Disability

Promoting Social Change in Asia and the Pacific: The Need for a Disability Rights Tribunal to Give Life to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

<i>Literary Bioethics: Animality, Disability, and the Human</i> by Maren Tova Linett

This chapter examines the activation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in Argentina, and in particular the ways in which local and national disability rights organizations and movements have mobilized domestically and engaged repeatedly over time with international human rights bodies and national institutions to promote reform on a range of disability rights issues. Although the chapter focuses mainly on disability rights advocacy and particularly on the issue of inclusive education, drawing on the Emiliano Naranjo and Alan Rodríguez cases, the experimentalist approach to human rights is also used as a lens through which to view other aspects of human rights advocacy in Argentina including in the area of child rights. With an active civil society involved in aspects of both advocacy and policymaking, Argentina’s ratification and incorporation of international human rights treaties since the dictatorship has in different ways catalysed and enhanced domestic mobilization for change on a range of fronts.

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CPRD) by the United Nations in 2006 is the first comprehensive and binding treaty on the rights of people with disabilities. It establishes the right of people with disabilities to equality, dignity, autonomy, full participation, as well as the right to live in the community, and the right to supported decision-making and inclusive education. Prior to the CRPD, international law had provided only limited protections to people with disabilities. This book analyses the development of disability rights as an international human rights movement. Focusing on the United States and countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East the book examines the status of people with disabilities under international law prior to the adoption of the CPRD, and follows the development of human rights protections through the convention’s drafting process. Arlene Kanter argues that by including both new applications and entirely new approaches to human rights treaty enforcement, the CRPD is significant not only to people with disabilities but also to the general development of international human rights, by offering new human rights protections for all people. Taking a comparative perspective, the book explores how the success of the CRPD in achieving protections depends on the extent to which individual countries enforce domestic laws and policies, and the changing public attitudes towards people with disabilities. This book will be of excellent use and interest to researchers and students of human rights law, discrimination, and disability studies.

The research focuses on the protection of human rights and the reform movements regarding criminal justice systems in Latin America. Its objective is to evaluate the relationship between the Inter-American Human Rights System and the reform movements, in the Latin American context. Thus, methodologically, the work addresses the experience of the Uruguayan criminal justice system movement, by the analysis of the Peirano Basso v. Uruguay case, to understand the relationship between the decisions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the local reform movement. In conclusion, based on the study of the parameters defined by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in the Uruguayan case, it is presented the existence of a correlation between the actions of the Inter-American System and the accusatory reform in that country, indicating the possibilities of supranational dialogue for the expansion of the protection of human rights in Latin America.

There is very little research on whether global human rights regimes serve as tools for the promotion of a domestic agenda of rights within democratic states, although their role under authoritarianism has been extensively analyzed. This article offers a case study of the impact of one such regime, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on domestic advocacy in democratic Argentina. The effectiveness of the convention at the domestic level depends, at least in part, on the extent to which it empowers activists within states to make claims on behalf of children. The article identifies an increase in claims-making on behalf of children since the convention was ratified and discusses its role in bringing about legislation that establishes children as rights-bearing individuals. Nevertheless, the deterioration in children's social rights over the same period raises doubts as to whether the domestic incorporation of the convention, on its own, can create social and economic entitlements for children. KEYWORDS: children, rights, global norms, domestic activism, Argentina. ********** The past two decades have witnessed the proliferation of international and institutions aimed at strengthening human rights globally. Regime change to democracy in regions like Latin America and Eastern Europe have further contributed to the democratic norms cascade, and many of the newly installed democratic states have actively sought to incorporate international treaties or conventions into their domestic political structures. (1) Yet, while there is an extensive literature that focuses on the role played by global human rights regimes and transnational networks in addressing gross human rights violations under authoritarianism, there is still little detailed analysis on the role of global regimes as tools for the promotion of a domestic agenda of rights within democratic states. The aim of this article is to help fill that gap. We focus on the domestic impact of one global regime, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), on the politics of children's rights in Argentina. In this way, we hope to address the question of whether the ratification by a democratic state of global human rights regimes such as the CRC provides networks and organizations with effective advocacy tools through which rights claims can be made or grievances redressed. The article proceeds in the following way. In the first section, we discuss the emergence of rights-based regimes such as the CRC, which we see as part of the trend to global governance. We then identify the guiding principles of the CRC and the nature of the rights it embodies. In the final section, we explore the extent to which the CRC has helped advance an agenda of children's rights in Argentina. Has the CRC reshaped the advocacy politics of Argentine civic organizations that have emerged around the defense of the rights of children and young people? What kind of rights can be claimed domestically under the CRC? How do domestic activists evaluate the CRC? These are the central questions we address here. Global Governance Regimes and Domestic Rights Global governance regimes have emerged in areas ranging from the ways in which financial risks and credits are assessed and allocated to the that discursively regulate how governments behave and power is deployed in trade, investment, the environment, labor, health, development, and. human rights. Some regimes, such as those that govern trade and the global financial architecture, are more detailed and more closely policed than others. Global regimes in areas such as health, labor standards, and social inclusion remain, in sharp contrast, under-resourced and have weaker powers of implementation. (2) Nevertheless, there is a marked global trend toward establishing global social and political standards, especially in contrast to the period before 1989. Democratization, understood as the establishment of the rule of law and minimum civil and individual liberties, is now a central plank of the international order. …

Introduction: The Formation of Disability Studies - Gary L Albrecht, Katherine D Seelman, and Michael Bury PART ONE: THE SHAPING OF DISABILITIES STUDIES AS A FIELD An Institutional History of Disability - David L Braddock and Susan Parish Counting Disability - Glenn T Fujiura and Violet Rutkowski-Kmitta Disability Definitions, Models, Classification Schemes and Applications - Barbara Altman Theorizing Disability - Gareth Williams Methodological Paradigms That Shape Disability Research - Scott Campbell Brown Disability - Patrick Fougeyrollas and Line Beauregard An Interactive Person-Environment Social Creation Representation and Its Discontents - David T Mitchell and Sharon L Snyder The Uneasy Home of Disability in Literature and Film Philosophical Issues in the Definition and Social Response to Disability - David Wasserman Disability and the Sociology of the Body - Bryan S Turner Intellectual Disabilities- Quo Vadis? - Trevor R Parmenter Disability, Bioethics and Human Rights - Adrienne Asch Disability Studies and Electronic Networking - Ellen Liberti Blasiotti, John D Westbrook, and Iwao Kobayashi PART TWO: EXPERIENCING DISABILITY Divided Understandings - Carol Gill The Social Experience of Disability Mapping the Family - Philip M Ferguson Disability Studies and the Exploration of Parental Response to Disability Disability and Community - Michael P Kelly A Sociological Approach Welfare States and Disabled People - Robert F Drake Advocacy and Political Action - Sharon Barnartt, Kay Schrinerm and Richard Scotch Health Care Professionals and Their Attitudes Towards, and Decisions Affecting Disabled People - Ian Basnett The Role of Social Networks in the Lives of Persons with Disabilities - Bernice A Pescosolido Inclusion/Exclusion - Jean-Francois Ravaud and Henri-Jacques Stiker An Analysis of Historical and Cultural Meanings PART THREE: DISABILITY IN CONTEXT Disability Culture - Colin Barnes and Geoff Mercer Assimilation or Inclusion? Identity Politics, Disability and Culture - Lennard J Davis Making the Difference - Tom Shakespeare and Nick Watson Disability, Politics, and Recognition Disability Human Rights, Law and Policy - Jerome E Bickenbach The Political Economy of the Disability Marketplace - Gary L Albrecht and Michael Bury Disability and Health Policy - Gerben DeJong and Ian Basnett The Role of Markets in the Delivery of Health Services Disability Benefit Programs - Bonnie O'Day and Monroe Berkowitz Can We Improve the Return to Work Record? A Disability Studies Perspective on Employment Issues and Policies for Disabled People - Kay Schriner An International View Science and Technology Policy - Katherine D Seelman Is Disability a Missing Factor? Disability, Education and Inclusion - Len Barton and Felicity Armstrong Cross-Cultural Issues and Dilemmas Support Systems - Simi Litvak and Alexandra Enders The Interface Between Individuals and Environments The Relationship between Disabled People and Health and Welfare Professionals - Sally French and John Swain Public Health Trends in Disability - Don Lollar Past, Present, and Future Disability in the Developing World - Benedicte Ingstad

The purpose of the article is to reveal four existing models of the National Preventive Mechanism and to highlight the functioning of the National Preventive Mechanism in Ukraine and some other member states of The Council of Europe. On 18th of December 2002 UN General Assembly adopted a resolution # 57/199 which confirmed the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This document was ratified by the twentieth country on 22nd of July 2006 and the same day entered into force. Majority of countries of the world are now trying to reduce the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture in order to achieve this goal. The authors highlighted four existing models of the National Preventive Mechanism in the world. Special attention is paid to the functioning of the National Preventive Mechanism in Ukraine and some other member states of the Council of Europe. They also paid attention to the fact that in majority of the countries the process of forming and giving functions to NPM is at the stage of formation. Currently, there are countries that have already ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture, but for some unspecified reasons have not established an NPM. Such kind of situation is being observed in Europe (Belgium, Finland), Latin America (Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay) and Africa (Congo, Guinea, Ghana, South Africa, Togo). In addition, there are countries that have not ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture at all, such as the United States of America. As for the existing NPM models, in the authors's opinion, the most successful model is "ombudsman+". This model has a number of positive features, one of which is the ability of the Commissioner for human rights (Ombudsman) to work closely with various organizations and attract specialists from various fields. This makes it possible to conduct more thorough monitoring of places of detention. The Commissioner for Human Rights also has the opportunity to assign certain functions of the NPM to non-governmental organizations that have their own certain authority in society. But this model cannot be considered as ideal, because it also has certain problems that need to be improved. For example, when choosing a non-governmental organization, it is necessary to evaluate the main range of activities of this organization. The organization's participation as a part of civil society in monitoring visits should not be formal, as such a fact may negatively affect the functioning of the NPM.

Background: This paper emerges as part of a process lead by the National Academy of Medicine of Peru in close collaboration with other Latin American National Academies of Medicine, major universities and health professional institutionsObjectives: To describe and substantiate the importance of Person Centered Medicine (PCM) in the Latin American context. Methodology: Review of Latin American scientific literature and experiences on this issue and organization of academic meetings to deliberate on related problems, two preliminary ones in Lima in December 2013 and January 2014, a third one in Buenos Aires at the Second International Congress of Person Centered Medicine with the participation of the National Academies of Medicine of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru (November, 2014), and a fourth in Lima with the presence of the National Academies of Medicine of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru (December, 2014). Results: Historical and contemporary, universal and local precedents to the gestation and development of a re-prioritization of medicine in relation to the Person in context are pointed out, articulating for such purpose science and humanism. The concept of Person in medicine from a philosophical point of view, including terminological, historical and human rights dimensions, are discussed. Upon these bases, the central concepts of PCM are considered, emphasizing its pertinence in clinical medicine as well as in public health, clinical care, education, research, and health policies. In regards to clinical education and practice, the PCM concept as a fundamental strategic principle, its programmatic educational applications and its institutionalization at a medical school level are proposed. The importance of ethical training and clinical communication as well as the appropriate use of technology and scientific evidence at the service of the Person are highlighted. Available institutional opportunities for health professional interdisciplinary education as well as Latin American educational perspectives are discussed. Scientific research on PCM is highlighted particularly concerning studies on conceptualization, measurement and diagnosis, including the need to construct narrative complementary instruments. Furthermore, perspectives on health policies centered on the person and the community are considered as well as contributions and recommendations derived from Latin American experience on this topic. Conclusions: PCM values biologic, psychological and socio-cultural scientific advances, processing them within the comprehensive framework of the Person, articulating science as an essential instrument and humanism as the essence of medicine. In contraposition to reductionist epistemological formulations, PCM proposes a medicine informed by evidence and experience and oriented towards the totality of the person.

Aiming to place disability studies in conversation with other antioppressive educational frameworks, this article “crips” human rights education (HRE), a field that, by definition, teaches people about equality, dignity, and respect. A theoretical sampling of HRE journals and an online library database uncovers that human rights scholarship largely overlooks disability outside a medical or legal framework, though disability scholars consistently reference human rights in their work. We argue that these absences exemplify the active erasure of disability at the ontological level, and in response we urge scholars to reconceptualize where and how politics, activism, and social change take place. This “visibilizing” project follows Baxi's dictum that HRE must constantly adapt to people’s localized experiences and the needs of future generations. We offer a reading list to begin this “visibilizing” project in undergraduate university settings, proposing that teachers use “Disability and Human Rights Praxis: Intersectional, Interdisciplinary Readings for Educators” to conceptualize how they might pair disability studies in education and HRE texts to facilitate interdisciplinary class discussions and student projects.

‘What are we doing, when we do disability studies?’ Tom Shakespeare begins his edited collection Disability Research Today: International Perspectives by asking this question. In answering it, he notes that the chapters are framed within his intellectual biases and ‘preferences for what disability studies should be’ (p. 2). The book is organised into four parts: (i) illness and impairment; (ii) disabling processes; (iii) care and control, and; (iv) communication and representation. Disability, for Shakespeare, is a ‘complex, diverse and above all multi-factorial phenomenon’ that should mainly draw on ‘empirical research, rather than theory alone’ (p. 3). In keeping with his insistence on an empirical focus, most of the chapters do not explicitly espouse a bio-psycho-social model or focus on disability, as interpreted in terms of the World Health Organization's (WHO) international classification of functioning, disability and health (ICF) – except for Corbisiero's chapter. Most focus on disability as ‘social-relational’. Disability studies are inclusive enough to accommodate diversity but some activists and scholars in critical disability studies or using a social model approach find Shakespeare's seemingly blind espousal of the ICF and WHO problematic, and will be reading this book wondering if his work is still relevant to critical disability studies and sociology (although I think that this book illustrates he is trying to say something more nuanced). There are chapters where, empirically and theoretically, Shakespeare is on the mark in identifying important areas of research, for example, in terms of intersectionality to homelessness, aging or violence against disabled women in India. The qualitative and quantitative depth and quality of the research is to be commended and gives a nice overview of interesting scholarship. Shakespeare also fittingly recognises where some of the future research challenges of disability studies are located, in terms of technological advances and the importance of big data. When thinking of research evidence and links to policy and practice, the gold standard is the randomised controlled trial (RCT). RCTs are not discussed in this book but would fit well with Shakespeare's research interests in rehabilitation (where the ICF has been very influential) and might open a critical approach to rethinking its hegemony. I was particularly interested in Ishihara's chapter ‘Learning from Tojisha Kenkyu’ (p. 27), where psychiatric patients take the lead in developing treatment regimes. The chapter also is connected to the innovative ideas currently being developed in mad studies and neurodiverse debates (such as in McWade et al. 2015). In terms of the intersections between disability studies and the sociology of health and illness, Ferrie and Watson's chapter on ‘The psycho-social impact of impairments: the case of motor neuron disease’ (p. 43) will be of interest in that they develop a social relational model of disability. Although Shakespeare does not want to focus on the social model, this chapter is indebted to the theoretical work of Carol Thomas by building on her idea of psycho-emotional disablism, illustrating that theory is still fundamental but reified. This points to some of the dangers of thinking that you can create silos in certain disability models or theories in a discipline. In many of the chapters there is a sense that innovation, in terms of theoretical development, will happen only through interdisciplinary work. As such, the book feels a little out of touch with some of the current debates in sociology, anthropology and disability studies. In particular, it seems out of touch with the political urgency of disability activism, the questioning of neoliberalism, the impact of austerity, conflicts, rethinking our sociological futures and how particular paradigms of disability become linked into the politics of ‘who counts’ (Ginsburg and Rapp 2015). Most of these studies are also located in middle to high income countries. This edited collection neglects research and debates on decolonising disability in the global south and on rethinking ontological and epistemological foundations. Part of that movement of decolonisation is a questioning of the boundaries of inclusion set by disability elites or institutions based in the global north. The theoretical richness and crucial empirical work being done in Australia, Canada and the USA is also missing, for example, how sites of intervention and incarceration become interlinked to disability. I would not call this book truly international or representative of the variety of approaches in disability studies. However, it is a nice reference book in showcasing empirical disability research and how the field is growing methodologically in new and exciting directions. It should appeal to students, academics and practitioners in a range of fields such as sociology and social policy.

This chapter offers a comparative study between the judiciaries of France/Europe and Colombia/Latin America, in the context of the 'fundamental rights revolution'. After explaining the Franco-European system of interaction, it assesses what this analysis may suggest regarding the elaboration of human rights jurisprudence in Colombia and other Latin American countries that operate under the Inter-American Human Rights System. Whereas Colombia has distinct 'judicial hierarchies' (Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, and State Council), there is only one court at the international level: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (ICtHR). This is one of the key differentiators with the European system, where there is an institutional competition in the fundamental rights front between the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Therefore, the differences amongst the systems affect the circulation and intensification of fundamental rights in the Latin American context.

In low-income and middle-income countries, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, the COVID-19 pandemic has had substantial implications for women's wellbeing. Policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the gendered aspect of pandemics; however, addressing the gendered implications of the COVID-19 pandemic comprehensively and effectively requires a planetary health perspective that embraces systems thinking to inequalities. This Viewpoint is based on collective reflections from research done by the authors on COVID-19 responses by international and regional organisations, and national governments, in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa between June, 2020, and June, 2021. A range of international and regional actors have made important policy recommendations to address the gendered implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on women's health and wellbeing since the start of the pandemic. However, national-level policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have been partial and inconsistent with regards to gender in both sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, largely failing to recognise the multiple drivers of gendered health inequalities. This Viewpoint proposes that addressing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in low-income and middle-income countries should adopt a systems thinking approach and be informed by the question of who is affected as opposed to who is infected. In adopting the systems thinking approach, responses will be more able to recognise and address the direct gendered effects of the pandemic and those that emerge indirectly through a combination of long-standing structural inequalities and gendered responses to the pandemic.

The аrticle еxplores thе rоlе of UN Cоnvеntіоns оn Humаn Rіghts аs а kеy element of the international system ensuring law, justice, and security. It analyzes the legal and institutional framework of state cooperation within the United Nations system, in particular, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), which together form the foundation of the modern international human rights protection mechanism. The main directions of implementing the UN Conventions are examined, including the activities of the Human Rights Committee, the Committee against Torture, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and other treaty bodies. The procedures for submitting state and individual reports, reviewing complaints, and monitoring compliance with human rights at the national level are analyzed. Special attention is given to instruments such as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), which provide specialized protection for specific groups. The article examines the mechanisms for implementing the obligations of states parties to the Conventions, including the periodic reporting system, monitoring missions, and the consideration of individual communications on human rights violations. The importance of cooperation between states and the UN Human Rights Council, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and other international human rights protection structures is emphasized. Particular attention is devoted to the challenges of implementing international standards in national legislation, discrepancies in law enforcement practices among different countries, and the difficulties of ensuring effective human rights protection in situations of armed conflict and political crises. The author stresses the necessity of harmonizing national legislation with the provisions of UN Conventions, improving international monitoring mechanisms, and strengthening institutional cooperation among states. The article concludes that the further development of the UN human rights conventions system is essential for upholding the rule of law, justice, and the protection of human dignity on a global scale.

Human rights law is a powerful legal tool to protect health, including tobacco control. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (IESCR) obliges States to produce results and is enforceable. Although a human rights approach would have many advantages for Latin American tobacco control, it has not been appropriately used for advocacy purposes yet. Human rights law is a powerful legal tool to protect health, including tobacco control and smoking cessation. Therefore, I appreciate this article by Meier et al. [1]. I will briefly comment on some additional aspects, both generally and as they relate to the current situation in Latin America. Are human rights enforceable? In theory, yes. Human rights are inherent to human beings and empower individuals (rights holders) to demand that States (duty holders) comply with the obligations of those rights. However, an “artificial” contrast has been raised about differences in enforceability between civil and political rights (e.g. the right to life, liberty, property, etc.) and economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR), related to living conditions and access to material and cultural goods (including the right to health). Civil and political rights confer an obligation of results and no one disputes they are enforceable. ESCR confer obligations of means or behaviour and can be viewed as enforceable only to the extent that the State has sufficient resources; they are, therefore, often regarded as “expectations” [2]. For most Latin American law, the fact that ESCR must be fulfilled according to the available resources does not imply they are not enforceable. The obligation to use “the maximum” of the “available resources,” together with the obligation of progressive satisfaction and the need to the results to the appropriate technical or political standards, would make ESCR enforceable. In addition, international law imposes a fundamental rule: pacta sunt servanda, which means that “contracts are to be fulfilled.” Traditionally, the human rights State obligations were classified into positive obligations (to carry out certain activities leading to compliance; in the case of civilians and politicians) and negative obligations (to refrain from actions that violated them; in the case of ESCR). Currently, the Van Hoof classification describes three types of human rights State obligations: to respect (refrain from interfering directly or indirectly), to protect (take measures to prevent third parties from interfering), and to comply (adopt all legislative, administrative, budgetary and other measures appropriate for its realization) [2]. Although ESCR are considered enforceable rights, they are threatened by the doctrine, linked to economic liberalism, which aims to make the State cheaper, often at the cost of social policies. Additionally, although a human rights approach would have many advantages for Latin American tobacco control, this approach has traditionally not been used by tobacco control advocates, but by rather by the tobacco industry (e.g. arguing freedom of expression violation) to attack tobacco control policies [3]. A human rights approach currently has limited relevance for tobacco control policies in Latin America. As Meier et al. point out, human rights law has a prominent role in political and regulatory discourses, and some countries have already established a connection between tobacco control and the fundamental right to health. Because most Latin American countries belong to the civil law tradition, controlling private actors through civil liability litigation is underdeveloped. However, Latin America also has a strong tradition of controlling State action through fundamental rights litigation. Likewise, the Inter-American Human Rights System provides a way to demand human rights State responsibility. Although the current relevance of a human rights approach in Latin America may be limited, it seems a promising approach that ought to be explored [2]. None. None.