On 6 May the UK Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire, responded to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, which has demanded that the Government should immediately ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People. This response indicates that several Government departments, including the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), have asked for reservations to be attached to the ratification. Where the Convention says that children with disabilities should be included within “the general education system”, the DCSF wants to make a declaration about how it interprets the word “general”. It should not be taken to mean “mainstream”, says the ministry, but simply the existing range of provision, retaining separate special schools. And where the Convention talks about inclusion in the local community, the DCSF wants to issue a reservation that will enable it to carry on providing “specialist provision, which may be some way from [the children’s] home”, i.e. residential schools.
Reactions have already emerged to the reservations expressed by the DSCF and other ministries. The Commonwealth Disabled People’s Forum at the Commonwealth Foundation issued a statement saying, “We wish to express our deep concerns that any Commonwealth country should not be whole hearted in their support of human rights for disabled people.” In London, the UN Convention Campaign Coalition (UNCCC) has issued a press release headed Stop Press – Government Latest – Disabled People are not Fully Human (PDF 16.5Mb).
CSIE argues that, if the government reserves on any article of this Convention, it will effectively be upholding some rights of disabled people and not others. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been written in collaboration with disabled people and was not intended to offer a list of rights for governments to choose which ones to uphold. It is a document that spells out what the UN suggests should be in place in every country, so that disabled people can enjoy full and effective participation and inclusion in society.
A number of organisations are now expected to step up lobbying efforts for full ratification without reservation. Local MPs are being lobbied and lawyers are being consulted on the compatibility of these reservations with Article 46 of the Convention. This says that governments are not allowed to ratify the Convention and at the same time issue interpretive declarations or reservations that contradict the main principle.
Readers wishing to add their voice in support of full ratification can sign the online petition. Every voice counts!
