Subject: Reply to survey concerning article 13 of the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities
From: Mia Ahlgren <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Cc: Andrea Bondesson <[email-masked]>, Ola Linder <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2017 08:16:19 +0000

Subject: Reply to survey concerning article 13 of the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities
Human Rights Council resolution 31/6, Reference LW/FCP/Ky

Dear Sir / Madam
The answers to this survey have been collected with short notice by the Swedish Disability Rights Federation, the main national umbrella with 39 member organisations representing persons with disabilities and Independent Living Institute in Sweden, with contributions from Civil Rights Defenders and the Swedish National Association for Social and Mental Health on the subject of rights linked to criminal proceedings etc.

We would like to highlight that member organisations of the Swedish Disability Rights Federation have raised the issue of lack of knowledge and policies about rights, accessibility, medical conditions and disabilities within the justice system for many years. During the Swedish Strategy for Disability 2011-2016 four Public Agencies under the Justice department were given special tasks concerning education and training of their staff. The results have been presented in reports to the government in 2016. The Disability Movement has been represented at meetings with three of the public Agencies - Swedish Courts Administration (Domstolsverket) , the Police Authority and the Swedish Crime Victim compensation and Support Agency. The awareness of the human-rights based model seem to have reached a strategic level in the Police Authority but it is subject to major a reorganization, including outsourcing of education. Despite these efforts we see that there is still a long journey to get the CRPD known and recognized by individuals working in the justice system.

In the end of April 2017 the government had still not decided on a new Disability Strategy. Many of the 22 so called "Strategic Agencies" are waiting for further guidance on policy, including those linked to the justice system.

In recent years, court rulings have played an important part in much more restrictive decisions by public agencies concerning the right to independent living (CRPD article 19).  A parallel debate is going on about Public Policy and trust, which has a long and strong tradition in Sweden. As some rights linked to access are not explicit in legislation or guidelines, it is often difficult for the public to use the law to complain in the right forum. Other identified areas for concern are linked to for example: The lack of clarity regarding what institution to turn to when your rights have been violated leads to a situation where victims do not know where to turn to for redress[1]. There is a lack of quality data and statistics on persons with disabilities. The area of economic, social and cultural rights is a huge problem because they are generally not properly understood as human rights in Sweden. Digital data is often used by public authorities without taking into consideration issues of accessibility for everyone, leading to exclusion.

See attachment for full reply to the questions.

Kind regards

Mia Ahlgren
_____________________________

Handikappförbunden
The Swedish Disability Federation
Box 1386, 172 27 Sundbyberg
Landsvägen 50 A, Sundbyberg
+46 70 268 5222

Handikappförbunden blir Funktionsrätt Sverige den 18 maj 2017

www.handikappforbunden.se<http://www.hso.se/>

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[1] Round table report A Swedish National Human Rights Institution, Raoul Wallenberg Institute, June 2016 http://rwi.lu.se/app/uploads/2017/02/Roundtable-on-A-Swedish-National-Human-Rights-Institution.pdf