young disabled activist, for a week as part of the Youth Leadership Programme organised by the European Network on Independent Living. Joining us from her come country Montenegro, Ivana has been actively involved in the disability rights movement since her early youth, with a focus…
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Mexico: Validity intervenes before the National Supreme Court of Justice to argue coercive psychiatric treatment violates CRPD
In November 2023, Validity submitted an Amicus Curiae in a trial initiated by Documenta which concerns the involuntary hospitalization and treatment of 90 women with disabilities in a psychiatric hospital in Mexico. The unlawful treatment and detention of these women clearly raised issues of a general nature regarding the impact on the enjoyment of human…
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Strengthening the rights of victims with disabilities
Validity and the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) have published a joint submission to the European Commission in response to the redraft of the Victims’ Rights Directive. Our work and research over many years have shown how victims with disabilities are all but invisible in the justice system – see in particular the Voices…
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Access to justice for defendants with disabilities: ENABLE project national reports are out
Validity and its ENABLE project* partners spent the previous six months researching the barriers defendants with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities face in the criminal justice process in eight EU countries (BG, CZ, ES, LT, PT, RO, SI, SK). The study included both desk research and field work, and it examined the national legal and political…
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UN Human Rights Committee condemns Bulgaria for seriously violating the rights to life, freedom from torture and ill-treatment, and respect for inherent dignity
On 15 March 2023, the Human Rights Committee, the United Nations body that monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its States parties, issued a decision, so-called views, in communication No. 3171/2018 and condemned Bulgaria for violating the Covenant. The communication was drafted by lawyers of the Bulgarian Network…