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Chapter 2: International Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms and Opportunities for the Promotion and Protection of Disability Rights

Overview

This chapter provides a summary review of the capacity of the international human rights system to contribute to advancing the equal effective enjoyment of all human rights by people with disabilities, specifically: how the international human rights treaty system works and opportunities for promoting and protecting disability rights within that system. An examination of the different human rights treaties and their relevance to the disability context is followed by an analysis of the utility of these treaties in monitoring the five areas of focus. The State reporting procedures and individual complaints procedures are emphasized since they are the central monitoring mechanisms for human rights treaties and provide opportunities for advancing the equal rights of people with disabilities.

Since there is currently no specific treaty protecting disability rights and explicit reference to disability in the major human rights treaties is rare, a central challenge for devising a strategy to monitor the rights of people with disabilities is to link the general human rights treaties with specific international disability standards, such as the Standard Rules for the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.21 This challenge could be met in several different ways and two key options for mainstreaming disability rights will be reviewed: (1) identifying and relying upon the explicit references to disability rights in human rights treaties or (2) interpreting the general provisions of the treaties to apply to the situation and needs of people with disabilities.

The Applicability of International Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms to the Disability Context

International Human Rights Treaties

Human rights 'treaties', also called covenants or conventions are legally binding agreements under international law. By ratifying or acceding to a treaty, a State accepts an obligation to carry out the terms of the treaty. Treaties are the primary source of international law, together with customary international law (rules which evolve from the consistent practice of States). While there have been many human rights treaties and other instruments adopted at the international level, seven United Nations human rights treaties form the centerpiece of the U.N. human rights system:

  • the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (I.C.E.S.C.R.)22
  • the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (I.C.C.P.R.)23 and its two Optional Protocols
  • the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (C.E.R.D.)24
  • the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (C.A.T.)25
  • the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (C.E.D.A.W.)26 and its Optional Protocol
  • the Convention on the Rights of the Child (C.R.C.)27 and its two Optional Protocols
  • the International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (M.W.C.).28

In addition to these international treaties, there are regional treaties for Europe, the Americas, and Africa:

  • the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms29 and its Additional Protocols, and the European Social Charter30
  • the American Convention on Human Rights31 and its Additional Protocol on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights32
  • the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights33 and its additional protocols.

There are additional regional human rights treaties, dealing with specific themes (such as torture and violence against women), at least one of which, the Inter-American Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against People with Disabilities,34 is directly focused on people with disabilities.

There are also a number of relevant treaties adopted under specialized agencies of the United Nations. For example, the International Labour Organization has adopted a number of conventions relating to employment and social protection, including I.L.O. Convention Number 111 on discrimination in occupation and employment, and Convention Number 159 on the vocational rehabilitation and employment of disabled persons.35 The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (U.N.E.S.C.O.) has adopted the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs in Education reaffirming the right to education and urging the implementation of inclusive education as a law or policy.36

Presently, there is no internationally binding instrument specifically devoted to the rights of people with disabilities. Although efforts toward the drafting of an international treaty devoted to the rights and dignity of people with disabilities are under way, the process for the adoption and eventual entry into force of such an instrument will likely take some years, based upon the experience with the development of other international human rights treaties. Given the length of this process, it is crucial to use other approaches to ensure the development of international human rights standards related to disability, including the use of current international and regional instruments to the fullest extent possible.

Monitoring Mechanisms

When governments indicate their acceptance to be bound by a treaty (generally by ratification following signature, or by accession), the State becomes a 'party' to the treaty (State party) and is formally bound under international law to carry out obligations contained in the treaty. In the case of a human rights treaty, this normally involves general and specific obligations to respect, protect and fulfill treaty rights. The seven major international human rights treaties mentioned above each have one or more mechanisms to monitor governments’ implementation of the duties to which they agreed by becoming parties to the treaties. Each treaty creates a committee, also known as a treaty monitoring body, – or collectively as 'the U.N. human rights treaty bodies' – and specifies the committee’s composition and functions.37

The treaties provide for two primary mechanisms38 to monitor government compliance with human rights obligations: State reporting and individual complaints.

(i) State Reporting Procedure: By becoming a party to one of the U.N. human rights treaties, a government accepts an obligation to report periodically to the relevant treaty monitoring body, providing detailed information on the human rights situation in its country and on the progress in implementing its obligations under the specific treaty. Reports are usually organized according to the sequence of the articles in the treaty and monitoring bodies have guidelines that outline the information and detail required. The presentation of a report is ideally a dialogue between the government and the treaty monitoring body. The report is presented, further information and clarifications are requested, and finally, an oral presentation is made before the monitoring body where questions are asked and answered. The process ends with the treaty monitoring body producing a document with its concluding observations. These observations note accomplishments, identify areas of concern, and often suggest ways the State can take action to improve compliance with its human rights obligations.

The treaty monitoring bodies encourage governments and N.G.O.s to engage in debate and discussion of the government report and in the presentation process before the committees. As a means of participation, N.G.O.s may prepare their own reports to assist the monitoring body by presenting information that is not included in the government report. These N.G.O. reports are referred to as 'shadow reports' or 'parallel reports'. These reports provide crucial information to treaty monitoring bodies and the number of N.G.O.s engaging in the State reporting process has increased dramatically over the past few decades. N.G.O.s can also play an important role in publicizing the concluding observations through the local media and using the concluding observations as a lobbying tool.

(ii) Individual Complaints Procedure: Some human rights treaties have an individual complaint system, in addition to the reporting mechanism. The complaint systems allow individuals, groups of individuals, and organizations representing individuals to file complaints of human rights violations. Complaints can be filed against governments that have accepted the complaint procedure as part of their treaty obligations.39 The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention against Torture and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination all have mechanisms for filing complaints.40 Generally, efforts must have been made to resolve the issue through national human rights bodies or other appropriate institutions and the national courts before a complaint will be heard at the international level (the “exhaustion of domestic remedies” rule). Written details must be provided on the facts of the case, identifying the particular treaty rights which have been violated. The treaty monitoring body normally deals with the complaint by first determining if it is admissible, primarily based on whether there are no further opportunities to address the complaint at the national level and whether an actual violation of a treaty right has been alleged. If the complaint is admitted, the government involved will have an opportunity to respond in writing, more details may be requested from the individual or group filing the complaint, and the monitoring body may hear oral presentations and then make a determination on the matter.

Guides for Parallel Reports to Treaty Monitoring Bodies and for Individual Complaints

Increasingly, N.G.O.s are using these international human rights mechanisms to pressure governments to comply with their human rights obligations. Submitting parallel reports, or 'shadow reports', when a State is being reviewed by a treaty monitoring body offers an effective method of providing the treaty monitoring body with a grassroots or civil society perspective on government compliance with human rights obligations.

To  facilitate the submission of parallel reports, guideline documents are available. These documents generally provide an explanation of the content of a human rights treaty and the applicable monitoring procedures. For example, A Guide for Non-Governmental Organizations Reporting to the Committee on the Rights of the Child is a step-by-step guide for N.G.O.s preparing a parallel report for the Committee on the Rights of the Child.41 This guide provides details on how to prepare a report, an outline of the procedures concerning N.G.O. presentations at the treaty body meetings, and procedures for follow-up action. The C.E.D.A.W. Commentary and Guidelines42 explains the meaning of each article of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (C.E.D.A.W.) and contains, where available, guidance from the C.E.D.A.W. Committee on how to interpret certain language in a given article. It also includes some examples of government compliance or non-compliance with particular articles of the treaty.

Individual complaints bring attention to specific human rights violations committed by States. A recent guide to complaints at the international level provides an overview of the available complaint mechanisms, explains how the mechanisms work and outlines the procedural considerations that must be addressed.43 The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has also published a fact sheet on human rights complaint procedures.44

Other Relevant Human Rights Agreements and Mechanisms

The thematic mechanisms or special procedures of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights are also an important international mechanism to consider for the advancement of the equal enjoyment of human rights by people with disabilities. Currently, 26 expert mandates (Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups) appointed as independent experts by the Commission work in their personal capacity to investigate relevant human rights themes such as health, food, education, adequate housing, torture, violence against women, internally displaced persons, and extreme poverty.45 Most are able to intervene with governments on individual cases, make general recommendations in their annual reports to the Commission on Human Rights, produce specific reports on particular aspects of their mandate, and visit countries to produce a country report where governments agree to this process. Use of a thematic approach to human rights issues is a growing trend at the Commission on Human Rights and may be a valuable focus for integrating disability issues.

International organizations have also developed many non-binding human rights agreements that are valuable documents, including declarations, standards, guidelines, principles and model laws. While technically 'soft law' instruments are not in themselves legally binding on States in the same way as treaties (although they may become so if they become part of customary international law), they are usually adopted by consensus by an intergovernmental body and in some cases are adopted with heads of State or foreign ministers present. Thus the record of adoption, as well as the drafting history of these so-called 'soft law' documents, will indicate that those who agreed to the instruments intended to be held accountable to them. Declarations and action platforms can be considered highly persuasive statements of the policy of States, accepted at the highest levels of government. Also, as will be discussed below, there are several ways in which these 'soft law' instruments can be a valuable tool in interpreting and enforcing obligations under a 'hard law' treaty.

The most specific instruments that deal with disability are 'soft law' instruments, such as the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons,46 the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities,47 the Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care,48 and regional agreements such as the Biwako Millennium Framework For Action Towards An Inclusive, Barrier-Free and Rights-Based Society For Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific.49

i) Incorporating Disability into Human Rights Treaty Monitoring

The U.N. Human Rights and Disability report found that “the process of disability reform that is taking place across the globe could be immeasurably strengthened and accelerated if greater and more targeted use were made of [the major international human rights] instruments.”50 The central challenge for devising a strategy to incorporate the monitoring of the rights of people with disabilities into the work of the human rights treaty bodies is to develop the understanding of the relevance and application of the general treaty rights to the specific circumstances of people with disabilities. One aid in this process is the variety of 'soft law' international disability standards, such as the World Programme of Action and Standard Rules mentioned above.

The link between international disability standards and human rights treaties could be made in two ways: (1) identifying and relying upon the explicit references to disability rights in human rights treaties or (2) interpreting the general provisions of the treaties to apply to the situation and needs of people with disabilities. These options will be reviewed in turn.

ii) Using Disability Rights Provisions

Disability-related articles in the major human rights treaties present an opportunity to use the monitoring mechanisms to assess how governments are complying with and implementing their treaty obligations. Even if the reference to the rights of people with disabilities is brief and undeveloped, such a reference provides a significant opportunity to interpret the disability-related article using more detailed non-binding international disability standards such as the World Programme of Action and the Standard Rules. Unfortunately, direct references to the rights of people with disabilities are the exception and not the rule in human rights treaties. These exceptions include the Convention of the Rights of the Child which mentions the rights of children with disabilities in article 23, as well some of the regional instruments which also include disability, for example, Article 15 of the European Social Charter;51 Articles 6(2), 9, and 13(3) of the Protocol of San Salvador (the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights);52 Article 18(4) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights;53 and some other binding instruments such as International Labour Organization Convention Number 159 about the vocational rehabilitation and employment of people with disabilities.54

iii) Interpreting General Human Rights Provisions to Apply to People with Disabilities

The second way of linking the rights of people with disabilities to international human rights treaties that have monitoring mechanisms is to refer the general articles of these treaties to the specific situation and needs of the people with disabilities. This idea was a significant focus of the U.N. Human Rights and Disability report in its assessment of the work of the human rights treaty monitoring bodies.55 Human rights treaties tend to offer global standards, applicable to all human beings, or to specific groups of human beings, such as women, children, ethnic or linguistic minorities, etc. These standards encompass, of course, human beings with disabilities, children with disabilities, women with disabilities, people with disabilities belonging to ethnic or linguistic minorities, and so on. Therefore, human rights could apply equally to people with disabilities by interpreting the general articles in a way that responds to the specific contexts of people with disabilities.

This method has been the one most extensively used by different monitoring bodies to assess the specific experience of people with disabilities. Some of the treaty monitoring bodies have directly issued general comments linking the general obligations in a particular treaty to the situation of people with disabilities. General comments are official documents issued by a treaty monitoring body to provide detail on procedures relating to a treaty monitoring body’s work and also to explain the content of specific rights guaranteed under the treaty. An extensive general comment related to disability is General Comment Number 5 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which relates the economic, social and cultural rights of the I.C.E.S.C.R. to the context of people with disabilities.56 General Recommendation Number 18 of the C.E.D.A.W. Committee discusses the specific government reporting duties regarding the rights of women with disabilities under the women’s rights convention.57

This interpretive strategy of referring the general articles of human rights treaties to the specific situation and needs of people with disabilities may adopt two different, yet complementary, approaches:

  • applying the principle of nondiscrimination so that all people enjoy all treaty rights without discrimination on the basis of disability – whenever a restriction or denial of a right occurs on the basis of disability, there is an opportunity to make a case for the violation of the non-discrimination article of every human rights treaty
  • identifying the specific rights enumerated in human rights treaties that may apply to the situation and needs of people with disabilities – the goal of this approach is to include in the interpretation of the existing rights an application relevant to people with disabilities.

It is now well accepted that the nondiscrimination articles of human rights treaties prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. Also, treaty monitoring bodies have indicated that they are receptive to an interpretation of the principle of nondiscrimination that requires more than identical treatment of individuals in similar situations. This interpretation emphasizes that equality of opportunities may require special treatment or accommodation of the particular needs of vulnerable groups to ensure their rights are protected.58 The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has, for example, included a failure to make reasonable accommodation (i.e. failure to accommodate difference) in its definition of discrimination on the basis of disability.59 Thus, the nondiscrimination principle can encompass notions of equal citizenship requiring positive action to enable people to participate within the context of their physical and mental characteristics. These notions of citizenship recognize the importance of engaging people in achieving individual quality of life without adverse consequences. The process of ensuring nondiscrimination in practice involves describing the issues and desired outcomes and determining how to reach the outcomes. Environmental adaptation, removal of barriers, and changing institutions and structures to respond to difference are all aspects of eliminating disability discrimination.

Aside from reliance on the nondiscrimination principle, specific treaty rights may be interpreted to apply to the situation and needs of people with disabilities. Practically every human rights treaty – regardless of it being labeled as a “civil and political rights treaty”, an “economic, social and cultural rights treaty”, a “vulnerable group rights treaty” or some combination of these – includes rights that have particular implications for people with disabilities. The vulnerability of people with disabilities, and the barriers and constraints that limit their participation in different spheres of contemporary society, provide a specific context in which to analyze the rights articulated in human rights treaties. The general articles of human rights treaties can be interpreted so that each right is relevant to people with disabilities and takes account of their needs. Non-binding disability rights standards such as the Standard Rules, can be used to inform these interpretations, thereby strengthening the link between binding human rights treaties and non-binding disability standards. General Comment Number 5 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is an example of such linkage.60

iv) Applying Human Rights Treaties to Disability Rights Issues: Specific Examples

The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The work of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (C.E.S.C.R.) provides a good example of the potential to use existing human rights treaties to recognize the human rights of people with disabilities. Through its General Comments and reporting guidelines, the C.E.S.C.R. has referred to the special vulnerability and needs of people with disabilities, and the particular steps to be taken by governments to respect, protect and fulfill the rights to education; to health; to work; to just and favourable conditions of work; to the formation of and participation in trade unions; to social security; to the protection of the family, mothers and children; to adequate food; to housing; and to cultural participation. The list covers practically all the rights provided by the treaty.

Moreover, the C.E.S.C.R. has insisted, both in its General Comments and in its remarks on State reports, that measures which diminish the realization of a right – “retrogressive measures” – violate the duty of governments to ensure the progressive implementation of the rights of the Covenant.61 There are clear signs in the C.E.S.C.R. jurisprudence that people with disabilities are considered to be among the vulnerable groups in society.62 Therefore, the adoption of retrogressive measures affecting people with disabilities, such as decreasing legal protections or services, is likely to be considered a breach of human rights treaty obligations. The C.E.S.C.R. has also stated that the U.N. World Programme of Action and the Standard Rules are important in applying human rights in the context of disability.

Multiple Discrimination and the “Targeted” Human Rights Treaties

Four of the seven major U.N. human rights treaties focus on the protection of specific vulnerable groups of human beings: women, children, racialized groups, and migrant workers. The intersection of disability, gender, childhood, and race may in many instances aggravate existing vulnerability.63

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women acknowledged this potential in General Recommendation Number 18 urging governments to provide information about women with disabilities in their regular State reports on the implementation of C.E.D.A.W.64 The Committee also mentioned women with disabilities in its General Recommendation Number 24 on women and health.65 Specific references relevant to the situation and needs of women with disabilities may be made in relation to many of the rights and duties provided by C.E.D.A.W., such as:

  • the State duty to take appropriate measures to modify social and cultural patterns in order to eliminate prejudices based in the idea of superiority of either of the sexes
  • the duty to eliminate all forms of trafficking in women and exploitation of women
  • the right of women to acquire, change or retain their nationality
  • the right of women to education on an equal basis with men
  • the right to special health protection during pregnancy
  • the right to employment protection on an equal basis with men
  • the duty to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations, etc.

The same interpretive strategy may be used for the rights of children under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. While article 23 explicitly refers to children with disabilities, there is potential for the content of the rest of the rights provided by this instrument to be interpreted so as to apply to children with disabilities. Disability raises particular issues when linked to the definition of the best interests of the child; to the right to life, survival and development; to the right to be heard; to the right not to be separated from one’s family; to the right to protection from abuse; to the right to an adequate standard of living; to the right to health care; to the right to education; etc. General Comment Number 1 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child stresses the connection between the right to education and discrimination against children with disabilities.66 Although it does not elaborate further on the point, the reference to the rights of children with disabilities represents a useful precedent that could be relied upon in the future.

The potential for monitoring the rights of people with disabilities through the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (C.E.R.D.) is less apparent. The C.E.R.D. Committee has not made any clear connections between the text of the convention and the situation of people with disabilities. However, issues such as the specific impact of racial discrimination on disability, and the aggravation of racial discrimination because of disability, need to be addressed. The Committee has noted the intersection of gender and racial discrimination, though it has not yet developed its work in that regard significantly. Nevertheless, the recognition of multiple discrimination in the context of gender would suggest that a similar approach could be taken in relation to race and disability.

Regional Human Rights Treaties

Given the current trend towards regionalization, regional bodies in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas are very important in human rights standard setting and may be an effective focus for advocacy efforts. The content of main regional human rights treaties (the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the European Social Charter, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights) overlaps considerably with the international instruments. All of the regional treaties incorporate the principle of non-discrimination, thus both strategies outlined above could be used to advance the rights of people with disabilities in the regional human rights system: applying the principle of nondiscrimination so all people enjoy all treaty rights without discrimination on the basis of disability, as well as identifying the specific rights enumerated in human rights treaties that may apply to the situation and needs of people with disabilities.

There is one regional instrument that deserves special attention, as it is currently the only international treaty entirely dedicated to people with disabilities: the Inter-American Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities.67 This Convention was approved in Guatemala in 1999, and entered in force in 2001. It is a fairly straightforward instrument, open to ratification by the member states of the Organization of American States (O.A.S.) which monitors government compliance. Disability is defined in the Convention as “a physical, mental or sensory impairment, whether permanent or temporary, that limits the capacity to perform one or more essential activities in daily life, and which can be caused or aggravated by the economic and social environment”.68 Under the terms of the Convention, governments agree to adopt legislation, social, educational or labour related measures to fully integrate persons with disabilities into society. The Convention calls for rehabilitation, education, job training and other measures to promote the independence and quality of life of persons with disabilities.

To monitor compliance with this Convention, a Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities has been established. The Committee is composed of one representative of each State party. Reports are submitted by the Committee to the Secretary General of the O.A.S. every four years. The Committee Reports include information on measures adopted by member states to implement the Convention, and any progress made or difficulties encountered by the States relating to implementation. The Committee Reports are also to include the Committee’s conclusions, observations, and suggestions for the fulfillment of the Convention. There is no individual complaints procedure for this treaty.

The Potential for Monitoring the Five Areas of Focus Through Existing International Human Rights Mechanisms

The research summarized in this chapter was intended to review the opportunities for advocacy at the international level to determine the relevance of the international human rights system in improving the enforcement of the equal enjoyment of all human rights by people with disabilities. While D.R.P.I. intends to focus on the establishment of an international disability rights monitoring system and the collection and dissemination of data, the disability advocacy movement is well placed to choose appropriate advocacy strategies for particular issues and develop strategies that make use of the opportunities at the international level. A wide range of strategies might be effective in making use of international human rights instruments. This report is not intended to offer detailed strategies or recommend particular tactics; however, this section presents brief examples to illustrate how the international human rights system might be used to more effectively monitor disability rights in the five areas of focus, keeping in mind that strategies in one area may inform activities in another or areas may combine and overlap.

Individual Violations Focus

  • The individual complaints procedure, described above, could be used to address individual violations of the rights of people with disabilities. While not every case of injustice amounts to a violation of an international human rights obligation, strong cases could be successful in the individual complaints mechanism. Complaints must start within the national legal system of a particular country, but if a favourable result is not achieved, individuals can take their case to a human rights treaty monitoring body that has an individual complaints procedure.
  • Systematic submission of individual complaints at the treaty level would result in new jurisprudence and precedents.
  • In instances where the State involved is not a party to an U.N. treaty with an individual complaints procedure, other mechanisms may be alternatives: using the regional human rights system, for example, in the Inter-American system where the American Declaration allows for the consideration of individual complaints; or providing information to the thematic special rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights.

Systems Focus

  • Presenting a treaty monitoring body with information on the history of an individual complaint will demonstrate how the case was handled in the national courts and could expose systemic failures in law, policy, government practices, or implementation of rights by the courts.
  • The individual complaint system could be used to challenge national laws that infringe the rights of people with disabilities. In many cases, human rights cases at the international level essentially compare an allegedly discriminatory law with the standards of the relevant human rights treaty.
  • Under most human rights treaties, States are required to provide information on the relevant case law developed by the local courts so that the treaty bodies can examine the main trends in national case law. Parallel reports by N.G.O.s could also highlight positive or problematic judicial decisions related to disability rights.
  • Where States are taking measures to ensure the equal enjoyment of all human rights for people with disabilities, examples from their periodic reports to treaty monitoring bodies can be used as models of best practices.
  • State reporting guidelines for international human rights treaties require governments to describe the principles governing programmes and services, to provide statistical data and to refer to specific practices. Parallel N.G.O. reports could provide information about flaws, failures or inadequacies of programmes and services, and about practices incompatible with human rights. Monitoring at the treaty level may influence policy processes within governments at the national level.

Media Focus

  • The international human rights treaty process focuses on the obligations of States to implement treaties they have ratified. Media issues addressed through the treaty system must involve government responsibility. While freedom of expression prevents various types of restrictions on media, some principles relating to discriminatory discourse, expressions of hatred, as well as affirmative action measures to favour non-discriminatory discourse, may advance the goal of modifying negative media representations of people with disabilities.
  • Individual complaint mechanisms could be used in cases where the government justifies failing to restrict derogatory discourse, gives preference to discriminatory language or images, or fosters discriminatory discourse. One could also imagine cases in which petitioners file complaints against the State for failing to protect them against derogatory or discriminatory discourse.
  • Potentially, the reporting system could assess the effectiveness of measures adopted by governments to eradicate and prevent discrimination through media. Governments could describe affirmative measures adopted to achieve this goal.

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