Presentation of Kathleen Martinez, Member
National Council on Disability
March 30, 2004

Congressional Human Rights Caucus Briefing
International Disability Rights: The Proposed United Nations Convention

NCD is an independent federal agency whose members are appointed by the President to advise the President, the Administration and Congress on disability policy issues. NCD supports House Concurrent Resolution 169, which expresses the Sense of Congress that the U.S. should support a UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities.

As a group composed of some 600 million people worldwide, people with disabilities are a sizable global population. More compelling, however, than the sheer magnitude of this population, is the appalling history regarding the denial of even the most basic human rights of people with disabilities in both the developed and the developing countries. Even in the 21st century, the Department of State Country Reports has revealed that people in psychiatric facilities are restrained in cages and are subjected to serious human rights abuses. In the late 1990s, governments in many countries in Europe, Asia, and North America acknowledged long histories of the sterilization of people with disabilities. Additionally, there is evidence of denial of the right to vote and conscious utilization of inaccessible polling places constituting an abrogation of the democratic rights of people with disabilities in all regions of the world. As more and more countries face aging societies the public dialogue is becoming more and more critical about whether people, as they age, will be allowed to stay in their community.

Within the last thirty years the United States Congress has led the way in adopting law after law which mandate a range of choices for American citizens with disabilities equivalent to that for American citizens without disabilities: education, transportation, employment, and communication. With the passage of the proposed MICASSA legislation, this range of choices would be extended to include the right of people with disabilities to choose where they receive personal assistance services and care. The UN Convention is one way for the US to share its technical expertise and legislative achievements, provide technical assistance and the exchange of knowledge, skills, and experience to help reduce the learning curve for countries that are ready to implement new solutions. Something I’ve observed through my years of experience in international development is how powerful it is when the disability leadership from other countries understands how people with disabilities in the US have been able to organize themselves into an influential constituency. Disability leaders from all over the world come to this country and marvel at things we now take for granted. For example, I hosted disability leaders from Russia a few years ago. They spent a lot of time taking pictures of each other in elevators, on ramps, on bus lifts, on the accessible Metro, reading Braille menus in restaurants, and using our telephone relay services. In other words, we have a lot to share.

NCD believes the people of the United States would be well served by being involved in the historic process of drafting a Convention, and by ensuring that this Convention benefits from the American experience in implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act. U.S. disability legislation, with its core principles of choice, independence, and integration, is one of America’s greatest democratic achievements. The U.S. must continue to show its leadership through its support of and involvement in the proposed Convention, in order to protect, preserve, and enforce the rights of people with disabilities everywhere. The passage of Resolution 169 will be an important step in helping to ensure that people with disabilities in other countries have the same opportunity to attain equality.

The U.S. cannot afford to ignore the burgeoning momentum for the development of an international disability Convention. The United States has plenty to gain by constructive participation in the effort to fully integrate disability fully into the international human rights agenda. United States interests abroad, such as our foreign assistance work, can only be bolstered by a UN Convention. The economic cost to society of excluding people with disabilities is enormous. No nation in the world will achieve its full potential for economic development while it leaves out people with disabilities.

US government support for a strong UN convention will be a validation of this country’s commitment to include disability issues as a meaningful priority of US foreign policy. Effective international collaboration in the drafting process will require consultation with and full participation by disability leaders and their allies in the United States and abroad. By supporting a strong Resolution, by consulting with disability groups, and by the inclusion of people with disabilities in the drafting process, the US will establish its role as a leader in international disability rights consistent with its commitments to citizens with disabilities at home.