April 15, 2016, 12:00 pm
by DR. PADMANI
MENDIS
Advisor, Disability and Rehabilitation
Sri Lanka ratified
the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities or UN CRPD on 08th
February this year. We need now to take steps to implement this convention. In
order to look forward to doing this, it would be apt to first look back so that
we may have a clearer understanding of the context of this convention and its
importance.
The CRPD was
approved by the General Assembly on 13 December 2006. It is one that broke
several records. On the day it was opened for signature at the UN in New York
on 30 March 2007 there were 82 signatories, the highest number of signatories
in history to a UN Convention on its opening day. It is the first human rights
convention to be open for signature by regional integration organizations. It
is the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century and the
first legally binding instrument with comprehensive protection of the rights of
people with disabilities. It holds the record for the shortest time taken in
the preparation of a UN treaty ever – this had taken only five years from 2002
to 2006, while UN treaties have generally taken around 10 years to negotiate.
It was the quickest to come into effect with minimum requirement of
ratification by 20 countries and entered into force on 03 May 2008. And now,
eight years later, it has been ratified by 163 of the 193 member states of the
UN. Its importance is further certified that it is today regarded as one of the
10 "Core UN Human Rights Instruments" receiving the same status as
for example the Bill of Rights. All this is evidence of the realization by the
global community of the unacceptable situation of people with disabilities the
world over, the level of deprivation of their human rights, and the need for
all member states to take action to mitigate this situation.
And our country was there in New York the day that the UN CRPD was
opened for signature on 30 March 2007. Our Minister of Social Services of the
time made the special journey to the UN to place his signature on the CRPD that
very day. He had, or so we thought, indicated clearly Sri Lanka’s commitment to
the treaty and that the next steps would soon follow. But alas, that was not to
be. It soon became clear that the commitment demonstrated to the world on that
day was only a paper promise. It took nine years and the Yahapalanaya
Government for our country to take the next step. With Cabinet approval finally
obtained by S.B. Dissanayake, Minister of Social Empowerment and Welfare, the
Government this year ratified the UN Disability Convention or CRPD in New York.
With that Sri Lanka made a promise to our fellow members in the United Nations
that the CRPD will be implemented in our country. It was a promise that the
Government will put in place the administrative structures recommended by the
CRPD for its implementation and that it will enact the necessary enabling local
legislation for its enforcement.
So where are we now? What will our country do next? Or is this to
be just another paper promise?
Immediate administrative actions to demonstrate commitment
CRPD is unique as
far as human rights treaties go in that it is the first such treaty to include
in detail how the convention should be implemented and monitored by a country.
Incidentally these are two separate functions and are to be undertaken by
separate institutions. Whilst implementation must be undertaken by Government,
monitoring should be the responsibility of an independent mechanism, such as
for instance, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. An important condition
here is that people with disabilities and civil society must participate in
monitoring. For domestic implementation we have agreed in the CRPD to have two
strategies – focal points with responsibility for micro implementation within
various Government sectors and another focal point as a broad macro mechanism
also within Government for oversight and coordination of implementation.
Focal points for micro-implementation: Sri Lanka has already taken action to keep in line with this
institutional requirement. The National Action Plan for Disability was designed
to implement the CRPD and was approved by Cabinet in 2014. In this Plan focal
points are called for in all government ministries which have to include
disability within its frame of work (education, health, social welfare, sports,
vocational training, housing etc). Focal points are also called for within the
secretariats at all levels of the decentralized administration (provincial,
district, divisional and local government). Focal points have the
responsibility for seeing that the CRPD, through the National Action Plan, will
reach people with disabilities in their homes and communities and impact on
their lives both the international and local enabling laws to improve their
situation and the environment in which they live. This is especially important
in a country such as ours where over 70% of the population lives in rural and
plantation areas.
The Need of the Hour – a National Disability Commission as a
Macro-Mechanism
In ratifying the
CRPD Sri Lanka agreed to address comprehensively all human rights of persons
with disability. This then calls for the participation of practically all
cabinet ministries, and perhaps even some state ministries. The CRPD recognizes
that this is applicable in all countries to a greater or lesser degree. It
recognizes also that a single ministry (health, social welfare, labour) is not
able carry out oversight and coordination of all these other concerned
ministries which is the key to successful implementation. CRPD therefore calls
for a single overall mechanism to carry out these two functions (which within
them includes policy-making and planning). The UN High Commissioner for Human
rights elaborates on this further and calls for this mechanism to be placed
"at the most senior level of government, …. close to the heart of
government such as in the Office of the President or Prime Minister".
Applying these requirements to Sri Lanka we urgently need to set up a body such
as a National Disability Commission under the Office of the President or Prime
Minister. This is not an option; it is an action we have agreed to in
ratification. This is the first step Sri Lanka needs to take to initiate CRPD
implementation. This first step will surely demonstrate our country’s
commitment.
Legal Requirements
A draft Disability
Rights Bill to provide the local enabling law for the CRPD has been in the
pipeline since 2004. It has been open to the general public, to disability
groups and to those who participated in preparing the previously approved
National Policy on Disability. Their comments have been fed into periodic
revisions of the draft. And yet the Bill remains in draft form to this day at
the Ministry of Social Empowerment and Welfare. Once the National Disability
Commission (or mechanism by whatever name it is called) has been decided on by
Cabinet, it is imperative that the draft Bill is amended accordingly and
enacted without delay so that the Government’s commitment to enforcement of the
CRPD is demonstrated.
What if Sri Lanka fails to take these measures?
But what if Sri Lanka’s fails her disabled citizens once again and
neglects to take these urgent measures to implement the CRPD? This will without
doubt have unfortunate severe economic and other effects on our country per se.
One effect will be on the review of GSP Plus status by the European Union and
the other is on our status at the UN Human Rights Council.
UN CRPD and GSP Plus
The European Union
has called on Sri Lanka to demonstrate that we are implementing all UN Human
Rights Treaties as part of their review for restoring GSP Plus status to our
country. The next mission (with the possibility of a final decision) is due in
June. The CRPD, being a core human rights treaty, matters very much to the
European Union. It was one of the first integrated organizations to ratify the
CRPD. The prudent action for the Government to take to demonstrate that it is
serious about implementing the CRPD is that it should firstly set up the
National Disability Commission and secondly start processing the Disability
Rights Act as the local law for the CRPD. These can be done immediately and
certainly before June. If this is not done our GSP Plus status could be in
serious jeopardy.
Sri Lanka’s standing in the UN Human Rights
Commission
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is due to give a
comprehensive report on Sri Lanka at the next General Assembly of the Council
to be held in September. When he visited Sri Lanka last February, in his
closing statement to the media (after our country had ratified) he expressed
his concern about the human rights situation of Sri Lanka’s people with
disabilities. They will no doubt be considered when he makes his statement in
September. So if the Government does not want to be failing in this too it had
better get its act together and take the two measures listed above in this
article. It is worth recalling these words of the UN High Commissioner when he
addressed the last HRC General Assembly in March this year.
"I am also disturbed
by a widespread practice of what could be termed "human rights
window-dressing". The ratification of treaties and agreements, and
acceptance of recommendations stemming from UN human rights mechanisms, are not
in themselves human rights achievements. There needs to be follow-up and real
change to bring greater freedoms and dignity to the people. Unless
consequential at the level of the rights of the individual, the work we do will
remain bureaucratic – or even theatre. Human rights obligations should not be a
"tick-the-box" exercise designed only to boost a country’s
international image."
e-mail: mendisnl@sltnet.lk;
padmanimendis@hotmail.com;
