International Human Rights Day Noted by Mental Disability Advocacy Center Based in Hungary

In the field of international human rights law, negotiations are at an advanced stage on the forthcoming binding UN Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, which will tailor the application of existing human rights instruments to all people with disabilities.

Regionally, the Council of Europe (CoE), an intergovernmental body composed of 46 European countries, has been drafting a Disability Action Plan to promote disabled peoples' full integration into society. The Action Plan will consist of non-binding guidelines for signatory countries on how to implement and develop their disability strategies. The Committee of Ministers, in their May 2005 meeting, have supported the adoption and implementation of the Action Plan, which will cover the years 2006-2015. 

The European Union has also drawn up a Disability Action Plan, building on the momentum created and the results achieved in 2003 by the "European Year of People with Disabilities". The Action Plan covers the period from 2004-2010 and is aimed at mainstreaming disability issues into the relevant EU policies and implementing specific measures in key areas with a view to enhancing the economic and social integration of people with disabilities.

The Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC) is an international non-governmental organization based in Budapest, Hungary (www.mdac.info/). MDAC protects the rights of people labeled with mental health problems or intellectual disabilities in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia through litigation, law reform, research and intergovernmental advocacy. MDAC has participatory status at the Council of Europe and is a cooperating Organization of the International Helsinki Federation of Human Rights.

MDAC has contributed to and participated in the above positive developments through its intergovernmental advocacy program. However, in spite of the progress in recent years, millions of persons with mental health problems and intellectual disabilities continue to suffer from massive human rights abuses on a daily basis. MDAC emphasizes in particular the following concerns:

• MDAC is concerned about the occurrence of inhuman and degrading treatment in mental health care as a result of involuntary treatment and coercion.
  
• MDAC is concerned about the deprivation of the right to make personal choices (self-determination) as a direct result of outdated guardianship laws and practices, many of which are still in force in MDAC's target regions. The most basic rights are commonly
  
• The deprivation of liberty based on disability is a primary concern for MDAC. A great number of people with mental health problems and intellectual disabilities are forcibly institutionalized or detained via the legal incapacitation system of guardianship. Thousands of people with disabilities are formally 'voluntary' patients in institutions through the consent of a guardian. However these people are de facto detained as they cannot leave when they choose but rather require the consent of their guardian. Such 'voluntary' institutionalization is a serious infringement of the right to liberty and often goes unnoticed and unchallenged.
  
• Discrimination and social exclusion are a daily occurrence in the lives of people with mental health problems and intellectual disabilities. The stigma associated with mental disability leads to barriers in access to education, employment, health, housing and social
• MDAC expresses concern regarding the lack of funded, independent inspectorate mechanisms for mental health facilities and institutions. Inspectorate mechanisms are essential in order to expose human rights abuses.  Currently there is a complete lack of such inspectorate mechanisms in many of MDAC's target countries. To ensure a good inspectorate system, MDAC promotes the involvement of user organizations, whose first hand experience provides the advantage of an insider perspective. 

MDAC strongly endorses the increased involvement of organizations of people with disabilities in policy-making to more effectively fight human rights abuse of people with mental health problems and people with intellectual disabilities. Meaningful participation of disabled people's organizations is still lacking. Most States and intergovernmental bodies are still reluctant to involve these organizations in policy-making, strategic planning, monitoring and implementation, as advised under Rule 18 of the UN Standard Rules. Despite the growth of the global movement of users, ex-users and survivors of psychiatry, in many countries users and former users are not yet organized and face huge barriers to becoming organized. This is a problem which needs to be addressed by the international community.

MDAC welcomes the significant progress that has been made by intergovernmental bodies in the recognition of disability as a human rights issue and is pleased to observe, for example, the World Health Organization's (WHO) focus on mental health for this year's International Human Rights Day. Recent WHO mental health policies show increasing awareness of the human rights dimension of mental health treatment. Protection of human rights for people with mental health problems is explicitly mentioned in the January 2005 Helsinki Ministerial Declaration and Action Plan for Mental Health, which proposes ways and means of developing, implementing and reinforcing comprehensive mental health policies in the countries of the WHO European Region. The 52 signatory Member States to this Declaration and Action Plan are to reflect these policies in their own mental health strategies and planning. (See www.who.int for a photo essay illustrating the rights issues of people with mental health problems.)

In conclusion, in the spirit of International Human Rights Day, MDAC urges the international community to end inhuman and degrading treatment of people with mental disabilities, to effectively include organizations of people with disabilities in policy-making, and to hold governments accountable for the human rights of people with mental disabilities.

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