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NGOs in Hungary have produced a shadow report which looks in detail at the level of CRPD...

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1 September 2010, UN Headquarters, New York. MDAC is delighted to announce that Gábor...

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NGOs in Hungary have produced a shadow report which looks in detail at the level of CRPD implementation in the country. The 254-page report entitled ‘Rights of Persons with Disabilities or Disabling Rights?’ was launched at a public event in Budapest, Hungary, on 10 August 2010.   The report contains recommendations to the Hungarian government, including  

• Providing supported decision-making for the approximately 80,000 people under guardianship;
• Amending legislation to guarantee reasonable accommodation and accessibility;
• How to close large institutions and develop independent living;
• How to ensure inclusive education of children with disabilities;
• How to bring employment law in line with the CRPD. 

The shadow report has been sent to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It is available in English and Hungarian and can be downloaded here.   The members of the Hungarian Disability Caucus are

• Down Association
• Hungarian Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability (ÉFOÉSZ)
• Hungarian Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SINOSZ)
• Hungarian Autistic Society (AOSZ)
• Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ)
• Mental Disability Advocacy Centre (MDAC)
• National Federation of Disabled Persons’ Association (MEOSZ)
• Voice of Soul Association

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1 September 2010, UN Headquarters, New York. MDAC is delighted to announce that Gábor Gombos, MDAC’s Senior Advocacy Officer, has been elected to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The election took place today at the annual Conference of States Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) at UN headquarters in New York. Gábor’s term starts on 1 January 2011.   MDAC’s Board and staff congratulate Gabor’s wonderful achievement. Speaking on behalf of MDAC, Oliver Lewis, Executive Director, said, ‘Gabor’s in-depth knowledge of disability rights theory and practice across continents will enrich the Committee’s work to advance the rights of 650 million people with disabilities worldwide.’   Gábor, a former theoretical physicist, has been a human rights advocate for twenty years. He led MDAC’s input into the negotiation of the CRPD, and in December 2009 was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary in recognition of his work in the field of human rights of persons with disabilities. You can see Gabor’s election leaflet here.   It is an honour and a privilege for everyone involved with MDAC that Gábor has been elected. MDAC supports and respects the independence of UN treaty bodies, whose members serve in their personal capacity. Gábor and MDAC recognise that Gabor’s dual role as a CRPD Committee member and an MDAC staff member who sits on a human rights treaty body may give rise to potential or perceived conflicts of interests. MDAC will address such potentialities transparently and according to the organisation’s existing conflict of interest policy. The involvement of human rights advocates and activists in the Committee is critical and the Committee will certainly be enriched by drawing on Gábor’s expertise.
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Gombos Gábort, az MDAC munkatársát, megválasztották a...

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Gombos Gábort, az MDAC munkatársát, megválasztották a  Fogyatékossággal Élő Személyek Bizottságának tagjává   2010 Szeptember 1., ENSZ székház, New York. Az MDAC örömmel jelentheti be, hogy Gombos Gábort, az MDAC Érdekvédelmi Főmunkatársát megválasztották az ENSZ Fogyatékossággal Élő Személyek Bizottságába. A választásra tegnap került sor a Fogyatékossággal Élő Személyek Jogairól szóló ENSZ egyezmény tagállamainak éves konferenciáján az ENSZ new york-i székházában. Gombos Gábor megbízatása 2011 január 1-én kezdődik.   Az MDAC vezetősége és munkatársai nevében gratulálunk Gábornak nagyszerű teljesítményéért. Az MDAC nevében Oliver Lewis, igazgató, a következőket nyilatkozta: „Gábor a fogyatékos jogok elméletének és gyakorlatának kontinenseket átszelő mély tudása gazdagítani fogja a Bizottság munkáját, annak érdekében, hogy elősegítse a 650 millió fogyatékossággal élő ember jogainak érvényesülését világszerte.”    Gábor, aki korábban elméleti fizikusként dolgozott, húsz éve emberi jogi aktivista. Gábor képviselte az MDAC- t a Fogyatékossággal Élő Személyek Jogairól szóló ENSZ egyezmény tárgyalásain. 2009 decemberében a Magyar Köztársaság Érdemrend Lovagkeresztjével tüntették ki elismerve a fogyatékossággal élő emberek jogaiért folytatott munkáját. Gábor választási brossúrája az alábbi linken érhető el.     Az MDAC munkatársai és partnerei számára megtiszteltetés és kiváltság Gábor megválasztása. Az MDAC álláspontja szerint emberi jogvédők és aktivisták bevonása a Bizottság munkájába létfontosságú és a Bizottság bizonyosan gazdagodni fog azzal, hogy Gábor szaktudását beemeli munkájába.     Az MDAC támogatja és tiszteletben tartja az ENSZ egyezmények által felállított testületek függetlenségét, melynek tagjai egyéni minőségükben tevékenykednek. Gábor az MDAC-vel együttesen felismeri, hogy e kettős pozició, mint CRDP Bizottsági tag, s úgy mint MDAC munkatárs, potenciális vagy tényleges érdekellentétek kialakulásához vezethet. Az MDAC ezt a lehetőséget nyíltan fogja kezelni, a szervezet összeférhetetlenségre vonatkozó elveinek megfelelően.   Emberi jogvédők és aktivisták bevonása a Bizottság munkájába létfontosságú és a Bizottság bizonyosan gazdagodni fog azzal, hogy Gábor szaktudását beemeli munkájába.  
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  The Mental Disability Advocacy Center is attending the Third Session of the Conference of...

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  The Mental Disability Advocacy Center is attending the Third Session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) at the UN headquarters in New York, 1-3 September 2010. This is the annual opportunity for States which have ratified the CRPD to come together to discuss implementation. In addition to attendance by States Parties to the CRPD, COSP is widely attended by representatives of civil society including persons with disabilities and their representative organizations. Many of these NGOs played an active role in the negotiations of the Convention and continue to ensure its effective implementation at domestic levels around the world.   This year's COSP will include sessions in plenary, as well as roundtable discussions and interactive sessions between government and civil society. As a contribution MDAC has produced a variety of policy papers relevant to the COSP agenda including on Article 19 and choices in the community, which is the central theme of the meeting. During the conference MDAC representatives will also be distributing information about MDAC's strategic litigation under the CRPD, its work in Africa, and the right to legal capacity.   MDAC will be blogging from the floor of the meeting, and invites you to follow us at http://www.mdac.info/blog.     On Tuesday 1 September, elections to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be held, to which Gábor Gombos, MDAC Senior Advocacy Officer, has been nominated by the Hungarian government.   On Wednesday 2 September, MDAC will host a side session in collaboration with Office of Disability Issues, United Kingdom, and the Independent Monitoring Committee for the Implementation of the CRPD, Austria on “Ensuring meaningful participation of people with intellectual disabilities and psycho-social disabilities in implementing Article 33 of the CRPD”. MDAC has also produced a policy paper on Article 33.   Date: Thursday, 2 September 2010 Time: 16:30 - 18:00 Location: Conference Room A (North Lawn Building), UN Headquarters, New York City   For further information about COSP, including a preliminary agenda, please see the UN Enable website.
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A magyar fogyatékosügyi szervezetek és szövetségeseik hierarchiamentes együttműködési hálózata, a...

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A magyar fogyatékosügyi szervezetek és szövetségeseik hierarchiamentes együttműködési hálózata, a Magyar Fogyatékosügyi Civil Caucus elkészítette a civil társadalom párhuzamos jelentését Fogyatékos személyek jogai vagy fogyatékos jogok? címmel.

A jelentés augusztus 10-én került bemutatásra a Közép-Európai Egyetemen.

A jelentés azt vizsgálja, Magyarország mennyiben tesz eleget azon kötelességeinek, melyeket az ENSZ Fogyatékossággal Élő Személyek Jogairól szóló egyezményének 2007-es ratifikálásával vállalt.

A dokumentum teljes szövege az alábbi linken érhető el: Fogyatékos személyek jogai vagy fogyatékos jogok?

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12 August 2010, Budapest (Hungary) and Sofia (Bulgaria). In a decision dated 29 June 2010, the...

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12 August 2010, Budapest (Hungary) and Sofia (Bulgaria). In a decision dated 29 June 2010, the European Court of Human Rights declared the application of Rusi Stanev v. Bulgaria (application no. 36760/06) admissible. The Fifth Section of the Court, in a procedure reserved for cases that raise issues of great importance, relinquished the case to
the Grand Chamber for judgment on the merits.

Mr. Stanev, who is represented by the Mental Disability Advocacy Center and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, is a man with a psycho-social disability who was partially deprived of his legal capacity and placed into the Pastra Social Care Institution without his consent in 2002. He has been deprived of his liberty since. No evaluation was ever undertaken to determine that Mr. Stanev was not capable of living on his own and no
court has ever reviewed his need to stay there. The director of the institution is the guardian for Mr. Stanev and therefore controls his finances and identity papers as well as deciding his place of residence.

In its admissibility decision, the Court reviewed the laws of 20 Council of Europe member States and found that the vast majority entitle anyone who has been deprived of legal capacity direct access to a court to seek discontinuation of their guardianship.

The Court also reviewed the laws of 18 European States and showed that Bulgaria is out of step with the majority of European States by not providing any judicial review of placement of people in specialized institutions who have been deprived of their legal
capacity.

Rather than living as a member of the community as is his wish, Mr. Stanev is forced to remain in an institution that the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment recommended for closure in 2004 due to its horrible conditions, including lack of heat and basic hygiene. Mr. Stanev has no legal means to ask for his liberty under Bulgarian law because he has no legal standing before any Bulgarian court. In his case before the European Court of Human Rights, Mr. Stanev alleges violations of his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, including his right not to be subject to inhuman and degrading treatment under Article 3, his right to liberty under Article 5, to a fair hearing under Article 6, to respect
for home and private life under Article 8, and to an effective remedy under Article 13.

MDAC hopes that the Court’s recognition of the importance of the factual and legal issues of Mr. Stanev’s case will highlight the problems of deprivation of legal capacity and involuntary, unnecessary institutional placement as extreme and unacceptable deprivations of liberty.

For more information, contact Oliver Lewis, Executive Director at mdac@mdac.info.

MDAC's work in Bulgaria is made possible by a grant from the Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe, the Open Society Institute - Budapest, and MDAC-UK.

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MDAC has recently moved offices and is now based in: Hercegprímás utca 11 H-1054...

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MDAC has recently moved offices and is now based in:

Hercegprímás utca 11

H-1054 Budapest

Hungary.

Our phone and fax numbers remain the same. Unfortunately, as a result of the move, we had no access to internet, emails and telephone between 18 July and 4 August and have not received any incoming messages which were sent during that time. We kindly ask all messages to be re-sent and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

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Budapest (Hungary) and Strasbourg (France), 20 May 2010. Persons with disabilities placed under...

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