2 July 2013

Challenging abuse and neglect

Last week we launched our summer appeal, asking for your support to enable us to continue to challenge abuses in eastern Europe. Our appeal was launched the while we had several lawyers from Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Moldova in our office. With top anti-torture lawyer Phillippa Kaufman QC, we were training them on how to challenge ill-treatment through the courts. The training was funded through a $7,500 grant from the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. This is significant in itself, because it demonstrates that this ‘mainstream’ human rights fund now fully recognises that people with disabilities can face discriminatory torture and ill-treatment.
25 March 2013

“Let me breathe, let me leave”: a song for Alex in Chisinau

In the Moldovan mental health system, voluntary means involuntary, consent means coercion, yes means no, and a safeguard means a rubber stamp. Reducing law into formalistic fiction creates an environment where healthcare staff mistreat patients to such an extent that some instances amount to torture. The new Moldovan government needs to abandon the focus on hospitals and instead ensure that law underpins autonomy, that budgets are oriented towards community-based supports, and that people with disabilities participate in monitoring human rights.

FOLLOW ME

toggle