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The right to mental health 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities emphasizes full respect for legal capacity, the absolute prohibition of involuntary detention based on impairment and the elimination of forced treatment (see A/HRC/34/32, paras. 22-33). That responds to the inadequacy of procedural safeguards alone, requiring sharpened attention to non-coercive alternatives and community inclusion to secure the rights of persons with disabilities. Within that evolving framework, not all human rights mechanisms have embraced the absolute ban on involuntary detention and treatment articulated by the Committee. They include the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (see CAT/OP/27/2), the Committee Against Torture and the Human Rights Committee. However, their interpretation of exceptions used to justify coercion is narrower, signalling ongoing discussions on the matter. Notably, in the United Nations Basic Principles and Guidelines on Remedies and Procedures on the Right of Anyone Deprived of Their Liberty to Bring Proceedings Before a Court, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention supported the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with regard to safeguards on the prohibition of arbitrary detention (see A/HRC/30/37, paras. 103-107).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- The present report is the result of extensive consultations among a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives of the disability community, users and former users of mental health services, civil society representatives, mental health practitioners, including representatives of the psychiatric community and the World Health Organization (WHO), academic experts, members of United Nations human rights mechanisms and representatives of Member States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 96
- Paragraph text
- The Convention is challenging traditional practices of psychiatry, both at the scientific and clinical-practice levels. In that regard, there is a serious need to discuss issues related to human rights in psychiatry and to develop mechanisms for the effective protection of the rights of persons with mental disabilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Work of the mandate and priorities of the SR 2015, para. 93
- Paragraph text
- One of priorities of the Special Rapporteur will be to look into the role of the health sector and health professionals in the implementation of ambitious goals raised by the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He hopes to address that role in close cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, and other mandate holders and United Nations mechanisms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- At present, there is an impasse over how obligations in relation to non-consensual treatment are implemented in the light of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, given the different interpretation by international human rights mechanisms. The Special Rapporteur has followed these developments and hopes that consensus can be reached to start the shift towards strengthened mental health policies and services without delay. He seeks to participate actively in these processes and potentially report again on the progress achieved.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The momentum sustained by civil society towards a paradigm shift has contributed to an evolving human rights framework in the area of mental health. The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006 laid the foundation for that paradigm shift, with the aim of leaving behind the legacy of human rights violations in mental health services. The right to the highest attainable standard of health has much to contribute to advancing that shift and provides a framework for the full realization of the right of everyone to mental health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur calls for leadership to confront the global burden of obstacles and embed rights-based mental health innovation in public policy. That includes State champions in international policy efforts, the leadership of professional psychiatry in assessing constructively its approach to the necessity for change, managers of mental health services leading change by example and municipal officials championing grassroots innovation. These champions must work in partnership with their constituents, including persons with intellectual, cognitive and psychosocial disabilities and with autism.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Coercion in psychiatry perpetuates power imbalances in care relationships, causes mistrust, exacerbates stigma and discrimination and has made many turn away, fearful of seeking help within mainstream mental health services. Considering that the right to health is now understood within the framework of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, immediate action is required to radically reduce medical coercion and facilitate the move towards an end to all forced psychiatric treatment and confinement. In that connection, States must not permit substitute decision-makers to provide consent on behalf of persons with disabilities on decisions that concern their physical or mental integrity; instead, support should be provided at all times for them to make decisions, including in emergency and crisis situations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The Convention establishes that all mental health services designed for persons with disabilities are to be effectively monitored by independent authorities (art. 16.3). Human rights must be incorporated into the framework of reference for all monitoring and review procedures in the field of mental health. The Special Rapporteur encourages national human rights institutions to pay attention to the right to mental health in their monitoring and promotion activities. Persons with lived experience, their families and civil society should be engaged in the development and implementation of monitoring and accountability arrangements.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- At the international level, the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the relevant State party reporting processes provide an important new avenue for accountability for the right to mental health of persons with psychosocial, cognitive and intellectual disabilities. By contrast, at the national level, accountability mechanisms for the right to mental health are often not fit for purpose. Of particular concern is the growing prevalence of mental health tribunals, which instead of providing a mechanism for accountability, legitimize coercion and further isolate people within mental health systems from access to justice. Despite commendable efforts by several national prevention mechanisms, human rights violations in mental health services are rife and occur with impunity. Individuals often have limited access to justice, including independent accountability mechanisms. That may arise because they are deemed to lack legal capacity and have limited knowledge of their rights, legal aid cannot be accessed, or simply because oversight of complaints bodies does not exist.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- International assistance and cooperation also includes technical support for rights-based mental health policies and practices. The WHO QualityRights initiative is a commendable example of such technical assistance. The Special Rapporteur also welcomes recent support by the World Bank and WHO for moving mental health to the centre of the global development agenda. However, he cautions that such global initiatives must incorporate the full range of human rights. In particular, multilateral agencies should give priority to ensuring the attainment of the right to health of those in the most vulnerable situations, such as persons with disabilities. A global agenda that focuses on anxiety and depression (common mental health conditions) may reflect a failure to include the persons most in need of rights-based changes in mental health services. Such selective agendas can reinforce practices based on the medicalization of human responses and inadequately address structural issues, such as poverty, inequality, gender stereotypes and violence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provides a legally binding framework for the right to the highest attainable standard of mental health. That is complemented by legal standards established, among others, by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. States parties have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the right to mental health in national laws, regulations, policies, budgetary measures, programmes and other initiatives.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Prior to the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, various non-binding instruments guided States in identifying their obligations to protect the rights of persons with disabilities in the context of treatment (see General Assembly resolutions 37/53, 46/119 and 48/96). While some of them recognized important rights and standards, the safeguards they contained were often rendered meaningless in everyday practice (see E/CN.4/2005/51, paras. 88-90, and A/58/181). As the right to health guarantees freedom from discrimination, involuntary treatment and confinement, it must also be understood to guarantee the entitlement to treatment and integration in the community. The failure to secure that entitlement and other freedoms is a primary driver of coercion and confinement.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- The professional group in psychiatry is a powerful actor in mental health governance and advocacy. National mental health strategies tend to reflect biomedical agendas and obscure the views and meaningful participation of civil society, users and former users of mental health services and experts from various non-medical disciplines. In that context, the 2005 WHO Resource Book on Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation, developed using human rights guidelines at the time, was highly influential in the development of mental health laws that allowed “exceptions”. Those legal “exceptions” normalized coercion in everyday practice, widening the space for human rights violations to occur and it is therefore a welcome development to see the laws being revisited and the Resource Book formally withdrawn, as a result of the framework brought about by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to mental health 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- One decade later, progress is slow. Effective, acceptable and scalable treatment alternatives remain on the periphery of health-care systems, deinstitutionalization has stalled, mental health investment continues to be predominantly focused on a biomedical model and mental health legislative reform has proliferated, undermining legal capacity and equal protection under the law for people with cognitive, intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. In some countries, the abandonment of asylums has created an insidious pipeline to homelessness, hospital and prison. When international assistance is available, it often supports the renovation of large residential institutions and psychiatric hospitals, undermining progress.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The realization of the right to health of older persons 2011, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Internationally recognized human rights standards and principles as contained in core international human rights treaties cover and protect older persons. Despite this tacit protection, it has increasingly been argued that there is a gap in the international human rights system because there is currently no specific universal human rights instrument on the rights of older persons. Specific provisions focusing on older persons, such as those which exist for some other categories of vulnerable persons such as women, children, persons with disabilities, and migrant workers, are also lacking.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The realization of the right to health of older persons 2011, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The right to the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental human right, legally enshrined at the international, regional and national levels. The enjoyment of the right to health is recognized by numerous international human rights instruments, including those that have been created to protect the human rights of particular groups, such as children, women, persons with disabilities and those who are subject to discrimination on the basis of race (E/CN.4/2003/58, paras. 10-21). The most important formulation of the right to health is contained in article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which provides the cornerstone protection of the right to health in international law.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
17 shown of 17 entities