2007-03-30
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Statement on behalf of the International Disability Caucus in the special meeting of the Human Rights Council on the Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities
March 26, 15,00 Geneva.
by: Lex Grandia, president of the World Federation of the DeafBlind
MR. president, Madame High Commissioner, distinguished members of the Human Rights Council, ladies and gentlemen
I would like to continue a tradition, I started in New York, every time I was speaking, to start with a little poem. It is in fact only one sentence. It says:
"Eyes and ears? my body senses best"
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak.
I am speaking on behalf of the International Disability Caucus, IDC, a network of more than 70 international, national and local disability organisations, developed during the process of negotiations on the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and on behalf of the International Disability Alliance, IDA, a network of representative international disability organisations, that functions as a part of IDC. This process of negotiations on the convention has been very interesting for all participants. In the beginning we, persons with disabilities in IDC, felt like a group of unknown people, delegations in the adhoc committee needed to talk about. At the end we were consulted as experts, as persons, fully capable of speaking for ourselves. This development is clearly reflected in the text of the convention.
Now the text of the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities is ready and the signing ceremony will take place within 3 days in New York. Here in Geneva, however, we have to look at the future at the implementation process of this convention. This convention is more than any other declaration, a leading international legal document. National laws and practices need to be adapted accordingly. You have, as members of the Human Rights Council, got, so to say, new eye glasses and new hearing aids.
With this new eye glasses you see, for example, the relationship between disability and poverty. If I am unequal to others, because I have a disability, then I have had no education, there are no expectations and I feel being a non-person, poor inside and outside. You will also see, that it is inappropriate and injustice, that human beings, with legal capacity, including the right to make their own decisions, are marginalized like this.
Your new hearing aids will hear the abilities, the capacities of persons with disabilities and their organisations, being able to contribute to society on an equal basis with others. You will also understand how diverse human beings can be and how rich society becomes, respecting this diversity. All human rights are equal, so I will not make any preferences here. The convention has to speak for itself.
IDC hopes and expects that this convention will influence the future work of the Human Rights Council and that changes of attitude towards persons with disabilities also will take place here. This convention is now the normative standard of all the monitoring and decisive actions of this Council with regard to human rights of persons with disabilities. The rights of persons with disabilities should become a regular item on the agenda of the Council, for example once a year. The rights of persons with disabilities should appear in the peer review mechanism, in all actions addressing discrimination. IDC expects inclusion of disabled person's organisations, an effective relationship between the Council and the new treaty body.
IDC hopes, that all the special rapporteurs take the eye glasses and hearing aids of this convention on, when making reports. Most of all IDC hopes not to be forgotten, marginalized and discriminated anymore in the future.
"Nothing about us, without us".