Today, on October 10, the World Mental Health Day, ENUSP would like to remind all relevant stakeholders and society at large that in many EU countries practices of substitute decision making, forced treatment, and forced institutionalization of persons with disabilities, including people with mental diagnoses are still considered lawful under domestic laws, while they constitute violation of human rights under the UN CRPD and are causing severe damage.
This is particularly unfortunate when alternatives exist corresponding to the “will and preferences” of those of us concerned, such as the Personal Ombudsman programme in Sweden, crisis centres designed and managed by users and ex-users of services or Open Dialogue methods.
ENUSP continues calling on the EU:
- to object against declarations made by EU States Parties on the UN CRPD providing for exceptions to the fundamental human rights, and reiterate that forced treatment, forced institutionalization and substitute decision making are not allowed under the UN CRPD to which they have committed themselves.
- to declare an EU moratorium on substitute decision making. This would influence all EU Member States to ensure that within the EU, all persons, including all persons with all types of disabilities, can have full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including legal capacity and liberty on an equal basis with others.
- to support States in their efforts to reform their legislation and bring it into compliance with the UN CRPD and provide follow-up support for implementation.
We are looking forward to seeing Europe free from legitimized human rights violations in mental health!