WORLD NETWORK OF USERS AND SURVIVORS OF PSYCHIATRY

Proposed text for inclusion in a convention on the rights of people with disabilities

Obligations

1.  Any international or national legal provision and/or administrative arrangement or decision in contravention with or derogation of the provisions of this convention shall be deemed void ab initio.

Freedom from torture, right to life, liberty, bodily and mental integrity

2.  Every human being is a person.  The status of personhood shall not be deprived on account of actual or perceived disability.

3.  No person shall be deprived of the right to life or the right to reproductive choice on account of actual or perceived disability.

4.  No person shall be detained, interned or confined involuntarily on account of actual or perceived disability.

5.  (a) Unwanted medical or related interventions, and/or corrective surgeries, shall not be imposed on persons with disabilities.

(b) Persons with disabilities have the same right to self-determination as persons without disability, including the right to accept or refuse treatment.

6.  Medical and/or related interventions shall not be used for the purposes of coercion, intimidation, punishment, obtaining information or a confession, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind.

7.  No research shall be done on persons with disabilities absent their free informed consent.  Research done in the disability field, and with persons with disabilities as subjects, shall conform to the standards of the Nuremberg Code.

8.  All violence against people with disabilities shall be severely punished, whether it is done under state authority or otherwise, including violence in the home or by caregivers.  Violence includes actions in violation of articles 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 above, other physical assault, sexual assault, deprivation of food and water, etc.

Equality under the law

9.  Laws regulating civil status and rights, civic obligations and punishment of crimes shall not differentiate between people on account of actual or perceived disability.

10.  No person shall be deprived of the legal capacity to assert rights in her or his own behalf, having particular regard to the rights enumerated in this Convention.

11.  Coercive public health powers, for instance to vaccinate or quarantine, shall not be used to retaliate or discriminate against people with disabilities.

Association and privacy

12.  Persons with disabilities have the right to not have medical records or other records related to the disability disclosed to third parties without the person’s prior consent.

13.  (a) Persons with disabilities have the right to choice in living accommodations, such as the choice whether to establish a household as a single person or to establish a household with others of the person’s own choosing, and the right to not reside in an institutional facility.

(b) In order to facilitate exercise of this right, states shall ensure that persons with disabilities have an assured adequate income to maintain themselves in their own households, access to housing, and access to non-institutional services.

14.  Persons with disabilities have the right to privacy in their homes or places of residence, including the right to choose and direct caregivers.

15.  Persons with disabilities have the right to form families and to become parents, and to exercise parental rights and responsibilities, free from any form of discrimination.

Participation and dignity

16.  Persons with disabilities have the same right as persons without disability to decent and respectful interactions.

17.  (a) Persons with disabilities have the same right as persons without disability to meaningful participation in all matters that affect them. Specifically for service programs that means significant participation in formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

(b) The disability perspective shall be mainstreamed in all aspects of public affairs, assessment of public needs and development of public services.

18.  (a) Persons with disabilities have the right to have access to mass media to promote disability-affirmative cultural values.

(b) Hate speech against persons with disabilities shall be punished.

Housing and other basic necessities

19.  (a) Persons with disabilities have the right to enjoy access to the basic necessities of life for themselves and their families, including food, water, clothing, health care, personal care items, and housing as an independent household, and the right to an assured income that is sufficient to meet these needs.  Services, devices and assistance for disability-related needs shall also be considered basic necessities of life for persons with disabilities.

(b) Nothing in this article shall be interpreted to allow imposing any service or assistance on any person contrary to her or his own wishes. 

20.  Persons with disabilities have the right to temporarily leave their homes and enter a facility by choice for treatment or rehabilitation or respite, and to return to their former homes on completion of that purpose.

Employment

21.  (a) Persons with disabilities have the right to work at an occupation of their choosing, the right to receive equal pay for equal work, the right to non-discrimination in all aspects of employment and collective bargaining arrangements, and the right to reasonable accommodation in the workplace.

(b) Reasonable accommodation in workplace includes, inter alia, flexibility in schedule, job routines, supervision and training, and leaves of absence.

Health care

22.  Persons with disabilities have the right to have access to a full range of health care and to exercise choice with respect to every aspect of their health care.

Monitoring of institutions

23.  Persons with disabilities who reside in institutional facilities retain all the rights enumerated in this Convention, including the right to leave the institution if they so choose.  National human rights institutions shall have the power and authority to inspect such facilities and enforce the observance of this Convention within them.

Non-discrimination and reasonable accommodation

24.  Discrimination against people with disabilities in all its forms, including discrimination by public entities or in the provision of public services, shall be prohibited by law.

25.  Disabled people have the right to enjoy access to goods and services on an equal basis with non-disabled people, and to participate on an equal basis in all governmental services and programs.  Reasonable accommodation of persons with disabilities shall be provided to ensure such access and participation, and to ensure non-discrimination. 

Persons entitled to claim rights

26.  Any person with a disability, and any person subjected to adverse treatment on account of actual or perceived disability, or who has a record or history of either of the above, is entitled to claim rights under this Convention.

27.  All types of disability are included under this Convention, whether physical, sensory, intellectual, mental, emotional or psychosocial, visible or invisible, and of temporary, permanent, intermittent or undetermined duration.