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Sweden, Republic of Korea Ratify Disability Rights Treaty
By Andrea Shettle, MSW | December 16, 2008
The Republic of Korea became the 43rd country to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on December 11, and Sweden became the 44th on December 15. Sweden also signed and ratified the Optional Protocol, joining 25 other countries before it.
The CRPD is the first international, legally binding treaty that protects the human rights of people with disabilities. It protects a wide range of human rights such as the right to freedom from torture and abuse; the right to live in the community with one’s family (rather than an institution); the right to information in accessible format (for example, through Braille or sign language interpreters); the right to work and an adequate standard of living; the right to accessible education and public health services; and many more. Countries that ratify the CRPD obligate themselves to create new laws as needed to protect the rights covered in the treaty and to abolish old laws that conflict with the CRPD.
In countries that ratify both the CRPD and also the Optional Protocol, people with disabilities have an additional avenue for pursuing justice if their rights are violated. First, they must pursue all the means of justice provided in their country’s laws. If all of these approaches fail, they can petition the international Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committee is authorized to investigate complaints of human rights violations under the CRPD.
Including the 44 ratifying countries, a total of 167 countries have signed the CRPD. Signing the CRPD is usually a first step toward ratification: becoming a signatory does not yet obligate a country to obey it, but does obligate the country to avoid actions that would directly violate the intent of the CRPD. A total of 80 countries also have signed the Optional Protocol.
Learn more about the CRPD and also about the accompanying Optional Protocol.
Learn how you can become involved with the global campaign to promote the ratification and implementation of both the CRPD and the Optional Protocol in your country and elsewhere.
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