Category: Campaigns

Disability Rights During the Coronavirus Pandemic: Launch of the COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor

in Article, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Campaigns, Czech Republic, Hungary, I’m A Person, Kenya, Lithuania, Moldova, My Home, My Choice, Poland, Romania, Russia, Schools For All, Slovakia, Slovenia, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zambia

Evidence is emerging that persons with disabilities are being disproportionately affected by the Coronavirus pandemic and emergency measures being taken by governments worldwide. As governments rush to respond to the virus, it is more critical than ever to guarantee that measures taken are fully inclusive of persons with disabilities and prevent human rights violations from…
PRESS RELEASE: UN finds Hungary responsible for “grave and systematic violations” of disability rights, condemns mass institutionalisation funded by the EU

in Article, Campaigns, Content type, Countries, Hungary, I’m A Person, My Home, My Choice, Press Release, Schools For All

The United Nations has today found Hungary responsible for “grave and systematic” violations of the human rights of persons with disabilities in the country. In a report released today, the UN found the country in flagrant breach of international law for placing people with disabilities in institutions, aided by the European Union which has provided…
Covid-19: Urgent application before French Conseil d’Etat on rights to life and freedom of persons with disabilities

in Article, I’m A Person, My Home, My Choice, Press Release, Uncategorised

JOINT STATEMENT Collectif pour la Liberté d’Expression des Autistes and Validity are concerned about the French government’s decision to confine persons in medical and social care institutions that host persons with disabilities. Confronted by massive violations of fundamental rights, particularly the rights to freedom, protection from arbitrary detention and the rights to life and dignity,…
Hungary: Validity expresses concern that European anti-torture committee wrongly supports transinstitutionalisation of persons with disabilities

in Article, Hungary, My Home, My Choice, Uncategorised

Last week, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) released a report following its monitoring visit to the country during 2018. The body, which has the mandate to conduct rolling inspections of places of detention across the Council of Europe, visited Hungarian prisons, police stations and social care homes, including the infamous Szentgotthárd…
Hungary, Topház: Names of public guardians of persons with disabilities must be made available on request

in Article, Hungary, My Home, My Choice, Uncategorised

Hungarian court orders the Guardianship Authority to disclose to Validity the names and addresses of the public guardians responsible for the 220 victims of torture and ill-treatment in Topház social care institution. More than 25,000 people with disabilities live in residential social care institutions in Hungary, most of them placed there against their will. These…
‘Urgently close Topház’ – says the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

in Article, Hungary, My Home, My Choice

18 February 2020, Budapest. Last week the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee) published its Concluding Observations for Hungary. In November 2018, the CRC Committee requested the Hungarian Government to submit information on how Hungary has progressed on implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Child to which the…
Czechia: Validity and Forum for Human Rights call for abolition of “netted cage beds”

in Article, Czech Republic, My Home, My Choice

In December, Validity and Forum for Human Rights filed an international complaint against the use of netted cage beds in psychiatric hospitals in the Czech Republic. The case, which was filed at the European Committee of Social Rights, tackles the ongoing use of this practice which conflicts with international human rights law. Read the full…
Moldova: Doctor guilty of raping 18 women, compensation ordered

in Article, Moldova, My Home, My Choice

Eighteen women who were systematically sexually abused by their doctor at the Balti institution for a period of almost a decade in Moldova have finally achieved justice. Earlier this month, the Moldovan Supreme Court pronounced judgment in one of the most grievous cases of gender-based violence Validity has come across. Following 6 years of litigation,…
All children have the right to family – joint position statement

in My Home, My Choice, Uncategorised

All children have the right to family life, yet children with disabilities are disproportionately deprived of this right. The reasons are multiple, including the lack of practical and financial support to families with children with disabilities, governments failing to invest in community-based services, and a strong push by professionals to place children in specialised institutional…
Romania: Justice denied for Ştefan Stoian after a decade of legal action

in Article, Campaigns, Content type, Countries, Romania, Schools For All

Earlier this week, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Ştefan Stoian, a young man with quadriplegia, who took a case against Romania for denial of his right to education. The disappointing verdict came after almost a decade of legal action to secure the supports he needs to participate in mainstream schools. The judgment…