The capital of Belarus, Minsk. UN experts praised Belarus’ new law on the rights of persons with disabilities and expressed concern over the closure of NGOs Human Rights
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has completed its consideration of Belarus’ report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: experts praised the new law on the rights of persons with disabilities and their social integration and asked the delegation of Belarus questions about the closure of organizations for persons with disabilities and the deprivation of legal capacity of some groups of persons with disabilities.
Committee member Muhannad Salah Al-Azze called the new law “impressive” and noted that its definition of disability is consistent with the definition in the Convention. At the same time, Al-Azze reported that about 1,500 civil society organizations working on the rights of people with disabilities have been closed for various reasons.
In particular, as committee expert Amalia Gamio Rios recalled, the organization “Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities” was closed due to accusations of committing “financial crimes.” She asked the delegation about the future of this NGO.
According to Gamio Rios, persons with psychosocial disabilities are often subjected to incapacitation procedures that are not in line with the Convention, and very few people subsequently manage to regain their legal capacity.
Presenting the report of Belarus, the head of the delegation, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection Maryna Artemenko noted that her country has made serious efforts to implement the Convention and has achieved concrete results in the integration of persons with disabilities into society.
In 2023, the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities entered into force, introducing a ban on discrimination on the basis of disability, and also defining which exceptions and restrictions should not be considered discrimination.
The delegation representatives stated that Belarus is moving away from the medical model of defining disability. The country uses a medical and social model based on protecting the rights of people with disabilities and aimed at improving their quality of life and eliminating barriers. Social workers participated in formulating the new definition of disability, the delegation members noted.
According to them, there are about 70 organizations in Belarus that protect the rights of people with disabilities. The organizations that violated the law were closed, as the speakers reported, and they were given the opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court.
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The “Office for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” members of the Belarusian delegation said, used donor funds from the UN Humanitarian Coordinator’s Office in Belarus, and the country’s law enforcement agencies found that the money was ultimately spent on purposes not declared by the organization. During the investigation of this case, illegal actions committed by one of the “Office’s” employees were also revealed, representatives of the delegation noted.
They also reported that Belarus has a mechanism for issuing powers of attorney to legal representatives of persons with limited mental capacity. There are about 27 thousand people in Belarus who lack legal capacity. However, they can restore their legal capacity if their health improves. Recently, about 105 people have had their legal capacity restored.
In her closing remarks, Marina Artemenko stressed that Belarus wants to create a fair and equal society based on the provisions of the Convention.
Muhannad Salah Al-Azze stressed that the right of doctors and authorities to make decisions for people with disabilities in areas such as health care, education and legal capacity is contrary to the Convention. He stressed the need to fully implement the provisions of the Convention and to provide organizations of persons with disabilities with an opportunity to participate in decision-making processes.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Gertrude Oforiwa Fefoame, called on Belarus to prevent reprisals against individuals and organizations that cooperated with the Committee and to implement its concluding recommendations, which will help improve the quality of life of people with disabilities.