Submission related to draft General Comment No. 1 on Article 12
Dear Ms Cisternas,
The undersigned express our support to you and your colleagues for the draft
General Comment on Article 12 and hope that if anything it can be strengthened in
its affirmation of the universal right to legal capacity and the obligation on
governments to abolish substituted decision-making and forced psychiatric
interventions along with other forced medical interventions such as those related to
sexual and reproductive health.
CRPD Article 12 represents a profound shift in international human rights law and a
landmark achievement in the full inclusion of persons with disabilities as full
subjects of international law as well as domestic law – as persons entitled to full and
equal human rights in every respect.
Personhood cannot be realized without the freedom to effectively make choices and
influence one’s environment. To be sure, any act entails consequences and our
freedoms are limited by the freedoms of others. This is equally true for persons
with and without disabilities, and we must create an environment of mutual respect
and solidarity that maximizes the fulfillment of human rights for all.
We particularly support the distinction made between legal capacity – the right to
make decisions and undertake responsibilities on one’s own behalf – and mental
capacity – a person’s actual or perceived decision-making skills. As a fundamental
right that determines the effective enjoyment of all other rights, legal capacity
cannot be subjected to any test without doing irreparable harm to those who are
disqualified. We agree with the Committee that mental capacity can never be used
to limit a person’s legal capacity, and that legal capacity persists in situations of
crisis.
We further support the Committee’s position that all approaches to limiting a
person’s legal capacity – status-based, functional and outcome-based – are
inconsistent with Article 12, paragraph 2; all result in acts of discrimination based
on disability.
Lastly, we support and applaud the Committee’s recognition that forced psychiatric
interventions and other forced medical interventions such as those related to sexual
and reproductive health violate Articles 15, 16, and 17 of the Convention – in
particular that they constitute torture or other ill-treatment – as well as violating
Article 12. Autonomy and the right to physical and mental integrity are closely
linked, and the Committee has done well to adopt this standard, which is supported
by reports of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and other international
mechanisms and entities, as well as the positions advocated from lived experience
by survivors of these violations.
Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Muhannad Alazzeh, Director of Tadmine “Mainstream” Center for Human Rights,
and Senator, Jordan Senate
Dr. Imed Eddine Chaker, President of the Tunisian Association For the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities
Anne-Laure Donskoy, Les Indignés de la Psychiatrie Française, France
Erick Fabris, Canada
María Teresa Fernandez, Mexico
Gabor Gombos, Hungary
José A. Guevara B., Executive Director, Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción
de los Derechos Humanos
Ohyong Kweon, Korea
Jagannath Lamichhane, Nepal
Ji-Eun Lee, Korea
Tina Minkowitz, USA
Hege Orefellen, Norway
Lauro L. Purcil Jr, MPA, Lead Convenor, Philippine Coalition on the UN Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Manila
Amba Salelkar, Inclusive Planet Centre for Disability Law and Policy, India
Prateeksha Sharma, Executive Director, Hansadhwani Foundation, New Delhi, India
Debra Shulkes, Czech Republic
Reshma Valliappan, India
David Webb, PhD, author of “Thinking About Suicide,” Castlemaine, Australia
Mari Yamamoto, Japan
Organizations
Autistic Minority International
Bapu Trust Pune, India
Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry
Civil Rights Foundation Stop Discrimination, Norway
Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de Derechos Humanos
Disability Rights International
Enthinderungsselbsthilfe von Autisten für Autisten und Angehörige – ESH
Heartsounds Uganda (HSU)
Ithaca Mental Patients Advocacy Coalition (IMPAC), Ithaca, NY, USA
Korean Alliance on Mental Illness (KAMI)
Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights®), USA
MindFreedom International
The M.O.M.S. Movement, USA
The Norwegian Human Rights Alliance (Norwegian Association of Trans Persons;
Harry Benjamin Resource Center; Women's Front of Norway; LLH - Norwegian
LGBT Association; Landsforeningen for Romanifolket; The Norwegian Association of
Disabled; The Norwegian Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities;
Norwegian Queer Youth; Civil Rights Foundation Stop Discrimination Norway;
Synshemmede Akademikere; Taternes Landsforening; ULOBA - Independent Living
Norway)
PANUSP – Pan African Network of People with Psychosocial Disabilities
Stichting Mind Rights, Netherlands
Ubuntu South Africa
USPKenya
We Shall Overcome, Norway
Women Enabled, Inc.
World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry