An International Convention

on the Human Rights of People

with Disabilities

What you need to know about

international human rights law and

efforts to gain equality and justice

for people with disabilities in the US

and abroad

An Education and Outreach Tool for

the US Grassroots Disability

Community

National Council on Disability

July 2002
National Council on Disability

1331 F Street, NW, Suite 850

Washington, DC 20002

202-272-2004 Voice

202-272-2074 TTY

202-27202022 Fax

www.ncd.gov
Table of contents

Section 1 A Call to Action

• A message from Justin Dart

• Human rights violations happen everywhere

Section 2 Connecting the Dots – International human rights

law, civil rights and disability advocacy in the

United States: Why this matters to disability

advocates and the grassroots community

Section 3 International Human Rights Law 101: The Basic

Principles

• What are human rights?

• What is international human rights law?

• What about civil rights?

• What happens if a government violates human rights

law?

• What are some examples of international human rights

law?

• International Customary Law

• International Treaties (Conventions)

• When does a convention become official law?

Section 4 Disability Rights – The missing piece of

international human rights law

• The Big Picture of Human Rights

• Disability Rights in Focus

Section 5 What does it all mean to me and to my

organization?

• Adopting a human rights framework and approach to

advocacy in all areas and activities

• Participating in the development of the

International Convention on the Rights of People

with Disabilities
A Call to Action

“This Convention must not be simply another ritual of words

to allow paternalists and bit players to say they have done

their duty to people with disabilities. It must guarantee

stronger, not weaker, rights and remedies, and laws like

ADA. If we want a meaningful convention, we must give up

business as usual and fight as if the lives of billions

depended on it, because they do.

“Almost all great moral revolutions have been led by

apparently ordinary people who became passionate, singleminded advocates who destroyed stereotypes with the magic

sword of truth, who transcended politics, hate and fear,

and united the people in their personal universes, who

struggled for a world of justice. You do have the power to

create an international convention that will be the

declaration of independence for billions of people in the

21st century. No soldier ever died for a better cause.”

Justin Dart, April 8, 2002

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Human Rights of People with Disabilities are being violated

the world over

• The Constitutional Court in Thailand recently ruled 8

to 3 to uphold the ban on people with disabilities

becoming judicial officials. One of the ruling judges

stated that the judiciary reserved the right to

recruit individuals with “optimum potential” and that

“prevalent cultural values” placing preference on

able-bodied people also was a factor in the decision.

• In Hungary, people with psychiatric disabilities are

not protected under the anti-discrimination law

(because they are considered “ill” and not disabled).

They can be declared “mentally incompetent” and have

their identity papers taken away. When this happens,

they cannot even take a book out of a public library.

• In the US, a local politician declared “accessible” a

public building that required wheelchair users to use

a back entrance to enter the building, and to be

escorted through non-public areas by employees and use

a service elevator to access higher floors. It was

argued that the aesthetics of the building would be

disturbed by the addition of ramps and other

accommodations.

• In Honduras, there is a law that prohibits teachers

with disabilities from practicing their profession

• People in institutions in Mexico, Hungary, Armenia,

and Kosovo are commonly found lying naked in filthy

conditions, often covered in their own feces. In

these institutions, people are regularly strapped to

benches, beds, or wheelchairs due to the lack of

staff.

• Aversive behavior modification procedures are used

against people with mental disabilities in many

institutions across the United States. This includes

the use of electric shock, restraints, isolation,

white noise, slapping, pinching, and putting hot

pepper in the mouth. People with psychiatric

disabilities are often subject to forced drugging.

• In Germany, a court awarded damages to plaintiffs who

sued a hotel because they felt that their holiday had

been ruined by the experience of sharing the hotel

with disabled guests. Disabled travelers in Germany

have since experienced difficulties booking hotels.

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Connecting the dots

International human rights law, civil rights

and disability advocacy in the United States

3
Why all this matters to disability advocates and the

grassroots disability community in the United States

The US disability community is recognized internationally

as having achieved great success in advocating for

progressive national legislation. The ADA is regarded as

an important model by many countries as they develop or

revise their domestic approach to disability.

Despite the quality of the written legislation, the promise

of the ADA has not been fulfilled. Its implementation has

been slow and often resisted. In many cases, federal

enforcement agencies have adopted a passive approach,

waiting for complaints about violations of the law instead

of pursuing strategies that would promote steady progress

toward compliance. Furthermore, the courts have not

supported the goals of the ADA. People with disabilities

who have sued to have their employment rights protected

under ADA have found that 96% of court cases are decided

against them. Many of these decisions have been in blatant

contradiction of the spirit of this important legislation.

This startling situation is recognized by lawmakers such as

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) who asserted that “...ADA is under

attack, and indeed civil rights are under attack.” This is

a result of both passive (lack of implementation) and

aggressive (unfavorable legal decisions) forces. Andrew J.

Imparato, Executive Director of the American Association of

People with Disabilities stated, “The United States Supreme

Court is systematically dismantling the ADA.”

So, why is the ADA under attack? What makes the ADA

vulnerable? Why does there seem to be no hesitation by the

courts to chipping away at its protections? In one sense,

these are not difficult questions to answer. The ADA

requires society to adjust its behavior to include people

whom society is generally accustomed to ignoring. This

requires positive action and, in certain cases, commitment

of resources. History teaches us that resistance to change

is predictable, however unfortunate. But this is not the

whole answer.

A fundamentally good and moral society overcomes its

resistance to change when confronted with a notion that it

considers true, just and universal. In the area of

“rights”, these words describe human rights. Supporters of

the ADA understand that its provisions are simply methods

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to protect the true, just and universal principles that are

at its foundation. In other words, they see the ADA as a

human rights-based document. Unfortunately, there are many

people who regard the ADA simply as a list of social and

legal concessions that they are required to make. It is

this attitude that drives the resistance to the ADA in

society, enforcement agencies and the courts.

In order to turn the tide, a concerted effort must be made

to change the perception of disability rights so that they

are viewed in the same way as women’s rights, children’s

rights or racial minorities’ rights. While it is true that

these groups still experience discrimination, their efforts

to promote their rights as human rights have inspired a

significant change in social attitudes and increased the

willingness of decision-makers to actively promote and

support their rights.

The success achieved by women to have their rights

recognized globally as human rights was achieved through an

international movement that involved national, regional and

global meetings, engagement of mainstream human rights

groups (such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International)

and efforts to promote an international convention on

women’s rights. Together these elements created an

enormous amount of visibility, an increase in global

awareness, a critical shift in thinking about the nature of

women’s rights, and an international legal standard of

human rights for women.

An international convention on the rights of people with

disabilities – and the important process of its development

– would serve as a similar political catalyst and

educational tool for the global disability community to

bring about a change in the way disability rights are

perceived. The United States disability community has much

to gain from participating in this movement.

5
International Human Rights Law 101:

The basic principles you need to know in

order to understand what an international

convention is and what it does

6
What are human rights?

Human Rights are principles that are recognized as applying

universally to all human beings without exception. A human

right is a claim each person has, by virtue of being human,

to those conditions and resources that are fundamental to

life and dignity. They do not need to be specifically

granted, nor can they be taken away. They exist for each

person, regardless of the attitudes or laws that govern a

society. Human rights encompass an array of political,

social, economic and cultural rights.

What is international human rights law?

To promote human rights for all of the world’s citizens,

countries (hereafter referred to as “States”, since this is

what they are called in international human rights law)

have come together, through the system of the United

Nations, to articulate principles of human rights that are

considered universal and inviolable. The UN has developed

many human rights “instruments” to house these principles.

Some instruments, such as Declarations, are not intended to

be legal instruments. They signify a moral and political

commitment to an idea or set of ideas. Treaties, often

named “conventions”, are international law, and States that

sign and ratify them must abide by them. Some conventions

require immediate compliance and others use a system of

“progressive realization”, meaning that States can

incorporate the principles gradually.

What about civil rights law?

National governments, as the guarantors of the human rights

recognized in international laws, have the international

legal responsibility for enforcing them. This is

accomplished through civil rights law, which expresses

human rights in terms of the political and social order of

a given society. In other words, the civil rights laws of

a country should be designed to implement and enforce the

human rights to which they relate. The Americans with

Disabilities Act, for example, is a civil rights law that

defines the means of accessibility and accommodation

through which people with disabilities can claim their

human rights to inclusion and participation in community

life, as well as to employment opportunities.

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Of course, not all civil rights laws are based on

international human rights law. But, for those that are,

civil rights law establishes:

a) standards governing human and civil relations relevant

to human rights (non-discrimination, non-violence,

etc.).

b) tools or systems necessary for people to enjoy their

human rights (public education, due process, health care

access, etc.); and

Who is in charge of deciding if a human rights violation

has occurred?

Enforcement mechanisms, usually committees, are set up to

monitor international human rights laws, and States must

report to these committees. The committee evaluates each

State’s report of its efforts to respect, protect and

fulfill the law. Sometimes non-governmental organizations

also submit reports to these committees to provide another

opinion on how well - or how poorly - a State is doing with

respect to human rights. Some treaties also provide

procedures for states or individuals to file a complaint

against a state alleging a violation of a treaty.

Determining that an infringement has occurred is

complicated (even for human rights law experts) and not a

subject we will tackle too aggressively in this document.

Generally speaking, if a State is clearly not working to

conform its laws and practice to meet the obligations set

forth in a convention, it is considered to be in violation

of the convention. If a State establishes laws consistent

with a convention, but allows persistent human rights

abuses to continue, it is considered to be in violation of

the convention.

What happens if a government violates human rights laws?

When a committee determines that human rights violations

have occurred, it will provide guidance to the guilty

government regarding changes it must make to be in

conformance with the law. Enforcement is difficult and

generally relies on political and moral pressure from the

UN and other States, as well as from other institutions in

the international community. Consequences for violations

are also largely political in nature. For instance,

chronic violations of human rights law often affect the

8
willingness of other countries to offer foreign aid.

Certain human rights abuses can result in changes in

diplomatic relations.

Interestingly, the closest scrutiny of compliance with

human rights principles often does not come from the actual

monitoring committee, but from organizations such as

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The annual

and special reports of these organizations are taken very

seriously by governments, NGOs and the United Nations.

What are some examples of international human rights law?

There are several sources of international human rights

law. We will focus on the two kinds of law that are most

relevant to understanding the need for, and the potential

impact of, an international convention on the rights of

people with disabilities.

International Customary Law

The most recognized example of international customary law

is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was

adopted in 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly. At

the time of its adoption, it was not an instrument of

international law. It was a “declaration” which

constituted a moral commitment, but had no legally binding

effect on nations. Over time, however, global recognition

and application of its principles transformed its legal

status through a mechanism called “international customary

law”.

Customary law usually applies to a principle, not a whole

document. In the case of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights, the Declaration itself is generally considered

customary law since all of its principles have achieved

that status.

A principle becomes customary law when it is applied widely

and consistently because States feel a sense of legal

obligation to that principle. Basically, International

Customary Law is a result of states’ practice plus states’

sense of legal obligation. This concept has some very

complicated issues and questions attached to it. For

example, how do you measure States’ sense of legal

obligation, does the sense of legal obligation compel the

State to adopt certain practices, or does following a

9
practice over time create a sense of legal obligation to

that practice? For our purposes, this is not critical

material to delve into. It might be helpful to think of

customary law in the same way as “common law marriage”. A

couple’s behavior is consistent with that of a legal

marriage. They may have decided to behave this way because

of an existing sense of commitment, or, they developed a

sense of commitment over time as a result of the behavior.

Perhaps it is a little bit of both. In any case, after a

time, they acquire the same legal rights and

responsibilities of legally married couples.)

Once a principle achieves the status of international

customary law, a State must issue a formal objection to it

in order to be legally exempted from it. A State that has

not formally objected is legally obligated to abide by the

standard.

International Treaties (Conventions, Covenants, etc)

An international treaty is a legal document that is binding

on the States that sign and ratify it. Other names for a

treaty include “convention” and “covenant”. Since we

anticipate that the treaty on disability will be called a

“convention”, we will use that term in the discussion of

how a treaty works.

When the United Nations decides to develop a convention,

the process usually follows a basic pattern of routine work

and special events. In the beginning, there may be several

drafts developed independently by people or groups. The

Committee tasked with developing the convention decides

which document will become the official working draft of

the convention. From there, the process of developing the

provisions and language for the convention can take several

years. There should be opportunities for many groups and

individuals to contribute ideas throughout the process,

and, ideally, governments and civil society should work

together to achieve the best possible results.

Once a convention is adopted by the United Nations, a State

has several options. It may:

Sign: this generally signifies political approval and the

intent to seek ratification by that State’s governing

legislature.

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Ratify: this establishes a state’s official consent to be

bound by a convention. Through ratification, a country

becomes a “States Party” (sometimes called a “member”) to a

convention, and must implement and enforce its principles.

This means that its national laws must conform to the

provisions of the convention. The process for ratification

in the United States is signature by the President, with

the advice and consent of 2/3 of the Senate.

Sign and ratify with reservations, understandings and

declarations (RUDs): RUDs are tools used by states to

create certain limits to a convention, or to make clear how

a state interprets some aspect of the convention. Most

conventions allow RUDs

Reservations: If a provision of a convention violates

a state’s domestic constitutional provisions, that

state will usually file a “reservation” to the

provision, so that the provision does not apply to the

state. States cannot file a reservation that

nullifies the main intention or spirit of the

convention.

Understandings and Declarations: These are statements

a State can make to clarify how it believes a

particular provision should be interpreted. They do

not legally exempt the State from a provision.

Accede: There will usually be a specified period of time

during which states can become parties to a convention by

signing and ratifying it. After this period has ended,

states can typically become parties to a convention by

”acceding”. In the United States, accession requires the

same Presidential and legislative approval process as

ratification. Accession is subject to RUDs, just like

ratification.

When does a convention become official law?

When an international convention is developed, a decision

is made regarding how many states must become “States

Parties” to it before it will “enter into force”. Before

such time, the convention is not fully enforceable on any

state, even if that state has signed and ratified it. A

convention assumes the full force of international law when

the pre-determined number of states become states parties.

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Disability Rights – The missing piece

of international human rights law

 

 

12
The Big Picture of International Human

Rights

The International Bill of Rights is a trio of documents

that consists of:

• the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• the International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights

• the International Covenant on Economic, Social and

Cultural Rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is customary law

and the two Covenants are treaties. Together, they express

the core principles of human rights law.

The remainder of human rights treaties address either:

specific problems

• Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman

or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

• Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the

Crime of Genocide

• Slavery Convention

or specific populations

• the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination Against Women

• the Convention on the Rights of the Child

• the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of

all Migrant Workers

These specialized treaties are developed when it is clear

that the more general treaties have either failed to

protect people from a particular kind of human rights

abuse, or have failed to protect the human rights of a

particular population.

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Disability Rights in Focus

The human rights of people with disabilities are not

contained in a specialized convention. People with

disabilities must rely on the general principles in the

International Bill of Rights for legally binding

international protections. More specific rights

regarding people with disabilities are outlined in other

international documents, but these are not international

law. The most commonly referenced of these non-binding

documents are:

The Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for

Persons with Disabilities (Often referred to simply as the

“Standard Rules”.

This document was adopted as a blueprint for States’

policy-making and to provide a common frame of reference

among States. The document was developed by the UN

Commission on Social Development. The Standard Rules

established a limited monitoring mechanism by appointing a

“Special Rapporteur” who reports to the UN Commission on

Social Development. The Special Rapporteur presents States

with questions concerning their implementation of the

Standard Rules and serves as an advisor to governments and

disability organizations regarding implementation.

The Standard Rules contains important guideline that serve,

for many countries, as models on which to base their

policies, programs and laws. Still, while the Standard

Rules is an important instrument, it is not affiliated with

any human rights body of the UN and it does not proclaim to

be a statement of human rights standards (although it does

reference human rights in its preamble). Furthermore, it is

not a legal document. Compliance by States is voluntary and

global monitoring is ultimately the responsibility of one

individual.

The Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental

Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care

This instrument, adopted in 1991 by the UN General

Assembly, sets forth principles intended to serve as a

common standard for human rights practices in mental health

systems. Compliance is voluntary and it has no monitoring

system. This document is often rejected by disability

14
advocates on the basis that it reflects paternalistic

attitudes and the outdated “medical model” (as opposed to a

rights-based approach), that it endorses involuntary

detention and forced treatment and that it was developed

without sufficient consultation with people with mental

disabilities. The World Network for Users and Survivors of

Psychiatry has called upon the UN to revoke the MI

Principles.

There must be more than that!

There are, scattered throughout many other documents (both

legally binding and voluntary), a few provisions regarding

the rights of people with disabilities. For instance, the

Convention on the Rights of the Child has a section

dedicated to the rights of children with disabilities.

From time to time, various UN bodies pass resolutions that

pronounce their commitment to disability issues. But, on

the whole, people with disabilities must rely on the

general human rights treaties and the non-binding

instruments that set forth guidelines for how governments

might structure policies and programs.

This is not enough!

Unfortunately, as long as disability issues are

marginalized in human rights law, the human rights of

people with disabilities will be marginalized in the world.

The hard truth is that many people - and even whole

societies - in our world fail to recognize people with

disabilities as whole human beings who are entitled to the

human rights expressed in the general human rights

treaties. Furthermore, they are not inclined to embrace

suggestions in the Standard Rules regarding how to promote

participation and inclusion of people with disabilities in

their communities. The absence of a specialized convention

means that people with disabilities have very few

international legal standards that are explicitly

recognized as applying to them.

Besides being legally binding, how would a convention on

the rights of people with disabilities be different from

the Standard Rules?

Below are just a few examples of elements that the Standard

Rules does not contain but which would be core principles

in a human rights based convention on disability:

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• A non-discrimination clause

• Prohibitions against torture and other forms of illtreatment

• Prohibition against slavery and other forms of

exploitative labor practices

• Provisions regarding freedom from violence and protection

of the right to life

• Explicit due process guarantees to ensure that people

with disabilities are treated equally before the law and

provided with necessary accommodations to participate

fully in the legal process (sign language interpreters in

court, etc.)

• Provisions explicitly geared toward enforcement of human

rights standards for people with disabilities in

hospitals or institutions

• Provisions protecting the reproductive rights of people

with disabilities

Perhaps the clearest way to illustrate the difference

between a human rights convention and the non-binding

documents that people with disabilities must rely on is to

examine the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination

Against Women (CEDAW) and the Standard Rules. Below are

the parts of each text that lay out the intent of the

instrument:

Standard Rules

Preamble 

“States...Have adopted the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for 

Persons with Disabilities outlined below, in order: 

• To stress that all action in the field of disability presupposes adequate knowledge and 

experience of the conditions and special needs of persons with disabilities; 

• To emphasize that the process through which every aspect of societal organization is 

made accessible to all is a basic objective of socio-economic development; 

• To outline crucial aspects of social policies in the field of disability, including, as 

appropriate, the active encouragement of technical and economic cooperation; 

• To provide models for the political decision-making process required for the 

attainment of equal opportunities, bearing in mind the widely differing technical and 

economic levels, the fact that the process must reflect keen understanding of the 

cultural context within which it takes place and the crucial role of persons with 

disabilities in it; 

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• To propose national mechanisms for close collaboration among States, the organs of 

the United Nations system, other intergovernmental bodies and organizations of 

persons with disabilities; 

• To propose an effective machinery for monitoring the process by which States seek to 

attain the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities.” 

The CEDAW Convention:

Article 1 

For the purposes of the present Convention, the term "discrimination against women" 

shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction mode on the basis of sex which has 

the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by 

women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of 

human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil 

or any other field. 

Article 2 

States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by 

all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against 

women and, to this end, undertake: 

(a) To embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their national 

constitutions or other appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated therein and to ensure, 

through law and other appropriate means, the practical realization of this principle; 

(b) To adopt appropriate legislative and other measures, including sanctions where 

appropriate, prohibiting all discrimination against women; 

(c) To establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal basis with men and to 

ensure through competent national tribunals and other public institutions the effective 

protection of women against any act of discrimination; 

(d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and 

to ensure that public authorities and institutions shall act in conformity with this 

obligation; 

(e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by any 

person, organization or enterprise; 

(f) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing 

laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women; 

(g) To repeal all national penal provisions which constitute discrimination against 

women. 

By looking at these two texts, it is easy to see that a

convention uses much more powerful and direct language, and

leaves little doubt about what a state must do.

For the full text of the Standard Rules and all other

international instruments referenced in this tool, see the

NCD website (www.ncd.gov).

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What does all of this mean to me

and to my organization?

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The identity of “disability” as an issue is changing. The appearance of disability on the 

international human rights radar, and efforts to incorporate disability rights permanently 

into the international legal human rights framework, marks the next step of a slow but 

clear perceptual shift of disability from a medical problem to a social issue and ultimately 

to a human rights issue. The global movement for recognition of the human rights of 

people with disabilities must be supported by local, national and regional efforts. While 

the US has achieved much by successfully focusing its energies under the banner of “civil 

rights”, it is clearly time to take the argument to the next level. Efforts must be made to 

help the public and the government see the rights of people with disabilities in the same

vein as women’s rights – as a critical and legitimate piece of the human rights structure. 

To that end, disability advocates and disability organizations in the United States can: 

• Become familiar with the general human rights treaties/conventions. These are 

international standards and their protections apply to all people. Cite these 

documents in your public education and advocacy work. 

• Participate in grassroots coalitions that are working to promote and participate in 

the development of an international convention on the human rights of people 

with disabilities. 

• Share informational and educational materials on the international convention 

(such as this document) with other organizations (through mailing lists and 

websites). Build bridges across disability lines and with other groups concerned 

with human rights (women’s groups, civil rights groups, etc.), by emphasizing the 

fact that a violation of the human rights of any person or any group in any place is 

a threat to every person and group everywhere. 

• Evaluate the UN Standard Rules and the MI Principles. Take a position on how 

well or how poorly these documents serve the interests of people with disabilities. 

Support efforts to improve or, when appropriate, to eliminate these documents 

from the body of international instruments relied upon by many governments for 

policy guidelines and strategies. 

• Evaluate organizational literature and consider incorporating human rights 

language in your mission statements, vision statements, guiding principles, etc. 

• Communicate to NCD your views on the international convention and let NCD 

know what types of educational materials are most helpful in your efforts to 

support the convention. Check NCD’s website periodically for new materials on 

the topic of human rights and disability. 

• Seek opportunities to participate in international events. Support international 

exchange and education programs that allow Americans with disabilities to travel

abroad to learn about disability advocacy in other countries and also programs

that seek to bring people with disabilities from other countries to the United States 

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