On 8th of March, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities opened its 24th session that is taking place online until the 1st of April. This marked the start of the mandate of 7 new committee members elected in December 2020, and the second mandate of two committee members.
Rosemary Kayess was elected as Chair of the CRPD Committee. Jonas Ruskus, Miyeon Kim and Amalia Gamio were elected as Vice-chairs, and Odelia Fitoussi as Rapporteur.
EDF President, Yannis Vardakastanis, made a statement at the opening of the session to welcome the new members of the CRPD Committee and explained the involvement of the European Disability Forum in the work of the Committee. He also extensively explained the urgency to oppose to the adoption of the draft additional protocol to the Oviedo Convention of the Council of Europe on involuntary placement and treatment in psychiatry. “As it currently stands, the draft additional protocol allows the involuntary treatment and placement in psychiatry of persons experiencing a mental health crisis following the decision of one medical professional. It also allows measures such as forced medication, isolation, restraint and electro convulsive therapy. In 2021 we definitely must not accept this” he explained.
During this session, the Committee will evaluate the implementation of the CRPD by Estonia. EDF supported its Estonian member in reporting to the Committee. The dialogue between the Committee and the Estonian governments will be lived stream on UN Web TV on the following date:
- Friday 12, 12:30-14:30 (CET)
- Monday 15, 12:30-14:30 (CET)
- Wednesday 17, 12:30-14:30 (CET)
The CRPD Committee will also discuss a General Comment on the right to employment. A call for written submissions is open from 25 January until 15 March 2021. Further details are available in this link. There is also be an online general discussion on the topic on 22nd and 24th of March. EDF has prepared input to contribute to the discussion.
More information
- Statement of EDF President at the opening of the Committee
- EDF information note for CRPD Committee experts
- Information on the session
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