In This Issue
IDA
Disability Rights Bulletin
July 2009
A Publication of the International Disability Alliance
• 11th Session of the UN Human Rights Council • International Day in Support of Victims of Torture • New General Comment on NonDiscrimination adopted by CESCR • UNHCR Special Session on persons with disabilities in displacement • Other news
Global News
• CRPD ratifications jump to 62 New ratifications of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities have increased the number of CRPD ratifications to 62. The United Kingdom ratified the Convention (not the Optional Protocol) on June 8 with a number of reservations. Belgium ratified the CRPD and the Optional Protocol on July 2. They were joined by the Syrian Arab Republic on July 10 and by Burkina Faso and Haiti on July 23. • Conference of States Parties of the CRPD The Second Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be held in New York on September 2-4. For more information on this event or to pre-register as an accredited NGO, please click here.
Human Rights Council News
• All UPR working group reports (4th session) adopted by the June 2009 Human Rights Council session include references to persons with disabilities and a number of countries have accepted recommendations on persons with disabilities (Germany, Canada, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Russia, Senegal and Mauritius) while several other States have not responded (Djibouti, Cuba, China, Nigeria and Jordan) to recommendations referring to persons with disabilities and Malaysia accepted some, but not all. For a detailed information on the disability references in the UPR working group reports adopted by the June 2009 session of the HRC, please click here. • Five out of 12 resolutions adopted by the June 2009 session of the Human Rights Council include a reference to persons with disabilities. The resolution on guidelines for the alternative care of children includes a number of references to children with disabilities, some of which are of concern to the IDA CRPD Forum and prove the need for a thorough consultation with the IDA CRPD Forum. For more detailed information on these resolutions, please click here.
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• Four out of the 15 special procedures which held interactive dialogues at the 11th Human Rights Council session (June 2009) included references to persons with disabilities: the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, the Independent Expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, the Special Representative to the Secretary General on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprise. While this is positive, it also shows that more efforts need to be done to mainstream the rights of persons with disabilities in the work of all special procedures and to ensure that, when doing do, they consult with organisations of persons with disabilities (DPOs). Please click here to access to more information on these reports. • The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 10/7 entitled “Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” decided to request the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to prepare a thematic study to enhance awareness on the structure and role of national mechanisms for the implementation and monitoring of the CRPD. IDA CRPD Forum encourages States Parties to submit a contribution to the study.
Special Procedures
• On June 26 2009, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, a number of independent experts from several United nations mechanisms have launched a joint call for enhancing the protection of persons with disabilities. Click here to find the text of this call.
Treaty Bodies
Upcoming Meetings
• The HRC will meet in Geneva from July 13 to 31, reviewing States Reports from Tanzania, Chad, Netherlands and Azerbaijan, all of which include some references to persons with disabilities. The list of issues prepared for Azerbaijan addresses persons with disabilities. The country task force meeting held in this session will look at Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand and Uzbekistan. Please click here to obtain more information. • Eleven State reports out of twelve that will be reviewed by the CEDAW Committee at their 44th session (New York, July 20 to August 2) include references to women with disabilities. The lists of issues sent to four of the States (Bhutan, Lao, Spain and Switzerland) also include references to women with disabilities and ten written replies to the lists of issues submitted by States Parties include references to women with disabilities. Please click here for more information.
• The CESCR Committee adopted at its last session (May 2009) a new General Comment number 20 on non-discrimination which includes a number2009 June of references to persons with disabilities. The IDA CRPD Forum and the CRPD Committee influenced the final text, as previous drafts of this General Comment were inconsistent with the • Magdalena Sepulveda, CRPD. Please click here for more United Nations Indepen- information on this. dent Expert on human rights and extreme pover- • CRPD Committee Chair ty, refers to persons with dis- Mohammed Al-Tarawneh was abilities as a group most likely elected Vice-Chairperson of the to be excluded from the labour Inter-Committee Meeting on market in her submission to the June 29, the first day of the ICM. UN General Assembly Confer- He and CRPD Committee memence on the economic and fi- ber Soledad Cisternas introduced nancial crisis and its impact on the CRPD to the other treaty body development which was held members and indicated that the on June 24-26 in New York. CRPD might require the reviClick here for the references sion of some previously adoptto persons with disabilities in ed General Comments adopted her submission. by other Committees to ensure consistency with the CRPD. • On Tuesday June 30, the IDA CRPD Forum made a short presentation at the annual coordination meeting UN Specialized Bodies, of special procedures, remindPrograms and Funds ing them about the Human Rights Council Resolution ad• United Nations High Comopted in 2008 which refers to missioner on Refugees (UNthe need to the mainstreamHCR) held a special session on ing of the rights of persons persons with disabilities in diswith disabilities in the work placement on June 30 as part of all special procedures. An of the annual UNHCR NGO Conincreasing number of special sultations meeting. The main procedures are in fact includoutcome of this session is the ing persons with disabilities in request for the adoption of an their reports, but more attenUNHCR Executive Committee tion should be paid to persons Conclusion in 2010. Please visit with disabilities in country visthe UNHCR website for more inits. formation.
Disability Rights Bulletin
About the IDA Disability Rights Bulletin
This bulletin is intended for experts advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities, in particular within the Geneva-based human rights framework. It is prepared by the IDA CRPD Forum, which also provides support to the Group of States Friends of the CRPD. For more information about IDA, its CRPD Forum and its member organisations, please visit:
www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org.
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