FRA | New reports on the rights of people with disabilities

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published two new reports on the rights of people with disabilities. The reports capture the experiences of exclusion and discrimination of people with intellectual disabilities or mental health problems that still persist despite the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by the EU and 20 Member States. The reports highlight the need to move from institutional to community-based living arrangements and to reformulate laws and policies to make them more inclusive.

Both FRA reports provide a basis for EU and Member States' discussions on how to protect and fulfil the rights of people with disabilities, and can be used to support them in fulfilling their obligations under the CRPD.

The reports were presented at an international conference on "Autonomy and inclusion" in Copenhagen on 7-8 June 2012.

Reports:

*       Choice and control: the right to independent living

*       Involuntary placement and involuntary treatment of persons with mental health problems

Please find the official press release in English, Spanish, and French as download below. The full reports can be found here.

Source: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights