The Swedish Disability Federation’s views on the Draft General Comment on Article 9

Swedish Disability Federation

The Swedish Disability Federation is a politically and religiously independent coordinating body for national disability organizations. Our vision is a society for all, where all people can participate on an equal basis, regardless of ability to function. A society that protects human differences and human rights, and therefore is a rich society.
The Swedish Disability Federation represents 37 member organizations with 400,000 individual members.

General comments

The Swedish Disability Federation welcomes the proposed wordings in the draft general comments but considers that the comments need to be complemented in order to take into account adequately in practice the diversity that exists between people with disabilities.§

I.Introduction

  1. The summary of thesituation of peoplewith disabilities asdescribedin the introductionas well asthe description of theCommittee's interpretation ofthe situationisaverygood beginning.The Swedish Disability Federationconsiders thatadditional aspectsneed to be addressedso that statesget adeeperunderstanding of the meaningofArticle 9.The Committee shouldemphasizethe diversityamong peoplewith disabilitiesandraisethe breadthofperspectives thatare important in order to comply withArticle9. For example,accessibility aspectsrelated to personswith mental disabilities, allergy andasthma,electro sensitivity or stomach/intestine diseases are not mentioned.For thesetarget groups, agood airenvironment, electro sanitized spaces andaccess to toiletsare crucial. For children and adults with heart disease, rheumatism or multiple sclerosisaccess to seats are ofgreat importancein order to beable to visita building.The perspectiveboys, girls, women andmenwith multipledisabilitiesare not addressedin the comment.The functionality as a wholeofa person withmultiple disabilitiesmaybecompletely differentandmay meanthat a person needsa totally differentsupport thana person whohasone or more ofthesedisabilities
  2. For people withmental disabilitiesbarriers arenotphysical butmental. The Committee shouldclarify what ismeant byaccessibility forpeoplewith mental disabilities. The Swedish Disability Federationproposesthe following amendment:For peoplewith disabilitiesdueto mental illness, the prerequisites foraccessibilityvarygreatly from individualto individual.Mental illnesscaninsome cases lead toreduced cognitive ability. It is particularly importantthat the environmentis peaceful andharmonious,thatdistraction, such as light and sounddisturbancesare minimized andthat there is accessto therest roomandprivacy when required.
  1. Much is said aboutthat the internetwouldbe a benefitfor people withdisabilities, butfor people withmental disabilities, for example, this development can be an obstacle.Manycannot afforda computer ordo not have accessto the internet.Moreover, it isdifficult for manywith mental disabilitiestocontact the health careover the internetor get helpfrom social servicesby dialing during specifictelephone hours.Many peoplewith bothmental andcognitive disabilitiesneed areal person totalk tofor helptofindinformationthey requireand thushave access topublic serviceson the same termsas everyone else.The Swedish Disability Federationconsiders that it isimportant that the Committeewritethat a system needs to be created which makes it easier for people who find it difficultto assimilateelectronic information.

II. Normative content

  1. The Swedish Disability Federationwould particularly stressthat a building, product etc, mustalsobeuseful. Realaccessibilitycannotbe considered achieved ifthe usabilityis nottaken into account.Examples arecaseswhendemands onaccessible mediaare placed onbroadcastersandmeasured by the numberof hoursbeing broadcast.
    Ifa person needs tohave multipledevices andcomplicatedconnectionsto viewthe contentthen it is notusable.With reference to theabove, the Swedish Disability Federationconsiders that item 10 needs to be completed with the word usability: ofparagraph 10need to be supplementedwith the wordusability."theymustbeaccessible"andusable"to all, regardlesswhether they are owned and/or provided by a public authority or by a private enterprise. Persons with disabilities should be able to "use and" access equally all goods, products and services that are open to the public in a manner that ensures effective and equal access.
  2. The Swedish Disability Federation prefers the first alternative under item 11. It is sufficient thatthe Committeenotes thatthe Convention contains nonew rights.If theCommittee considers thata referencemaybe needed could this instead be made tothe Standard Rulesand theResolution 2000/71. Alternative 2ismoredifficult to readand requires moreknowledge of human rightsby the readerso that s/hewill understandthe meaning.
  3. The Swedish Disability Federationconsiders thatitem12 onuniversal designneeds a clarification.The commentshould be completedby the following sentence: Universally designedcan meanthat a product containsdifferentsolutionsfor different target groups.For example, atraincould havedepartments where perfume is not permitted, wherepetsare notallowed to beor wireless productssuch as mobile phonesmay notbe turned onand so on.The Swedish Disability Federationwould also stressthe importance ofobtainingalternativelyofferingknowledge about thevarious 'groups' needsso thatmore producerswill be able tocreateuniversally designedproductsin a way shownby theCRPD.
  4. The Swedish Disability Federationconsiders thatitem14must be complemented bya point: personal treatment, respect and consideration.
  5. Item 15needs to be complementedwithtexts onrequirements forprogressivedevelopment.Standards foraccessibility requirementsneed to be graduallystrengthened andrevised to encouragethe development of auniversallydesignedsociety.Whennational legislation is linked to thestandards, the system must be flexible sothere is roomto increasethe accessibility requirements. The Committee shouldemphasize thatthe nationalrequirement levelsshould neverbe reduced orlower thanregionalor international standards.
    Furthermore,the wordsaccessible toiletsandagood airenvironmentshould be includedin thefollowing sentence: Persons with disabilities, and other users, move in barrier- free streets, enter accessible (buildings with)low floor vehicles and good air environment, have access to accessible toilets", can access information and communication, enter into and move inside universally designed buildings, using technical aids and live assistance.
  6. The Swedish Disability Federationconsiders thatitem16must be complemented with a textthat allpublicactorswho come into contactwithpeople with disabilitiessuch ascourts, employment officersand othersalsobeoffered trainingintreatmentand accessibility.
  7. The Swedish Disability Federationconsiders that eventhe item 21should be complemented bya text containingdemands forprogressivedevelopment.This is tofurther emphasize therequirement foractive action.
  8. The Swedish Disability Federationconsidersthat the requirements forreasonable accommodationis far too weak atitem23. The Swedish Disability Federationwishesthat the Committeerequires more,that reasonableaccommodationshould be offeredparticularlywhenthere areshortcomings in thegeneral accessibility.

III. State party obligations

  1. The Swedish Disability Federationconsidersthatitem 25needs to be complementedwithadescriptionof the importance ofstatesdeveloping theirregulations and standardswhennew obstaclesarise.
  2. Item 30needs to be complementedwithaconcluding sentenceon the need forunderstanding and acceptance to achieve success.It isessential that theStatesidentifies problem areasandadoptaction plans.It is alsoof central importance thattheseplansare evaluatedperiodically,but, itisnot enough for the meaning of Article 9 to have an impact..There must also bean understandingand acceptancethatthese plansand guidelinesare followed atalllevels of society.
  3. The Disability Federationwill finallyhighlightthat more and moreareas that were previouslypublic servicesare now open up to competitionwithprivate providersorhave been decentralized.It is important toclarifythat the state hasresponsibility forall activitiesthat occurwithpublic fundsor underpublicsupervisionbutare performed byprivate providersshould be monitored, whether responsibility is allocated tolocal or regional level

If you have questions, please contact:

Annika Jyrwall Åkerberg
Lawyer in Human Rights

Best regards,

THE SWEDISH DISABILITY FEDERATION

Ingrid Burman

President