U.S. State Department's Human Rights Reports Include Disability Focus

By Kay Schriner (kays@comp.uark.edu)
 

Disability activists around the world can look to the U.S. State Department's annual human rights reports to help them push for reforms in their own nations.

The yearly reports are regarded as a useful took for activists interested in ensuring that people with disabilities are not discriminated against by their governments.

The February 2000 reports are now available on the State Department's website www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/99hrp_index.html. The reports describe how the government is structured (e.g., constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy), and provides basic information about the political process and the economy. Their main purpose, though, is to report on a nation's human rights record. The reports cover political freedoms, prison conditions, civil liberties, and religious freedom, among other topics.
 

Disability-based discrimination

The status of people with disabilities may be mentioned in any section of the report, but Section 5 of each country's report is entitled "Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability, Language, or Social Status". This section summarizes what the country is doing well and what problems may remain.

One must be careful not to take the information at face value, but more as a source of useful leads. For example, the State Department reports that Germany has "no discrimination against disabled persons in employment, education, or in the provision of other state services".

Another reports is that the Japanese government has "acknowledged that nearly 16,500 disabled women were sterilized without their consent between 1949 and 1992 but refused to apologize or pay compensation to those women."

It is interesting to note that, while the State Department reports often indicate how many women hold elected or appointed positions, there is almost no commentary on the political power of people with disabilities. The exception to this is a brief mention that Uganda's parliament provides five seats for representatives of people with disabilities.

Here are some highlights from the reports of 12 countries around the world:

Brazil. The Constitution contains several provisions for disabled people, stipulating a minimum wage, educational opportunities, and access to public buildings and public transportation. However, disability-related groups report that state governments failed to meet the legally mandated targets for educational opportunities and work placement. A 1991 law stipulates that all businesses with over 200 employees must reserve 2 percent of their vacancies for disabled individuals. In August labor officials in the Federal District launched an information campaign to encourage firms to comply with the law and warned that firms not complying could be fined.

The National Human Rights Secretariat sponsored a "City for Everyone" program in cooperation with municipal governments and national and international NGO's that focused on providing better access for disabled persons to public areas and public transport. However, little progress in elimination of architectural barriers has been made. In August the government in Rio de Janeiro state mandated that bus companies must make a specific number of buses on certain routes accessible to wheelchair users within 3 months. By year's end, 6 percent of the cities' bus fleets had been adapted for wheelchair use; however, no intercity or interstate buses had been modified.

According to the Federal Ministry of Education, in 1997 only 5 percent of the estimated 6 million school age children with disabilities had access to specialized instruction. Throughout the country, only 43 percent of school districts offer special instruction for disabled children. In the nine states in the northeast, only 24 percent of school districts offer special instruction.

Germany. The U.S. State Department reports that there is no discrimination against disabled persons in employment, education, or in the provision of other state services. The law mandates several special services for disabled persons, and the Government enforces these provisions in practice. Disabled persons are entitled to assistance to avert, eliminate, or alleviate the consequences of their disabilities and to secure employment commensurate with their abilities. The Government offers vocational training and grants for employers who hire disabled persons. The severely disabled may be granted special benefits, such as tax breaks, free public transport, special parking facilities, and exemption from radio and television fees.

The Federal Government set guidelines for the attainment of "barrier-free" public buildings and for modifications of streets and pedestrian traffic walks to accommodate disabled persons. All 16 states have incorporated the federal guidelines into their building codes, and 98 percent of federal public buildings follow the guidelines for a "barrier-free environment."

India. According to regional NGO's, there are over 90 million disabled persons in the country. There is no legislation or otherwise mandated provision of accessibility for disabled persons. With the adoption of the Persons with Disability (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act in 1995, a nascent disabled rights movement slowly is raising awareness and empowering disabled persons. Although the act extends independence, freedom, and equal rights to all persons with disabilities, most disabled-related organizations admit that its practical effects have been minimal so far, in part due to a clause that makes the implementation of programs dependent on the "economic capacity" of the Government. To a large degree, physical impediments still limit mobility, legislation prevents equality, and societal discrimination maintains the status quo of disabled persons.

Disabled persons Division of the Ministry of Welfare had a budget provision of more than $38 million (1.65 million rupees) for the 1998-99 fiscal year for a number of organizations and committees at the national, regional, and local levels. The Ministry delivers rehabilitation services to the rural population through 16 district centers. A national rehabilitation plan commits the Government to putting a rehabilitation center in each of more than 400 districts, but services still are concentrated in urban areas. However, the impact of government programs so far has been limited. Significant funding is provided to a handful of government organizations such as the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India, the National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation, and the Rehabilitation Council of India. Each program/entity provides specific services or training which include producing aids and prosthetics, promoting disabled-oriented economic development activities, offering training to health-care professionals and vocational instructors concerning disabled-related issues, and providing comprehensive rehabilitation services to the rural disabled.

Additional mini-grants are offered to NGO's that coordinate programs for disabled persons to facilitate their physical, social and psychological rehabilitation and integration into mainstream society. During 1998-99, $3 million (130.5 million rupees) was available. However, only half of this amount was allocated due to funding restrictions placed on each providing organization and the small number of them that exist.
 

New Programs

Two significant programs to benefit disabled persons are the National Project to Integrate Mentally Retarded in Family and Community and the National Institute for the Multiple Disabilities. The first project, launched in six states in 1998, primarily focuses on children from the economically weaker sections and promotes awareness concerning the mentally disabled, their problems, and their rights. The second, currently being proposed by the Ministry of Welfare, is to provide rehabilitation services to persons with multiple disabilities as well as develop courses and materials to foster greater awareness among communities throughout the country.

According to the Persons with Disability Act, 3 percent of positions in official offices and state-owned enterprises should be reserved for persons with visual, hearing, or orthopedic disabilities. The Government provides special railway fares, education allowances, scholarships, customs exemptions, budgetary funds from the Ministry of Rural Development, and rehabilitation training to assist disabled persons. However, implementation of these entitlements is not thorough. Although the Government has made significant steps toward improving the plight of disabled persons, its involvement has been insufficient. The majority of responsibility for caring for disabled persons still lies with family members and voluntary groups.
 

Rights of Mentally Ill

The NHRC continues to receive complaints relating to harassment, intolerance, and discrimination against disabled persons. It currently is gathering information on these cases and forwarding assessments to concerned NGO's and government entities. However, this process is slow, and its effects so far have been minimal. The NHRC continued its efforts to improve conditions in mental hospitals and enhance awareness of the rights of those with mental disabilities during the year. In 1997 it commissioned an assessment of conditions at mental hospitals throughout the country, to be conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience.

The rights of the mentally ill and mentally disabled are provided for in the Constitution and the Mental Health Act of 1987. However, the NHRC noted that despite these protections, conditions in many mental hospitals are far from satisfactory. They continue to embody old concepts of mental health care and essentially function as custodial rather than therapeutic institutions. Overcrowded and serving as "dumping grounds" by desperate relatives, some mental hospitals lack even basic amenities and have poor medical facilities. In August the NHRC reported that it had assumed the management of mental hospitals in Ranchi, Bihar, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, and Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, at the direction of the Supreme Court.

Japan. In 1997 the Government acknowledged that nearly 16,500 disabled women were sterilized without their consent between 1949 and 1992. In its acknowledgment the Government stated that it did not plan to apologize or pay compensation to these women or to further investigate the program, despite the demands of the National Federation for the Mentally Handicapped and several other groups representing women and disabled persons. A Ministry of Health official said that no apology was planned because the procedure was legal at the time. The Eugenic Protection Law, revoked only in 1996, allowed doctors to sterilize persons with mental or physical disabilities or certain hereditary diseases without their consent, after the approval of committees appointed by local governments. Women's and disabled persons advocacy groups still are pressing for a government investigation into all sterilization cases and for a formal apology and compensation.

The law does not mandate accessibility to buildings for disabled persons; however, 1994 legislation on construction standards for public facilities allows operators of hospitals, theaters, hotels, and similar enterprises to receive low-interest loans and tax breaks if they build wide entrances and elevators to accommodate those with disabilities. There are an estimated 2.9 million physically disabled and roughly 2 million mentally disabled persons. Although not generally subject to overt discrimination in employment, education, or in the provision of other state services, disabled persons face limited access to public transportation, " mainstream" public education, and other facilities. Under civil law, persons with hearing problems or speech impediments cannot create valid wills because they cannot " convey orally" to a notary the contents of a will or affirm that the text the notary reads back to them is correct.

The Deliberation Panel on the Employment of the Handicapped, which operates within the Ministry of Labor, has mandated since 1976 that private companies with 300 or more employees hire a fixed minimum proportion of disabled persons. The penalty for noncompliance is a fine. A 1998 cabinet directive ordered private companies to raise the proportion of physically disabled persons in their work force from 1.6 to 1.8 percent and raised the percentage of disabled persons among civil servants from 2 to 2.1 percent. However, there is evidence that only half the companies covered by the directive comply with the law. The ongoing economic recession hit disabled employees particularly hard, with the number fired from their jobs increasing by 40 percent in 1998 over the previous year.
 

Mental Disability

An amendment to the Law to Promote the Employment of the Handicapped to include the mentally disabled took effect in 1998. The amendment also loosened the licensing requirements for community support centers that promote employment for disabled persons, and it introduced government subsidies for the employment of mentally disabled persons in part-time jobs. In 1997 a former factory owner in Ibaraki prefecture who had received generous government subsidies was sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment for physically abusing mentally disabled workers at his plant and for withholding portions of their salaries. A March survey by a disabled citizens support group showed that 44 percent of the staff at homes for mentally disabled persons admitted to mistreating those under their care.

In 1995 the Headquarters for Promoting the Welfare of Disabled Persons, set up by the Prime Minister's Office, recommended that municipalities draw up formal plans for the care of disabled citizens by the end of March 1997. In 1996 the Ministry of Health and Welfare also instructed local governments to set numerical targets for the number of home help providers and care facilities allocated to disabled persons. However, according to newspaper reports, only one-third of the nation's municipalities currently have formal care plans for disabled citizens.

Morocco. A high incidence of disabling disease, especially polio, has resulted in a correspondingly high incidence of disabled persons. While the Ministry of Social Affairs endeavors to integrate disabled persons into society, in practice this is left largely to private charities. However, even nonprofit special education programs are priced beyond the reach of most families. Typically, disabled persons are supported by their families; some survive by begging. The Government continued a pilot training program for the blind sponsored in part by a member of the royal family. There are no laws mandating physical changes to buildings to facilitate access by disabled persons.

New Zealand. The law prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, education, and the provision of other state services. Compliance with access laws, mandated by the Human Rights Act and disabled persons Persons Community Welfare Act, varies as business owners and others strive to make necessary adaptations. The Government has not complied fully with equal access laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability in areas such as public transportation and public accommodation. Under legislation that became effective on October 1, the Government extended its exemption from nondiscrimination laws for 2 more years, which means that it does not have to comply with equal access laws for disabled persons until January 1, 2001. In the interim, the Minister of Justice is required to report semiannually on public sector compliance with equal access laws.

The Government has not legislated or otherwise mandated accessibility to buildings for disabled persons. In 1998 the Ministry of Health created a National Council for Rehabilitation to address the needs of the 559,000 citizens with some type of disability, only 3 percent of whom receive medical treatment. Through its clinics and hospitals, the Government provides care to war veterans and other disabled persons, but the quality of care is generally poor. However, with assistance from international NGO's, foreign governments, and the public health care system, the Government has procured thousands of prostheses and other medical equipment for veterans and former resistance members.

Nicaragua. The Government has not legislated or otherwise mandated accessibility to buildings for disabled persons. In 1998 the Ministry of Health created a National Council for Rehabilitation to address the needs of the 559,000 citizens with some type of disability, only 3 percent of whom receive medical treatment. Through its clinics and hospitals, the Government provides care to war veterans and other disabled persons, but the quality of care is generally poor. However, with assistance from international NGO's, foreign governments, and the public health care system, the Government has procured thousands of prostheses and other medical equipment for veterans and former resistance members.

Russia. The Constitution does not address directly the issue of discrimination against disabled persons. Although laws exist that prohibit discrimination, the Government has not enforced them. The meager resources that the Government can devote to assisting disabled persons are provided to veterans of World War II and other military conflicts. Special institutions exist for children with various disabilities, but do not serve their needs adequately. The Government does not mandate special access to buildings for disabled persons. The NGO, Society for the Defense of Invalids, is working to broaden public awareness and understanding of issues concerning disabled persons.

A 1995 law established a requirement that firms with over 30 employees either reserve 3 percent of their positions for persons with disabilities or contribute to a government fund to create job opportunities for disabled persons. The law also removed language defining an "invalid" as a person unable to work. However, the Government has not implemented this law. Some persons with disabilities have found work within factories run by the All-Russian Society for disabled persons, but the majority are unable to find work and frequently are discouraged from working rather than subsisting on social benefits.

The December 1998 Human Rights Watch report "Abandoned to the State," documented the dismal conditions which persist in many orphanages. The report contains especially dramatic photographs of severely emaciated children in special state orphanages for disabled persons. Being disabled is still a serious social stigma in the country, an attitude that profoundly influences how institutionalized children are treated. Many physically or mentally disabled children are considered ineducable, even those with only minor birth defects. According to the report, many disabled children are confined to beds around the clock or to rooms that are lit, heated, and furnished inadequately. The children are given only minimal care by low-paid unskilled workers with no training in the care of disabled persons.

Saudi Arabia. The provision of government social services increasingly has brought disabled persons into the public mainstream. The media carry features lauding the accomplishments of disabled persons and sharply criticizing parents who neglect disabled children. The Government and private charitable organizations cooperate in education, employment, and other services for disabled persons. The law provides hiring quotas for disabled persons. There is no legislation that mandates public accessibility; however, newer commercial buildings often include such access.

The law does not specifically prohibit forced or bonded labor by children. Nonetheless, with the rare exception of criminal begging rings, and the possible exceptions of family businesses, forced or bonded child labor does not occur. In 1997 the Government actively sought to eradicate forced child begging. Criminal rings consisting almost exclusively of foreigners bought and imported South Asian children for the purpose of forced begging.

According to reports, criminal rings consisting almost exclusively of foreigners bought and imported South Asian children, including disabled children. Ring organizers systematically forced the children to beg in the streets and then confiscated all money that the children gained. During the year, the authorities arrested some ring organizers and returned at least 76 children to their own countries.

South Africa. The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Society is increasingly open to the concept of persons with disabilities as a minority whose civil rights must be protected. The Government attempts to ensure that all government-funded projects take account of the needs of disabled citizens. However, in practice government and private sector discrimination against disabled persons in employment still exists. According to an NGO, the Affirmative Action Monitor, fewer than two-thirds of companies target disabled persons as part of their affirmative action programs. The law mandates access to buildings for disabled people, but such regulations rarely are enforced, and public awareness of them remains minimal. The Employment Equity Act requires private firms with more than 50 workers to create an affirmative action plan with provisions for achieving employment equity for disabled persons. The National Environmental Accessibility Program, an NGO comprising disabled consumers as well as service providers, has established a presence in all nine provinces in order to lobby for compliance with the regulations and to sue offending property owners when necessary.

Uganda. The Constitution provides for five seats in Parliament for representatives of persons with disabilities, as well as five seats for youth representatives, and three seats for representatives of organized labor. Individual parliamentarians who claim non-Movement party affiliation fully participate in the legislature.

The Constitution provides that persons with disabilities have "a right to respect and human dignity" and requires that authorities take appropriate measures "to ensure that they realize their full mental and physical potential;" however, despite this provision, there is no statutory requirement for government services or facilities, such as accessibility of buildings for disabled persons. Most buildings have one story, but in larger towns with multistory buildings, there often are no elevators; even where they do exist, they rarely are reliable. Widespread discrimination by society and employers limits job and educational opportunities for those with physical disabilities. In 1998 the Government appointed a Minister of State for Disabled Persons. A Department for Disabled Persons also exists under the Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development; however, these bodies and positions have little funding to undertake or support any initiatives.

United Kingdom. The 1995 People with Disabilities Discrimination Act outlaws discrimination against disabled persons in the provision of access to public facilities by employers of more than 15 workers, service providers (apart from those providing education or running transport vehicles), and anyone selling or renting property. The 1993 Education Act imposes specific duties on local education authorities to make provision for the special educational needs of disabled children. The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) Act, passed in July, sets up a body whose functions include keeping the Disability Discrimination Act under review, assisting disabled people in bringing legal action, and promoting good practices among service providers. The DRC also has the power to conduct formal investigations.

Rights Now, a consortium of over 70 disability organizations campaigning for laws to end discrimination on the grounds of disability, reported that employers were 6 times more likely to turn down a disabled person for a job than a nondisabled applicant with the same qualifications. Government regulations require that all new buildings meet the access requirements of all persons with impaired mobility. In 1992 the government promulgated similar regulations for sensory-impaired persons, and regulations require that all taxis be wheelchair accessible by 2000. However, while generally improved, access to many buildings remains inadequate. Many buildings and train stations are so old that they do not have elevators. According to the NGO Scope, 94 percent of polling stations in the 1997 election had one or more disability access problems. As of September, stage two of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act came into effect, requiring that all businesses accommodate disabled customers. Adaptations must be "reasonable," bearing in mind the circumstances and size of the business. For example, a restaurant chain might be expected to print a braille version of its menu while a small neighborhood cafe might simply have a waiter read a menu aloud for a blind person.