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Spotlight on rights of the disabled

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI MAY 29. Stating that there was a need to harmonise the doctrine of human rights and social development in a single instrument, the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Justice A. S. Anand, today called for a comprehensive and integral convention to protect and promote the rights of people with disabilities.

Delivering the presidential address at the valedictory session of the International Workshop for National Commonwealth and Asia Pacific Region on "Promoting the Rights of People with Disabilities: Towards a UN Convention'', Dr. Anand said the primary objective of an international convention was to transact a shift from an approach based on welfare to one based on rights.

The workshop brought together heads of national human rights institutions from the Commonwealth countries and from the Asia- Pacific region with the stated objective of promoting the rights of people with disabilities as part of a comprehensive and integral international convention that the U.N. General Assembly seeks to evolve later this year.

``Given the fact that two-thirds of the world's disabled people belong to the countries of the Asian and African regions, the participation of our member-States in the process of treaty elaboration is vital. Our active participation can greatly influence the quality of the substantive contents and elements of the treaty,'' Dr. Anand said.

Pointing out that the legal framework, policies and programmes that India has introduced for protection and promotion of the rights of people with disabilities over the last decade are of great relevance, Dr. Anand said there was an undisputable need for an international treaty that was comprehensive and India should play a more active role in the treaty elaboration process.

National human rights institutions present at the workshop from the Commonwealth and the Asia Pacific Region welcomed the decision of the U.N. General Assembly to establish an adhoc committee to consider proposals for a comprehensive and integrated international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.

The workshop also stressed that the convention should be a "rights-based'' instrument built on human rights norms and standards and social justice. It should be informed by the overarching principle that all persons with disabilities without exception are entitled to full benefit and enjoyment of all fundamental human rights and freedoms on the basis of equality, dignity and without discrimination. As regards the objectives of the convention, it was stated that it should promote principles of non-discrimination and equal opportunity and also recognise that lack of provision of reasonable accommodation and positive actions to eliminate barriers to full participation was a form of discrimination.

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