Two days of the CRPD Committee meeting
 | Committee on the rights of persons with disabilities is a group of people, who check if countries do what the Convention says. This group of people is having a meeting in Switzerland. Among other things, they discussed if Spain is doing what the Convention says. |
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is holding its 6thsession from 19-23 September in Geneva. During this session, the Committee is reviewing the report of Spain and will adopt Lists of Issues on Peru and China today and tomorrow.
The Committee reviewed the Spanish state initial report published in May 2010 on the implementation of the UNCRPD in this country two years after ratification. The same month, CERMI, an umbrella organisation promoting the rights of people with disabilities in Spain, released an alternative report which has also been examined by the Committee.
At its 5th session in April 2011, the Committee prepared a list of written issues, to ask for additional information from the Spanish government. The Spanish government has answered in written to the questions. Yesterday a constructive dialogue between the government representatives and the CRPD Committee members took place. During one full day, the Committee members asked a bench of questions about several articles of the Convention, to get the best picture possible.
Edah MAINA, Committee member from Kenya, recalled that declaring a person incapacitated is against the provision of Art. 12 CRPD and she asked the representatives of the Government what the plans of the Ministry of Justice to conform to the Art. 12 are and what timeframe to abolish all subsisted decisions making measures and practices is envisaged. Gabor Gombos, Committee member from Hungary, asked the government about the number of adults under guardianship, as he was not satisfied by the answer given in the written questions. Furthermore, Teresia Degener, Committee member from Germany, asked about equal access to fundamental sexual and reproductive rights. She raised the concern that sterilization without consent is still allowed in some cases – which is not compatible with the CRPD.
NGOs can listen to the debate but cannot intervene at this stage. Informal meetings took place with the Committee members to discuss the most burning issues, according to the representatives of the civil society. NGOs have, thanks to these flexible and informal opportunities, the possibility to bring their concerns to the Committee about the implementation of the CRPD in their country.
Concluding observations will be adopted on Thursday by the Committee during a closed meeting session and they will be published in the coming weeks. The concluding observations may be a useful tool and a roadmap to follow up key issues in Spain after the Committee session. It also give DPOs an opportunity to have a dialogue with the government to work together to put into action the recommendations of the Committee.
Inclusion Europe | Two days of the CRPD Committee meeting
