Category: Uncategorised
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COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor (DRM) calls for an end to police violence and abuse against persons with disabilities and their family members
Easy-to-read version: Click here The COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor Coordinating Group express their alarm about increasing police violence against persons with disabilities in the context of the pandemic, and are calling on governments around the world to take urgent steps to prevent acts of brutality. Early in the COVID-19 global pandemic, the global community and…
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Romanian Constitutional Court says plenary guardianship is unconstitutional
This month, the Constitutional Court of Romania declared that Article 164(1) of the Civil Code addressing ‘judicial interdiction’ for adults with disabilities is unconstitutional. Judicial interdiction is a legal term that is also known as ‘full guardianship’ or ‘plenary guardianship’ under which adults with disabilities are denied the right to make decisions about their own…
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European Union: UN Special Rapporteurs on Disability and Housing Express Concern Over Systematic Misuse of EU Funds to Promote Disability-Based Institutionalisation Across Europe
Brussels and Budapest, 23 July 2020 – Two senior United Nations (UN) experts have expressed concern about numerous instances of EU funding being used to finance the maintenance and expansion of institutions for persons with disabilities across the continent, in violation of international human rights law. UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with…
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‘I’m finally free!’: Moldovan courts quash guardianship order in favour of support
Following almost a decade of legal action, Natalia Sitova, our client from Moldova, achieved victory at the Chisinau Court of Appeal, in a claim to regain her autonomy which was discriminatorily restricted on the basis of her disability. “Natalia has always considered herself as able to act on her own behalf. She can, directly,…
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Covid-19: Urgent application before French Conseil d’Etat on rights to life and freedom of persons with disabilities
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,…
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Hungary: Validity expresses concern that European anti-torture committee wrongly supports transinstitutionalisation of persons with disabilities
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…
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Hungary, Topház: Names of public guardians of persons with disabilities must be made available on request
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…
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Kenya: Mental Health Advocates Call for Inclusive Process of Reform
People with psychosocial disabilities in Kenya have demanded a seat at the table in national consultations aimed at reforming the country’s outdated mental health legislation. Late last year, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the establishment of a ‘Mental Health Taskforce’ under the Ministry of Health to develop comprehensive proposals for reform. In line with this…
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NGOs Take European Commission to Court for Funding Segregation of Disabled Persons in Bulgaria
PRESS RELEASE – For immediate release (български) For the first time in history, three disability rights organisations have initiated Court proceedings against the European Commission for failing to halt EU infrastructure funding being used by Bulgaria to build institutions for persons with disabilities. Case T-613/19, pending before the EU General Court in Luxembourg, challenges the Decision…
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All children have the right to family – joint position statement
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…