Human Rights and Disabilities

Take another look at the treaties listed before…notice anything missing? If you said that there doesn’t seem to be any convention relating to disabilities you would be right. But don’t start gnashing your teeth just yet as this will hopefully soon be changed with the adoption of the United Nations Treaty on Disability. Ireland was one of the first states to sign the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UN Headquarters in New York on March 30, 2007.

“That Ireland is in the first round of nations to sign this treaty is a welcome recognition of the right of persons with disabilities to live with equality, dignity and respect,” said Seán Love, Executive Director, Amnesty International Irish Section.

“About 10 per cent of the world’s population - 650 million people - live with a disability.  For too long, persons with disabilities have been marginalised and excluded and have been denied their human rights,” he said.

The Convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 13 December 2006 and opened for signature today. It is the product of virtually unique collaboration between states, persons with disabilities and other civil society organizations, and the UN.  It  will  enter  into  force  after ratification  by  20  States,  and will be a key instrument in facilitating millions  of  people  with  disabilities  in achieving recognition of their dignity and the effective protection of their human rights.

“We pay tribute to Ireland for its key role in negotiations leading to the adoption of this treaty.  It is important now that Ireland ratifies this Convention without delay,” said Mr Love.

This new Convention contains detailed provisions to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by persons with disabilities.  An independent monitoring body, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, will oversee national implementation of the Convention. A further welcome feature of the Convention is that states that have ratified the Convention must designate a national independent mechanism to promote and monitor its implementation. They must also ensure that civil society, in particular persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, participate fully in the monitoring process. (Source: Notice from Amnesty International – Irish Section)

Once this treaty is finally ratified, it will be a very positive step towards universal equal treatment. If you or somebody you know has Asperger Syndrome, this will come as welcome news…but does that mean that you are not entitled to any rights at present?

Nothing could be further from the truth as people with developmental, intellectual, physical and mental problems are entitled to the full enjoyment and protection of their rights under the various treaties listed above and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Irish State, i.e. the Government, has a duty to ensure that state policies and laws, and the actions of state officials, serve to promote the health of people with disabilities. Where somebody to have a problem and need or want support, the state is obliged to provide services in a manner compatible with human rights norms. General Comment 14 of the UN Committee that oversees the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) instructs that public health programmes and healthcare provision must address the underlying determinants of health. Specifically, the document states that:

·     Availability: functioning public health and health-care facilities, goods and services, as well as programmes, have to be available in sufficient quantity within the State party…

·     Accessibility: health facilities, goods and services have to be accessible to everyone without discrimination, within the jurisdiction of the State party.

·     Non-discrimination: health facilities, goods and services must be accessible to all, especially the most vulnerable or marginalized sections of the population, in law and in fact, without discrimination on any of the prohibited grounds.

·     Physical accessibility: health facilities, goods and services must be within safe physical reach for all sections of the population, especially vulnerable or marginalized grou ps …

·     Economic accessibility (affordability): health facilities, goods and services must be affordable for all. Payment for health-care services, as well as services related to the underlying determinants of health, has to be based on the principle of equity, ensuring that these services, whether privately or publicly provided, are affordable for all, including socially disadvantaged grou ps . Equity demands that poorer households should not be disproportionately burdened with health expenses as compared to richer households.

Please click on the PDF Logo to download the full UN Committe General 
Comment 14 document.

Although the above information sounds quite general, it does apply to you and/or your family. Although, I will discuss it more detail later, the European Convention on Human Rights is another very important document that you should be familiar with as it contains articles such as Article 8: Right to respect private and family life that are also very much applicable.

You may be aware of the severe lack of services in Ireland for people with a disability. With the implementation of the Disability Act 2005 and the future implementation of the Education for People with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004, the government is seeking to discover what needs are required (for more information about these acts, please see links below). Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that the needs will be satisfied as provision is resource based. 

In its submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of a Child (CRC), the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) laid out the following issues it saw as problematic in the current delivery:

“Moreover, the lack of special needs assistants in schools, as well as resource teachers and other necessary supports are further factors that inhibit full access to education.”

“Both in the field of education and in relation to the rights of children with disability more generally the IHRC has made a number of recommendations to Government in recent years. The EPSEN Act 2004 is a positive step forward in that it sets down a legislative framework to regulate the rights of persons with special educational needs in the education system. However, the IHRC has raised a number of deficiencies in this legislation when it is examined with reference to Ireland’s international human rights obligations, including under the CRC, and made a number of recommendations for reform.”

“The Disability Act 2005 is a second major piece of legislation that impacts upon the rights of children with disabilities…The IHRC made a number of recommendations in relation to the legislation and the following issues continue to be matters of concern:

1. The Act fails to put in place a new mechanism to ensure that the basic levels of services for persons with disability will be provided.

2. The definition of disability used in the Act is narrower than that contained in the Equal Status Act 2000 and does not reflect international standards.

3. With reference to article 12 of the CRC, the “independent assessment officers” who are carrying out the assessment are not obliged to involve the applicant and his or her representative or advocate in the assessment process.

4. While the assessment itself is made without reference to resource constraints, in determining a complaint in relation to an assessment, the complaints officer will have regard to issues of resources or practicality. No appeal will lie in relation to the content of assessment.

5. In general, exclusion of court proceedings is a central aspect of the Bill and reduces justiciability of any of the determinations or decisions.

In the present report the Government states that there have been important developments regarding equality provision in legislation and provision of education and personal social services for people with disabilities. However, having been centrally engaged in assessing the extent to which this new legislation complies with Ireland’s international human rights obligations in the area of disability, the IHRC believes that there remain some significant outstanding issues across the areas of education, health, housing and social welfare provision.”

For a person with Asperger Syndrome, an equitable system needs to be established with affordable resources available. Due to long waiting lists for limited public services, the majority of people seeking a service must turn to the private sector in order to meet their needs (at considerable cost to themselves!).

To help those with Asperger Syndrome and also their families/carers, the following services need to be made available:

• Specialised Educational Interventions for the child
• Parental involvement in the areas of Education and Training
• Social Skills Training
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Psychotherapy or Behavioural/Cognitive Therapy for older children
• Sensory Integration or Occupational training. These treatments are performed by an Occupational Therapist
• Suitable Housing for independent living
• Medications for co-existing conditions such as depression, anxiety, and ADD/ADHD.

Due to the full-time helpline that we run and also the various conferences, parent days and presentations that we organise, Aspire is very much aware of the problems that the AS community and their families/carers are faced with in trying to access services. 

As the only official and national organisation for Asperger Syndrome in Ireland we will do everything we can to make sure that this situation is changed and that your human rights are no longer infringed or ignored.  

  Please click on the PDF Logo to download the full IHRC submission.  

  Please click on the PDF Logo to download the full Disability Act 2005.  

  Please click on the PDF Logo to download the Implementation Report 
for the EPSEN Act 2004.