US will not sign on Disabilities Rights Treaty
Even as incidents of disability discriminations are on an increase and the medical definition is under revision in favor of more inclusion in the country, the United States has abstained from signing an acclaimed UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was adopted in New York today.
Excuse is the usual: the US claims it already has a comprehensive policy. However such disregard to world community should not come as a surprise, since in blatant disregard to international sentiments, the US administration has refused to sign on numerous pro-people treaties in the past.
This treaty caters to a population of people with disabilities estimated at 650 million, and is the first human rights treaty of the 21st Century.
The new treaty gives greater rights to people with disabilities around the world. The draft of United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities includes the following:
* Participating countries to change laws and ban discriminatory customs and practices* Disabled people to have an equal right to life
* Equal rights for disabled women and girls
* Protection for children with disabilities
* A right to own and inherit property, to control financial affairs and have equal access to financial services
* Disabled people not to be deprived of their liberty "unlawfully or arbitrarily"
* Medical or scientific experiments without consent to be banned
* An end to enforced institutionalization
* Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse
* A right to privacy and access to medical records
* Countries to remove barriers to accessing the environment, transport, public facilities and communication
* A right to independent living
* Essential equipment to be made affordable
* A right to an adequate standard of living and social protection
* An end to discrimination relating to marriage, family and personal relationships
* Equal access to education
* An end to discrimination in the job market
* A right to equal participation in public life
* A right to participate in cultural life
* Developing countries to be assisted to put the convention into practice
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