The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - the main provisions relating to ensuring the accessibility of social infrastructure and services for persons with disabilities. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol entered into force on 3 May 2008. Signed the Convention and Russia. However, many people with handicapped misunderstand its purpose. Let's try, at least on the eve of the Day of Persons with Disabilities, to briefly consider the main provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Guidelines of the Convention
There are eight guiding principles that underlie the Convention and each of its specific articles:
a. Respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, personal autonomy, including the freedom to make one's own choices, and the independence of persons
b. Non-discrimination
c. Full and effective integration into society
d. Respect for differences and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity
e. Equality of Opportunity
f. Availability
g. Equality between men and women
h. Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities to maintain their identity
"What is the purpose of the convention?" Don McKay, chairman of the committee that negotiated its adoption, said that its main task is to develop in detail the rights of persons with disabilities and work out ways to implement them.
Countries that have acceded to the Convention must themselves develop and implement policies, laws and administrative measures to ensure the rights enshrined in the Convention and the abolition of laws, regulations, practices that are discriminatory (Article 4).
Changing the perception of the very concept of disability has importance to improve the situation of persons with disabilities, the ratification of the Convention by countries in order to combat stereotypes and prejudices, and to raise awareness of the possibilities of people with disabilities (Article 8).
Countries must ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy their inalienable right to life on an equal basis with others (Article 10), as well as the equal rights and advancement of women and girls with disabilities (Article 6) and the protection of children with disabilities (Article 7) .
Children with disabilities should have equal rights, should not be separated from their parents against their will, except when the social welfare authorities determine that it is in the best interests of the child, and in no case should be separated from their parents, on on the basis of the disability of the child or parents (Article 23).
Countries must recognize that all people are equal before the law in order to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability and guarantee equal legal protection (Article 5).
Countries must ensure equal rights to own and inherit property, control financial affairs and have equal access to bank loans and mortgages (Article 12). Equality consists in ensuring access to justice on an equal footing with others (Article 13), persons with disabilities have the right to freedom and security, and not be deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily (Article 14).
Countries must protect the physical and mental integrity of persons with disabilities as they do for everyone else (Article 17), guarantee freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and prohibit medical or scientific experimentation without the consent of the disabled person or their guardians (Article 15).
Laws and administrative measures must guarantee freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse. In the event of abuse, States must facilitate the recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims and the investigation of abuse (art. 16).
Persons with disabilities may not be subject to arbitrary or unlawful interference with their privacy, family life, home, correspondence or communication. The confidentiality of their personal, medical and rehabilitation information must be protected in the same way as other members of the public (Article 22).
Responding to the fundamental question of accessibility to the physical environment (Article 9), the Convention requires countries to take action to identify and remove obstacles and barriers, and to ensure that persons with disabilities can access transport, public spaces and services, and information and communication technologies.
Persons with disabilities must be able to live independently, be included in public life, choose where and with whom to live and have access to housing and services (art. 19). Personal mobility and independence must be ensured through the promotion of personal mobility, training in mobility skills and access to freedom of movement, assistive technology and household assistance (Article 20).
Countries recognize the right to an adequate standard of living and social protection. This includes public housing, needs-related disability services and assistance, and disability-related expenses in case of poverty (Article 28).
Countries should facilitate access to information by making information available to the general public in accessible formats and technology, by promoting the use of Braille, sign language and other forms of communication, and by encouraging the media and ISPs to make online information available. available formats (Article 21).
Discrimination regarding marriage, family and personal relationships must be eliminated. Persons with disabilities should have equal opportunities for fatherhood and motherhood, marriage and the right to found a family, decide on the number of children, have access to reproductive health and family planning services, education, and enjoy equal rights and responsibilities in relation to guardianship and guardianship , guardianship and adoption of children (Article 23).
States should promote equal access to primary and secondary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning. Education should be carried out using appropriate materials, methods and forms of communication. Students in need of support measures and students with blindness, deafness and deaf-muteness should be educated in the most appropriate forms of communication with teachers who are fluent in sign language and Braille. The education of persons with disabilities should facilitate their participation in society, the preservation of their sense of dignity and self-respect and the development of their personality, abilities and creativity (art. 24).
Persons with disabilities are entitled to the highest attainable standard of health without discrimination on the basis of disability. They should receive the same spectrum, quality and level of free or low cost medical services provided for other persons, it is necessary to receive health care services due to their disability, and not to be discriminated against in the provision of health insurance (Article 25).
In order for persons with disabilities to achieve maximum independence, countries must provide comprehensive medical care and rehabilitation services in the areas of health, employment and education (Article 26).
Persons with disabilities have equal rights to work and can earn their living. Countries must prohibit discrimination in employment related to the promotion of self-employment, entrepreneurship and self-employment, the employment of persons with disabilities in the public sector, promote their employment in the private sector, and ensure that they are provided at a reasonable distance from the place of work (Article 27 ).
Countries must ensure equal participation in political and public life, including the right to vote, stand for election and hold certain positions (Article 29).
Countries should promote participation in cultural life, leisure, recreation and sports by making accessible television programmes, films, theater and cultural material, making theaters, museums, cinemas and libraries accessible, and ensuring that persons with disabilities have the opportunity to develop and use their creative potential not only for their own benefit, but also for the enrichment of society (Article 30).
Countries must provide assistance to developing countries for the practical implementation of the Convention (Article 32).
To ensure the implementation and monitoring of the Convention, countries must appoint a government focal point and establish a national mechanism to facilitate and oversee the implementation of monitoring (Article 33).
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is composed of independent experts, will receive periodic reports from States Parties on progress made in the implementation of the Convention (arts. 34 to 39).
Article 18 of the Optional Protocol on communications allows individuals and groups of individuals to lodge complaints directly with the Committee once all national appeal procedures have been exhausted.
On September 23, 2013, the UN General Assembly on Disability adopted the latest resolution to date, with the very interesting title "The Way Forward: A Disability-inclusive Development Agenda 2015 and Beyond".
This resolution aims to provide persons with disabilities with a full range of rights which are guaranteed to them by international documents created over the last millennium.
Despite the active work of the UN in this area, the interests of persons with disabilities, unfortunately, are violated all over the world. The number of international documents that regulate the rights of persons with disabilities is several dozen. The main ones are:
- the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of December 10, 1948;
- Declaration of the Rights of the Child of November 20, 1959;
- International Covenants on Human Rights of 26 July 1966;
- Declaration of Social Progress and Development of December 11, 1969;
- Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons, December 20, 1971;
- Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, December 9, 1975;
- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of December 13, 2006
This is a relatively small document, consisting of only 13 articles. It was this document that formed the basis for the signing in 2006 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Declaration gives a very general definition The concept of "disabled person" is "any person who cannot independently provide, in whole or in part, the needs of a normal personal and / or social life due to a handicap, whether congenital or acquired."
Later in the Convention, this definition was clarified - these are “persons with persistent physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments that, in interaction with various barriers, may prevent their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”
Watch this video for a discussion:
Both of these definitions are expansive, each UN member state has the right to give more precise definition disability with its differentiation into groups.
There are currently 3 disability groups in Russia, as well as a separate category, which is given to minors who have any of the three disability groups.
federal institution medical and social expertise recognizes a person as disabled.
Federal Law No. 181-FZ of November 24, 1995 “On social protection disabled people in the Russian Federation" A disabled person is a person who has a health disorder with a persistent disorder of body functions, which is caused by diseases or the consequences of injuries, or defects, leading to a limitation of life and necessitating his .
Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is directly the text of the Convention and its Optional Protocol, which were signed by the UN on December 13, 2006 in New York. March 30, 2007 The Convention and the Protocol were open for signature by UN member states.
The countries participating in the Convention are divided into 4 categories:
Russia is a country that has signed and ratified only the Convention without the Optional Protocol. May 3, 2012 the text of the Convention applies to our state, individuals and legal entities.
What is ratification, this is an expression of Russia's consent to be bound by this Convention in the form of approval, acceptance, accession (Article 2 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation of July 15, 1995 N 101-FZ). According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, any international agreement signed and ratified by the Russian Federation is higher in force than any domestic law, including higher than the Constitution.
Unfortunately, our country has not signed and, as a result, has not ratified the optional Protocol to the Convention, which means that in the event of a violation of the Convention, individuals cannot apply to the special Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with their complaints after all domestic remedies have been exhausted in Russia.
Rights and benefits of disabled people in Russia
Can a disabled person open a sole proprietorship?
- The right to education;
- Providing medical care;
- Ensuring unhindered access to information;
- Participation of the visually impaired in the implementation of operations using facsimile reproduction of a handwritten signature;
- Ensuring unhindered access to social infrastructure facilities;
- Provision of living space;
- Employment of the disabled, the right to work;
- The right to material security (pensions, benefits, insurance payments for health risk insurance, payments to compensate for harm caused to health, and other payments established by the legislation of the Russian Federation);
- The right to social services;
- Provision of social support measures for disabled people to pay for housing and utilities.
A frequent question is can a disabled person register himself as an individual entrepreneur. There are no special restrictions for persons with disabilities, however, there are general restrictions that prevent obtaining IP. These include:
- If the disabled person was previously registered as an individual entrepreneur and this entry has not become invalid;
- If a court has made a decision on his insolvency (bankruptcy) in relation to a disabled person, provided that the year of his recognition as such has not expired from the date of the decision by the court.
- The period established by the court for depriving a disabled person of the right to engage in entrepreneurial activity has not expired.
- If the disabled person has or had a criminal record for intentional grave and especially grave crimes.
For more information about the rights of disabled people of groups 1, 2, 3 in Russia, read in.
The rights of a guardian of a disabled person
Guardian - an adult capable citizen appointed by the guardianship and guardianship authority at the place of residence of the person in need of guardianship.
Citizens deprived of parental rights cannot be guardians, as well as having a conviction at the time of establishment of guardianship for an intentional crime against the life or health of citizens.
Conclusion
The state and society have a lot of work to do to organize and simplify the living conditions for the disabled. There are frequent cases of direct discrimination of persons with disabilities on the basis of appearance, which leads to the isolation of persons with disabilities. At the same time, disabled people are the same people as everyone else, they only require a little more care and attention from all of us.
Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive Single International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
Eighth session
New York, August 14-25, 2006
Interim report of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive Single International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on its eighth session
I Introduction
1. In its resolution 56/168 of 19 December 2001, the General Assembly decided to establish an Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, based on an integrated approach to work in the area of social development, human rights and non-discrimination, and taking into account the recommendations of the Commission on Human Rights and the Commission for Social Development.
2. In its resolution 60/232 of 23 December 2005, the General Assembly decided that the Special Committee, within available resources, would hold two sessions in 2006, prior to the sixty-first session of the General Assembly, one for 15 working days, from 16 January to 3 February in order to complete the reading of the draft convention prepared by the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee in its entirety and one for 10 working days from 7 to 18 August.
3. At its seventh session, the Ad Hoc Committee recommended that the eighth session be held from 14 to 25 August 2006.
II. Organizational matters
A. Opening and duration of the eighth session
4. The Ad Hoc Committee held its eighth session at United Nations Headquarters from 14 to 25 August 2006. During its session, the Ad Hoc Committee held 20 meetings.
5. The main secretariat of the Special Committee was provided by the Social Policy and Development Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, while the secretariat of the Special Committee was provided by the Disarmament and Decolonization Branch of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management.
6. The eighth session of the Ad Hoc Committee was opened by the Chairman of the Committee, Don Mackay, Ambassador of New Zealand.
B. Officers
7. The Bureau of the Special Committee continued to comprise the following officers:
Chairman:
Don Mackay (New Zealand)
Vice Chairs:
Jorge Ballestero (Costa Rica)
Petra Ali Dolakova (Czech Republic)
Muataz Hiasat (Jordan)
Fiola Hoosen (South Africa))
