Disability rights organizations support U.S. House resolution to ratify UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

From the AAPD Justice for All blog:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Two national disability rights organizations, the Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (CHRUSP) and the U.S. Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (USNUSP) support H. Res. 416, which expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the “United States should become an international human rights leader by ratifying and implementing certain core international conventions” and affirms the historic role of the United States in the development of global human rights standards.

H. Res. 416, submitted on May 7, 2009 by Congressman Lewis (D-GA), calls on the Senate to immediately ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol.

“The time has come for the U.S. to cease the practice of exceptionalism when it comes to human rights. This resolution from the House of Representatives is a step in the right direction, and we will continue to advocate and organize for U.S. ratification of UN international treaties and accountability to, international human rights norms,” said Daniel Hazen, a co-coordinator of USNUSP, a grassroots organization seeking to advance the human rights and dignity of people with psychiatric disabilities in the U.S. CHRUSP and USNUSP support U.S. ratification of all UN conventions and optional protocols, but are particularly focused on the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD), which sets forth unprecedented protections for people with psychiatric disabilities beyond the standards currently articulated in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These include equal recognition as persons before the law (Article 12), in which users and survivors of psychiatry are entitled to full legal capacity with the option of supported decision-making should they request it. UN experts, including the Special Rapporteur on Torture, consider the controversial practice of involuntary psychiatric treatment to violate the CRPD.

Tina Minkowitz, Director of the Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (CHRUSP), an organization working for full legal capacity for all and an end to forced psychiatric interventions, said: "CRPD and its Optional Protocol (allowing individuals to complain about human rights violations) should be ratified without any reservations, understandings or declarations, to make the greatest commitment possible to the human rights of people with disabilities in the U.S. and abroad."

H.Res.416 is sponsored by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA). For a complete list of co-sponsors please visit www.thomas.gov.