Persons With Disabilities

Persons With Disabilities in 2011

United States views on international law (based on the document “Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law”): In a July 25, 2011 proclamation, President Obama marked the 21st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Daily Comp. Pres. Docs., 2011 DCPD No. 00527. The excerpts from the proclamation that follow advocate ratification and widespread implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Developments

Through the ADA, America was the first country in the world to comprehensively declare equality for citizens with disabilities. To continue promoting these principles, we have joined in signing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. At its core, this Convention promotes equality. It seeks to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy the same rights and opportunities as all people, and are able to lead their lives as do other individuals.

Eventual ratification of this Convention would represent another important step in the U.S. forty-plus years of protecting disability rights. It would offer us a platform to encourage other countries to join and implement the Convention. Broad implementation would mean greater protections and benefits abroad for millions of Americans with disabilities, including the U.S. veterans, who travel, conduct business, study, reside, or retire overseas. In encouraging other countries to join and implement the Convention, we also could help level the playing field to the benefit of American companies, who already meet high standards under United States domestic law. Improved disabilities standards abroad would also afford American businesses increased opportunities to export innovative products and technologies, stimulating job creation at home.

Equal access, equal opportunity, and the freedom to make of the U.S. lives what we will are principles upon which the U.S. Nation was founded, and they continue to guide the U.S. efforts to perfect the U.S. Union. Together, we can ensure the U.S. country is not deprived of the full talents and contributions of the approximately 54 million Americans living with disabilities, and we will move forward with the work of providing pathways to opportunity to all of the U.S. people.

Details

The United States was an active participant at the Fourth Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“Disabilities Convention”) in September 2011. On September 7, 2011, the United States participated in a round table discussion on Article 32 of the Convention and the role of international cooperation in supporting national implementation of the Convention. The U.S. statement is available at (internet link) usun.state.gov/briefing/statements/2011/172245.htm. On September 8, 2011, U.S. State Department Special Advisor for International Disability Rights Judith Heumann addressed the Conference. Her remarks described U.S. government efforts to advance the rights of persons with disabilities, including President Obama’s July 25 proclamation, discussed above. Ms. Heumann’s remarks are available at (internet link) usun.state.gov/briefing/statements/2011/172249.htm. Also on September 8, the United States provided a statement at the round table discussion on Article 27, “Realizing Work and Employment Opportunities.” That statement, describing U.S. domestic laws and programs to secure equal employment opportunities for persons with disabilities, is available at (internet link) usun.state.gov/briefing/statements/2011/172248.htm.

Also on September 8, the United States delivered a statement at a round table discussion on Article 29 of the Convention, “Ensuring Effective and Full Participation in Political and Public Life.” That statement, excerpted below, is available in full at (internet link) usun.state.gov/briefing/statements/2011/172250.htm.

More about the Issue

The United States is pleased to address Article 29’s critical focus on ensuring effective and full participation in political and public life. We are committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities have equal opportunities to participate in political and public affairs. We are working with members of civil society at home and internationally to empower individuals with disabilities to exercise their rights.

Multiple U.S. laws protect the rights to political participation for persons with disabilities. From the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984, through the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (known as the “Motor Voter Act”), the Help America Vote Act (“HAVA”) of 2002, and the foundational antidiscrimination protections offered by Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the U.S. has adopted a comprehensive approach to making political participation accessible. The U.S. government provides technical assistance to and monitors local governments to ensure the full realization of political rights of persons with disabilities and takes strong enforcement actions when individuals are denied their rights. The federal government also works collaboratively with civil society to provide training and tools so that consumers and advocates can monitor local governmental actions and ensure that local governmental entities fully recognize the rights of persons with disabilities.

U.S. laws require the physical accessibility of all venues for civic participation, including polling places. The process of casting ballots also must be accessible. the U.S. laws require that public entities afford all persons effective communication, so that persons with disabilities can fully participate in public affairs without barriers. U.S. laws further mandate that election officials and other governmental workers should be trained in the electoral process and the rights of persons with disabilities so that they can assist individuals with all types of disabilities, including psycho-social, sensory, developmental, and physical, to participate in the electoral process. Since 1999, the Justice Department’s Project Civic Access has signed agreements with 193 local governments throughout the country to ensure full access to civic life for over 4 million persons with disabilities. These agreements, which were pursued after problems with compliance were raised, recognize that non-discriminatory access to public programs and facilities is a civil right, and that individuals with disabilities must have the opportunity to participate in local government programs, services and activities on an equal basis with their neighbors.

Persons With Disabilities in 2011

United States views on international law (based on the document “Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law”): To assist state and local entities in meeting accessibility requirements, the Justice Department has created a number of guides, such as an ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments and a checklist for accessibility of voting places. All of these materials are available at the federal government’s key disability rights website, (internet link) www.ADA.gov.

The effectiveness of the U.S. approach is highlighted by the number of persons with disabilities throughout the country who hold local, state, and federal public offices. Also, candidates in national elections routinely develop platforms on key disability issues, a practice that demonstrates the effectiveness of disability rights advocates in communicating their messages in the public sphere. In recognition of the political significance of voters with disabilities, many campaigns appoint staff that specifically focus on outreach to this voting community.

More about Persons With Disabilities

In sum, the United States is deeply committed to ensuring that all individuals with disabilities have the opportunity for effective and full participation in all aspects of political and public life. This commitment also is reflected in the U.S. cooperation with other countries. The Department of State and USAID are working as implementing partners in providing technical assistance to countries seeking to make their elections inclusive of disabled voters. We are happy to engage in informal discussions with States Parties throughout this Conference to provide additional information about the U.S. laws and programs to promote full participation in political and public life. We also look forward to hearing about the efforts that other States Parties and Signatories are making to ensure access to political and civic life.

Persons With Disabilities in 2013

United States views on international law [1] in relation to Persons With Disabilities: On November 21, 2013, Secretary Kerry testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee again urging its advice and consent to ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In 2012, the Senate vote on the resolution for advice and consent to ratification of the Convention was 61 to 38, shy of the required twothirds majority. See this world legal encyclopedia (in relation to issues that took place in the year 2012) at 168-81. Senator Kerry’s November 21 statement to the Foreign Relations Committee is excerpted below and available in full at (Secretary of State website) state.gov/secretary/remarks/2013/11/217894.htm.

Some Aspects of Persons With Disabilities

…I’d just start off by saying we are 100 percent prepared, as we have been, to work through what are known as RUDs—the Reservations, Understandings, and Declarations—in order to pass this treaty. That’s our goal. And as—we begin with a place that makes it clear that we don’t believe this has impact, but we’re happy to restate and reassert the law in ways that makes senators feel comfortable, obviously. We want to pass this. It’s not lost on any of us that only 11 months ago the Senate fell just five votes short of approving this treaty. So more than 60 senators have already resolved in their minds many of the questions that are re-raised again and again. And we can go into them today, as I’m sure we will.

Developments

In the after-action conversations that I had with many senators, both Republicans and Democrats alike, including a number who had voted against the treaty—yourself, Senator Corker, and others—I even heard some real regret about what had transpired and the unintended message that the outcome sent to Americans with disabilities as well as to other people around the world. And I heard from many not just a willingness but a hope that they would have the chance in a new congress to take up the treaty again and to demonstrate the important truth that senators from both sides of the aisle care deeply about the rights of people with disabilities.

Details

Now, I still believe what I believed the first time we tried to do this when I was Chair, that the ratification of the Disabilities Treaty will advance core American values, it will expand opportunities for our citizens and our businesses, and it will strengthen American leadership. And I am still convinced that we give up nothing but we get everything in return. …Our ratification does not require a single change to American law, and it isn’t going to add a penny to our budget. But it will provide the leverage, the hook, that we need in order to push other countries to pass laws or improve their laws or raise their standards for the protection of people with disabilities up to the standard that we have already adopted in the United States of America, up to the standard that prompted President George H.W. Bush and Republican Leader Dole to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act, and indeed to negotiate the treaty. Now, I’m especially engaged now, obviously, as U.S. Secretary of State, because having traveled to a great number of countries these last nine months since you confirmed me, I have seen firsthand the need for this treaty in ways that I never had before. It’s not an abstract concept. This is not just a nice thing to do. It’s not something that’s sort of for the few. It really raises standards for the many. And there are countries where children with disabilities are warehoused from birth, denied even a birth certificate, not a real person, and treated as second-class citizens every single days of their life. The United States has the ability to impact that by the passage of this treaty. One hundred and thirty-eight countries have already signed up to this. In too many countries, what we did here at home with the Americans with Disabilities Act hasn’t even been remotely realized overseas. And in too many places, what we take for granted here hasn’t been granted at all.

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Now, I’ll never forget my visit recently to a sport rehabilitation center for disabled veterans in Bogota a little while ago, a center that we support with funding from USAID. And I met police officers who were injured by grenades, soldiers wounded by IEDs, volunteers caught in the tragic shootouts that take place over their efforts to help us together to enforce global international narcotics objectives. These brave men and women have risked life and limb and they’ve lost friends in battle, and yet there’s a whole world that they are unable to access today because of their disabilities which they received as they undertook duties shared by our hopes and aspirations with respect to the enforcement of law. Moments like this really clarify for me the work that we have to do to export our gold standard. The Americans with Disabilities Act is the global gold standard. We should be extraordinarily proud of it. We are. But I would hate to see us squander our credibility on this issue around the world because we’re unwilling to embrace what we actually began—this initiative. When I tell other countries that they ought to do what we’ve done, I’m often reminded that we haven’t done what we said we were going to do, we haven’t joined the treaty ourselves. It’s pretty hard to leverage people when you’re on the outside.

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So those 138 parties to the treaty, when they convene, we miss out on the opportunity to use our expertise to leverage what we’ve done in America and put it on the table. We lose out on that. We’re not at the table. We can’t share our experience and use our experience to broaden theirs. When other countries come together to discuss issues like education, accessibility, and employment standards for people with disabilities, areas where the United States has developed the greatest expertise, we’ve been excluded because we’re not a party to the treaty. And the bottom line is that when we’re not there, other countries with a different and unfortunately often a lower standard, a lower threshold, wind up filling the void, and that’s the best that people get. I don’t want to see us continue to take ourselves out of the game. No member of the Senate should want us to voluntarily take ourselves out of this. And remaining on the sidelines jeopardizes our role in shaping the future of disability rights in other countries, and we need to help push the door open for other countries to benefit, not just from our example but from our guidance and our expertise, our experience.

Persons With Disabilities in 2013 (Continuation)

United States views on international law [1] in relation to Persons With Disabilities: Joining the treaty is the most powerful step that we can take to gain all of those upsides. And don’t take my word for it. In a letter to this committee last month, former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said it best. He wrote, “If the Senate does not approve this treaty, the United States will continue to be excluded from the most important global platform for the implementation of best practices in disability rights abroad.” So this is about something very real. Look at the numbers of people who were here today and the numbers of groups represented behind me here today. Every one of them represents thousands more people for whom this is very real. It’s about things that you can see and you can touch and that make a difference to people’s lives. I’m talking about sidewalks without curb cuts—try managing that; public buildings with no accessible bathrooms; restaurants, stores, hotels, and universities without ramps or elevator access; buses without lifts, train platforms with tactile strips that keep you from going over onto the tracks. We can’t afford to ignore these barriers as problems that somehow affect other countries but don’t affect us. They’re present all over the world, including some of the top destinations for Americans traveling abroad for work or for study or for pleasure. And we’re not using all of our power and influence to change things for the better if we don’t join this treaty. Now, I’d ask you just to think about what this treaty could mean. It means something for everybody with disabilities. But I do particularly want to ask you to think about what it means to our veterans with disabilities.

Some Aspects of Persons With Disabilities

Joining the Disabilities Treaty will also expand opportunities for American students with disabilities, who need to be able to study abroad to prepare themselves to compete in the global economy. …

Developments

I just ask you—very quickly, and then I’ll wrap up—consider just a few concrete examples. We’re talking about joining a treaty that will strengthen our hand as we push for fire alarms with flashing lights so people who are deaf or hard of hearing will know when there’s emergency or when they need to evacuate. We’re talking about joining a treaty that gives us leverage to push for other countries to have sidewalks with those curb cuts so people who use wheelchairs can safely cross the street, or the tactile strip at the train platform so people who are blind don’t fall into danger. Our joining the treaty means that we will lead the way for other countries to raise their standards, and it means that we will lead the way for other countries to adopt our standards for all of these things—accessible bathrooms, tactile strips, fire alarms, flashing lights, all of the advancements that have made an enormous difference in the lives of Americans with disabilities. Now, I will admit to you change is not going to just happen with the passage of the treaty. It’s not going to happen overnight. When we passed the ADA, sidewalks with these curb cuts and bathrooms that were accessible didn’t appear the next day, nor did all of the businesses that make accessible products that serve people with disabilities. But the Disabilities Treaty, just like the ADA, is a process. And our joining the treaty, followed by a very important ingredient—we pass this treaty, I will send a message to every embassy in the world, and we will begin to engage a protocol that will have our people reaching out to every country and every government, and we will use our presence in this treaty to leverage these changes in these other countries, to encourage these changes, to use the voice that you will give us by actually joining it, a voice that we’re not able to exercise today for our absence as a member.

Details

… I ask you to think about this—why is the American Chamber of Commerce supporting this? Why are so many businesses—Coca-Cola, which is, I think, in something like 198, 200 countries plus—why do they support it? Because this will open new markets. It’ll level the playing field for our businesses, who already meet accessibility standards. As other countries rise to meet our standards and need our expertise, guess what? They’re going to look to American companies that already produce these goods, and we’ll be able to help them fill the needs, and this means jobs here at home. And that’s why IBM and the Consumer Electronics Association and many other businesses support ratification. So I think this is the single most important step that we can take today to expand opportunities abroad for the more than 50 million Americans with disabilities. This treaty is not about changing America. This treaty is about America changing the world.

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Ambassador Power also urged Senate ratification of the Convention in a statement delivered at the UN on December 3, 2013 in recognition of International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Her statement appears below and is available at (link resource) usun.state.gov/briefing/statements/218256.htm.

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Twenty-three years ago, the United States became the first country in the world to adopt legislation banning discrimination against people with disabilities by passing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA has since become the international gold standard for the fair and equal treatment of persons with disabilities. Today, on International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we commit to expanding the reach of disability rights by ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The CRPD matters. It matters because 50 million disabled Americans, including 5.5 million veterans, deserve the same rights abroad that they enjoy at home. It matters because blind veterans traveling abroad have had their guide sticks taken away in airports and amputees have been told to store their artificial limbs in overhead bins. It matters because of Dan Berschinski, an Afghanistan war veteran who lost both of his legs when he stepped on an IED, who explains that, “the advantages that we take for granted here at home that allow people like to me to live fulfilling, independent lives don’t exist in much of the rest of the world.” It matters because there are countries where disabled children are treated like second-class citizens from the moment they are born. This disabilities treaty matters because it will have a real impact, not only for disabled Americans traveling and living overseas, but also for the millions of people across the world who aren’t afforded the rights and protections we give our citizens. By ratifying the disabilities treaty, we gain so much and lose nothing—it has no effect on U.S. law and doesn’t add a penny to our budget. At the same time, it gives us leverage to push other nations to adopt standards equal to our own. This treaty is about taking what America has done so well for 23 years and getting other nations to follow our lead. Last year, the U.S. Senate fell six votes short of ratifying this treaty. Six votes short of helping the millions of disabled Americans who receive second-rate rights when abroad. Six votes short of helping hundreds of millions of people across the world who have been written-off as imperfect and unequal. Today, on this International Day of Persons with Disabilities, let’s resolve that we will ratify the CRPD in this Congress.

Rights of Persons with Disabilities

This section provides an overview of rights of persons with disabilities within the legal context of International Economic Law and Human Rights in international economic law (Cross-Cutting Challenges).

Persons With Disabilities

In relation to the international law practice and Persons With Disabilities in this world legal Encyclopedia, please see the following section:

International Human Rights

. Note: there is detailed information and resources, in relation with these topics during the year 2011, covered by the entry, in this law Encyclopedia, about Periodic Report to the UN Committee on Human Rights Concerning the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

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See Also

• International Human Rights
• Discrimination
• Persons With Disabilities

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Further Reading

• Caroline Hess-Klein, “Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law, Cheltenham Glos (United Kingdom), Northampton, MA (United States)

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Notes

1. Persons With Disabilities in the Digest of United States Practice in International Law

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Notes

1. Persons With Disabilities in the Digest of United States Practice in International Law