Introduction

English

Rapid and ongoing transformations have taken place in Bulgaria over the last twenty five years, a process which was accelerated when the country acceded to the European Union in 2007, making it one of Europe’s newest and easternmost Member States. In 2012, Bulgaria ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). The country’s ratification took place five years after the country’s accession to the European Union.  

Despite significant transformations in Bulgarian society, and some promising commitments to advancing the right of people with disabilities to live in the community, over 7,000 people with mental disabilities are still required to live in long-stay institutions. A slow pace of development of community-based services and little support to develop community networks means that large numbers of Bulgarians with mental disabilities continue to be segregated from society, and are more likely to be the victims of exploitation and abuse.[1]

The social exclusion of people with mental disabilities reflects an old, paternalistic model of care and restriction, rather than rights and autonomy. This is clearly characterised through the system of guardianship which operates in the country, removing the legal recognition and right to choose for many people with mental disabilities. The Constitutional Court of Bulgaria recently decided not to declare guardianship unconstitutional,[2] again highlighting the need for legislative reform to bring the country into compliance with Article 12 of the CRPD.

Rhetorically, the Bulgarian Government has made numerous commitments to securing the right of people with mental disabilities to live independently in the community, adopting a number of national strategies on deinstitutionalisation since 2006. However, concrete action has been minimal and slow. Only a tiny number of people have moved out of large institutions into smaller protected homes or family-type centres. Even these models, which the Bulgarian government presents as community-based residential services, continue to reflect institutional models where people with disabilities are separated from the rest of society.[3]

The level of investment into community-based services, which are vital in securing inclusion, are significantly lower than the large sums still spent on maintaining and establishing new institutions. Instead of using European Union structural funding to transition people with disabilities from institutions to the community, the Bulgarian government continues to invest in institutions. It is this basic choice of priorities which must change for the government to come into line with its obligations under Article 19 of the CRPD.

 

This briefing aims to provide concrete and detailed information about the Bulgarian government’s implementation of Article 19, based on a number of indicators and reflecting the three limbs of the right to independent living in the community.  The intention is to provide civil society with evidence of the gap between the rhetoric and the reality for thousands of people with mental disabilities in the country. The briefing clearly shows that while there have been positive moves in a number of areas – including a number of impressive pilot programmes – the changes have been too little, too slow and have benefitted too few. The final part of the briefing provides concrete recommendations to the Bulgarian government and should serve as a basis for future assessment.

 

Acknowledgments

MDAC is grateful to a number of people who provided information, assistance and guidance in the preparation of this briefing, and in particular:

Aneta Genova, Bulgarian Lawyer and MDAC Legal Monitor
Slavka Kukova, Coordinator and Senior Researcher, Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
Nadia Shabani, Program Director, Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL)
Frances McCormack, MDAC intern

Barbara Méhes, MDAC Legal Officer, lead on the research and drafting of the briefing. The content was guided and edited by Steven Allen, MDAC Advocacy and Communications Director, and Oliver Lewis, MDAC Executive Director.



[1] Manfred Nowak, Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, A/63/175, 28 July 2008, para. 38.

[2] The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria, Constitutional case 10/2014, available in Bulgarian at http://constcourt.bg/contentframe/contentid/2807 (last accessed: 23 September 2014).

[3] European Network on Independent Living – European Coalition for Community Living, Briefing on Structural Funds Investments for People with Disabilities: Achieving the Transition from Institutional Care to Community Living, 2013, 15, available at http://www.enil.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Structural-Fund-Briefing-final-WEB.pdf (last accessed: 23 September 2014).

 

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