23 March 2009
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has today (23 March 2009) informed a Westminster Parliamentary Committee that it can see no reason for the UK to do less than other states to protect the rights of disabled people. The Commission provided evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights currently examining the way in which the UK is dealing with the new United Nations Disability Convention.
NIHRC Chief Commissioner, Monica McWilliams commented:
“The Human Rights Commission warmly welcomes the UK ratification but regrets governments plans to ratify the Disability Convention with four ‘reservations’ and an ‘interpretative declaration’. These will limit the impact of the treaty on the human rights of disabled people in relation to education, immigration, and employment in the armed forces. The Commission’s evidence submitted to Parliament today therefore rejects the need for these limitations”.
The Commission is concerned that the proposed reservation and declaration in respect of education could hinder progress towards the inclusion of disabled children in mainstream education in Northern Ireland. The Convention does not create an immediate entitlement to local mainstream provision for every child, but obliges the state to strive over time to deliver that right. For the UK to water down that commitment goes against the spirit of the Convention.
Monica McWilliams added:
“Disabled people are entitled to the full protection of a Convention that achieved international consensus in its drafting. If the UK steps back at this late stage, the impact will be felt principally by disabled people. The Commission urges to ratify the Convention in its entirety.”
The Commission also raised concerns about its ability to discharge its own responsibilities to protect, promote and monitor the rights of disabled people under the Convention, as Government does not propose to provide any extra funding for that work. The Commission will be raising these concerns with the UK Minister for Disabled People, Jonathan Shaw, when it meets with him later this week.
Further information
For further information, please contact Claire Martin, Press and Public Affairs Worker: (028) 9024 3987.
Notes to editors
- The NIHRC today submitted its written evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights at Westminster. The Commission’s evidence is available to download from the Commissions website here.
- The Commission also opposes the proposed reservation in relation to the equal treatment of disabled people in the immigration system. The Government claims that it may need to introduce wider health screening “particularly in the event of a global health emergency”. The Commission points out that global health emergencies affect people with and people without disabilities, and that there are already considerable powers under immigration rules to conduct health screening.
- The UK played an important role in the drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and signed it on the first day it was opened for signature. It has also taken the positive step of ratifying the optional protocol to the Convention which allows for individual complaints to be taken from the UK under the Convention to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Geneva. The full text of the Convention is available here.
- The UK Government laid an explanatory memorandum in Parliament on 3 March setting out its intentions with regard to ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Explanatory Memorandum is laid for 21 parliamentary sitting days. The Explanatory Memorandum is available here.
- The Joint Committee on Human Rights issued a call for evidence on the text of the proposed reservations on 11 March with a deadline of 23 March for comments.
- The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (jointly in Northern Ireland with the Equality Commission for NI) is to be designated as one of the independent bodies charged under Article 33(2) of the Convention with promoting, protecting and monitoring the rights under the Convention. The Commission is very concerned that no specific resources have been made available for this work and considers it will be unable to adequately discharge this important role without dedicated additional funding.
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