Protecting the rights of disabled persons in Bangladesh

The subject of the rights of persons with disabilities is one of the least understood or rather one of the most misunderstood issues in Bangladesh. It has remained as one of the most neglected development agenda both by the state and non-state actors. People with disabilities are in most cases treated as though they are after charity and welfare. According to the law, any person suffering from the following forms of disorders are considered disabled: autism or autism spectrum disorders, physical disability, mental illness leading to disability, visual infirmity, speech impairment, intellectual disability, hearing infirmity, deaf-blindness, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, multiple disability, and other disabilities.
In Bangladesh, approximately 15 million people suffer from various disabilities. Unfortunately, their problems are hardly addressed by mainstream rights organisations engaged in the fields of human rights, women's rights, children's rights, religious minorities' rights or indigenous peoples' rights and so on.
 People with disabilities are equally entitled to all the rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the constitution for the citizens in the country. In addition to the constitution, all other treaties and/or instruments concerning human rights that the government is a party to, either by signature or ratification, should be accessible to people with disabilities on an equal basis with others. There are also various international instruments regarding protection of the rights of the disabled people, such as-- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons, Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, Principles for the protection of persons with mental illness and the improvement of mental health care, Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities etc.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the prime international document regarding protection of the rights of the disabled people. On December 13, 2006, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the CRPD, which later entered into force on May 3, 2008. Different countries have different official mechanisms to signs and/or ratify an international treaty/declaration/convention. In some countries, it is the head of the state or the head of the government who can make the decision. In some countries it requires a mandate from Parliament, while in others, as in Bangladesh, it depends on the decision of the Cabinet. Some countries, especially those in the West, initially sign the treaty and then change or modify their laws and policies aligning them with the spirit and contents of the treaty before ratification. But in many developing countries, including Bangladesh, the common practice is to initially sign and ratify the treaties, and then align laws and policies with the treaty. Historically, it has been noticed that Bangladesh signs and even ratifies most international human rights treaties/instruments, and then gradually changes its laws. Similarly, with the CRPD, Bangladesh was the 91st UN Member State to sign the document in May 2007, and the 8th UN Member State to ratify it in November 2007. In doing so, it became imperative on the country to align all its laws and policies to the CRPD. In the next year (May 2008), Bangladesh was the 16th UN Member State to even accede (ratify without signing) to the Optional Protocol. By following this step, Bangladesh also expressed its commitment and allegiance to the international community regarding the rights of persons with disabilities.
Internationally, the CRPD has enjoyed immense support. It entered into force more quickly than any other UN human rights treaty. In many countries, ratification of the CRPD has augmented the advocacy efforts for persons with disabilities. According to Article 4-1 (a) & (b) of the CRPD, Bangladesh now should amend, update and/or modify all its national laws and policies (including its disability related legislation and policies) in the spirit and content of the CRPD. The CRPD legally binds State Parties to fulfill their obligations. One of the most important obligations in the CRPD is legal reform. In particular, governments must eliminate discriminatory laws and also enact effective legal protections against disability-based discrimination. Indeed, international disability law experts have noted that full implementation of the CRPD without enabling legislation will be impossible.
In Bangladesh, Protection of the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2013 was passed with a view to ensuring the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. The Act is meant to guarantee educational, physical and mental improvement of disabled persons and to support their participation in social and state activities by removing all sorts of discrimination. The law stipulated 21 rights for the disabled persons. The disabled persons must get the national identity cards, and be listed in the voters roll. Even, they will be able to contest in the polls.
 The law provides for a 19-member national executive committee, headed by the social welfare secretary, to work for its implementation towards ensuring the following rights:
1. Right to survive and grow in full
2. Legal recognition in every sphere of life, and access to justice
3. Right to inheritance
4. Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information
5. Right to live in the society with parents, legitimate or legal guardian and children, and to have marital relations
6. Right to accessibility alike other citizens
7. Right to participate fully and effectively in social, economic and state activities depending on the type of disability
8. Right to attend every level of education and educational institutions - either special or integrated
9. Right to be employed in government and private institutions
10. Right to continue in service, or to get appropriate rehabilitation
 if disability occurs while in service
 11. Right to get a safe and healthy environment and protection from persecution
12. Right to the highest quality of health services, subject to availability
13. Right to congenial environment in all areas including education and work
14. Right to appropriate service and rehabilitation to attain physical, mental and technical capacity in order to fully integrate in all aspects of the society
15.    Right to safe housing and rehabilitation, as far as possible, for individuals who are dependent on their parents and subsequently isolated from parents
16. Right to participate in cultural activities, entertainment, tourism, leisure and sporting activities
17. Right to Bengali sign language as the first language for the hearing-impaired and speech-impaired persons, as far as possible
 18. Right to confidentiality of personal information
19. Right to form self-supporting organisations and welfare associations
20. Right to receive national identity cards, to vote and to participate in elections
21. Any other rights prescribed by the government by notification in the official gazette
There exist various impediments regarding protection of the disabled citizens in Bangladesh. Some of these are:
n Discrimination: According to Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, State Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure equal recognition before the law. The constitution of Bangladesh (Articles 10, 11, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 36) deal with the protection of rights of all people equally. The government of Bangladesh is pledge bound to protect the rights and dignity of all citizens, equally, and without any bias or discrimination whatsoever. But in reality, disabled citizens cannot enjoy these rights equally, and are being increasingly marginalised.
n Ineffectiveness of the committee activities: There exist a number of committees under the Disabled People's Rights and Protection Act, 2013 which is stated under sections 17 to 25. These are National Coordination Committee, National Executive Committee, District Committee, Upzilla Committee, City Committee. However, these committees are almost nonfunctional.
n Inadequate facilities for the disabled citizens: According to Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, State Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure access to persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas. In reality, disabled citizen cannot claim equal opportunities regarding job and occupation. Besides, existing infrastructural facilities are not in good shape for the disabled people.
n Lack of access to education: According to Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities State Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure equal rights to education of disabled citizen. Under the National policy for Disabled People 1995, it is the duty of the state to ensure the scope of education for the disabled people. But the majority of our educational institutions are not in friendly shape for disabled children. Lots of disabled children are deprived form quality education because mainstream institutions are quite reluctant to provide any assistance to them which is a gross violation of section 33 of the Disabled People's Rights and Protection Act, 2013.
n Discrimination in job market: According to Article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the state should ensure equal opportunity regarding work and employment.  According to the Article 20 of the constitution of Bangladesh, the government shall keep special quota for the disabled people in government jobs but it is not strictly followed. This facility is not available in private sector jobs.
n No special arrangements for disabled people in transportation: In every public transport system there must be 5 per cent reserve seats for disabled citizens in accordance with section 32 of the Disabled People's Rights and Protection Act, 2013. But in practice, this provision is not honoured.
n Lack of participation in political and cultural activities: Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities deals with the participation in political and public life, and Article 30 deals with participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport. In Bangladesh, it is very difficult for a disabled person to establish him or her in the political and cultural fields due to various social factors.
The above noted problems are not very difficult to address. All that is needed is empathy and social awareness. Without understanding disability and needs of the disabled people, the prevailing situation cannot be expected to improve. It is a common sight that many disabled people are not able to enter buildings, cross busy roads, get on or off buses or trains or use public facilities. Thus, one can say that disabled people are denied access to freedom of movement. It is time the authorities looked into the state of things in order that mainstreaming them from the margins becomes a reality in the near future.
 The writer is senior lecturer, Department of Law, World
University of Bangladesh.
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