|
RECOMMENDATION
OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS FOR THE PROMOTION AND
PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE MENTALLY ILL
In
1990, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) – the World Health
Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office of the Americas and a specialized
agency of the Organization of American States (OAS)–sponsored the
Regional Conference on Restructuring Psychiatric Care in Latin America,
with the IACHR as a co-sponsor. At that conference, the Declaration of
Caracas
was adopted.
The
Declaration of Caracas establishes standards on protecting human rights
and mental health. Regarding
psychiatric care, it indicates that the “resources, care and treatment
that are made available must safeguard personal dignity and human and
civil rights … and strive to ensure that patients remain in their
communities”. It also recommends that countries redraft national
legislation to ensure that the “human and civil rights of the mental
patients are safeguarded.”
In 1991, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Principles for the Protection
of Persons with Mental Illness and for the Improvement of Mental Health Care
(Mental Health Principles). They are considered to be the most complete, detailed international
standards for the protection of the rights of persons with mental illness and are an important
guide for States in designing and/or reforming mental health systems.
The
IACHR took cognizance of resolution CD.40.R15, adopted by the PAHO/WHO
Directing Council on September 26, 1997, in which that body urges member
states to “make efforts to improve the legislation to protect the human
rights of psychiatric patients.”
According
to PAHO/WHO,
the United Nations Centre for Human Rights,
and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights,
the fundamental freedoms and basic rights most often violated in
psychiatric hospitals include the right to be treated with humanity and
respect, the right to voluntary admission, the right to privacy, freedom
of communication, the right to receive treatment in the community, the
right to give informed consent before receiving any treatment, and the
right to appeal the legality of a psychiatric hospital detention to an
independent, impartial court.
The
Commission has found that, in the Americas, clients, their family members,
mental health workers, attorneys, judges, and other persons involved in
the promotion and protection of mental health have limited knowledge of
international standards and the provisions of conventions protecting the
rights of persons with mental illness. Furthermore, in most cases those
standards and provisions have not been incorporated into national law.
In
April 1999, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights approved Report
N° 63/99 in the case of a person with a mental disorder.
That report finds that it is “pertinent to apply special standards to
the determination of whether the provisions of the Convention have been
complied with in cases involving persons suffering from mental
illnesses” or detainees in psychiatric hospitals, who are considered to
be a particularly vulnerable group. In
that report, the IACHR interpreted the standards of the American
Convention that provide for the right to physical integrity, the right to
life, and the right to judicial protection in light of the Mental Health
Principles. In that report, the IACHR also agreed with the position of the
European Court of Human Rights, which has established that the state of
health of a victim is an important factor in determining whether they have
been subjected to inhumane or degrading punishment or treatment and
therefore concluded that the incarceration of a mentally disabled person
under deplorable conditions and without medical treatment may be
considered as inhumane or degrading treatment, prohibited under Article
5(2) of the American Convention on Human Rights.
In
view of the foregoing,
THE
INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS,
RECOMMENDS:
That
the States
1.
Ratify the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, adopted by the
OAS General Assembly on June 8, 1999, the objective of which is to prevent
and eliminate all forms of discrimination against persons with physical or
mental disabilities and to promote their full integration into society.
2.
Take legislative, judicial, administrative, educational, and other
steps to disseminate through appropriate, dynamic channels [among
government authorities, NGOs, mental health professionals, attorneys,
judges, and other persons involved in promoting mental health policies]
the international standards and provisions of human rights conventions
that protect the fundamental freedoms and civil, political, economic,
social, and cultural rights of persons with mental illness.
3.
Amend existing mental health or disability laws in general and,
where they do not exist, establish laws that guarantee respect for the
fundamental freedoms and human rights of persons with mental disability
and their family members, incorporating international standards and the
provisions of human rights conventions that protect the mentally ill.
4.
Promote and implement, through legislation and national mental
health plans, the organization of community mental health services, to
achieve the full integration of the mentally ill into society and involve
professional organizations, associations of clients and their family
members, their friends, social welfare agencies, and other members of the
community in the rehabilitation of the mentally ill patient.
5.
Promote, through the Ombudsman, the establishment of specific
initiatives to protect the human rights of the mentally ill.
6.
Take the necessary steps for all mental health institutions to
display the rights of mental health patients in a visible location, such
as waiting rooms, admission services, and other locations frequented by
patients and their family members.
7.
Support the establishment of organs that supervise compliance with
human rights norms in all psychiatric care institutions and services;
committee activities should involve patients, their family members and
representatives, and mental health workers.
8.
Establish mechanisms for raising awareness, public education
(development and dissemination of educational materials, such as
pamphlets, posters, videos, etc.) and actions aimed at combating
stigmatization and discrimination against the mentally ill, through state
agencies and NGOs, in keeping with international standards and the
provisions of conventions protecting these persons.
That
all parties involved in promoting mental health (institutional defense
committees; associations of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers
and nurses; civic groups; NGOs; associations of clients and their family
members; attorneys; law students; etc.)
1.
Become actively involved in protecting the human rights of the
mentally ill and include concrete measures in their programs.
2.
Disseminate international standards and the provisions of
conventions protecting the rights of the mentally ill, through meetings,
conventions, scientific publications or educational campaigns, using all
available media.
3.
Make an effort to celebrate the World Mental Health Day every
October 10th and use that opportunity to promote the rights of
the mentally ill.
4. Coordinate actions with the ministries of health, social security
funds, health centers, ombudsmen, and other government agencies
responsible for implementing mental health policies to protect the rights
of the mentally ill.
That
clients and their family members
1.
Be aware that the mentally ill share the same basic rights and
freedoms as all other human beings and that there are international
principles protecting them, particularly because of their position of
vulnerability and powerlessness.
Approved
by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights at its 111° special
session held in Santiago, Chile April 4, 2001
[ Table
of Contents | Previous | Next ]
In that report the IACHR also
concluded that Mr. Victor Rosario Congo was unable to care for his own
person or affairs and, consequently, required care, treatment and
control for his own protection.
|
