Subject:

Norway: CRPD, ICCPR and CAT parallel reporting to UN Committees

Date:

Fri, 16 Dec 2016 09:09:31 +0100

From:

walter.keim Gmail <walter.keim@gmail.com>

To:

European Network of (Ex)-Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (ENUSP) <enusp.info@gmail.com>, WNSUP (World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry), coercion <contactwnusp@gmail.com>, We Shall Overcome WSO <post@wso.no>, International Disability Alliance <info@ida-secretariat.org>

CC:

Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC) <mdac@mdac.org>, Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry <info@chrusp.org>, Next Steps in Absolute Prohibition



Dear all,

thank you for your ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), CAT (Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment) and CESCR Parallel Reports om Norway.

I would like to draw your attention to:

Unfortunately there is not much real progress, so WSO, IDA, WNUSP and ENUSP common CESCR parallel report is still actual. Therefore I suggest here a rough draft to make this report a basis for reporting to other UN committees.

I have added points 19a. to 19f. , 37a. and 47a. to 47c. with new information. e. g. the State Parties claim that other states have similar reservations:

47a. «Germany without Coercive Treatment in Psychiatry—A 15 Month Real World Experience»1 shows that considerable improvements are possible. The rate of inpasients under coercive medication fall under 0.5 %. In Norway approx. 10% of inpasients where under coercive medication (SINTEF A26086)2

47b. The survivors of psychiatry “Bundesverband Psychiatrie-BPE-Germany” asked the UN CRPD committee 19. February 2015: «Please condemn Germany as a human rights criminal» 3

Norway is a much bigger (ca. 20 times) «human rights criminal» compared to Germany. UN CRPD Committee gave concluding observations about the Federal Republic of Germany. Quotes from the States Report of the UN CRPD Committee on 17/04/20154

«30. The Committee recommends that the State party take all the immediate necessary legislative, administrative and judicial measures to:

(a) Amend legislation to prohibit involuntary placement and promote alternative measures that are in keeping with articles 14, 19 and 22 of the Convention;»

33. The Committee is deeply concerned that the State party does not recognize the use
of physical and chemical restraints, solitary confinement and other harmful practices as acts of torture.”

UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Special Rapporteur on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Special Rapporteur on Health "Urgent Appeal to Norway on forced treatment/hospitalization", ref. UA Norway 1/201, datert 30.1.2017 see
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=22955

A man was placed under “compulsary mental health care”. Appeals to the Supervisory commission, Oslo district court, Borgating court of appeal and Supreme Court (2. January 2015) were rejected. The Council Govener (Fylkemann) rejected a complaint against coersive medical care.
The "Urgent Appeal to Norway to discontinue forced treatment/hospitalization" is based on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), the Convention against Torture (CAT), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
«These provisions impose an immediate obligation om the States to immediately discontinue these practices (of forced treatment/hospitalization) and reform laws allowing for deprivation of liberty and forced treatment on the basis of disabilities by replacing these practices with services in that meet needs expressed by persons with disabilities and respect the autonomy, choices, dignity and privacy.
While awaiting a reply, we urge that all necessary interim measures to be taken to halt the alleged violations and prevent there re-occurance...»

Please observe that my draft proposals

may need update of spelling, making the wording more understandable and maybe changing the structure to meet the requirements of the different covenants.
 
I hope I could support your efforts.

Kind regards

--
--
Walter Keim
Netizen: http://walter.keim.googlepages.com
Call for Stop Torture in Psychiatry in Norway:
http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/stop-torture-an.html
Is it possible to enforce access to information in Bavaria?
http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/enforce_access_to_information.html
NORWAY MUST FULLY RESPECT RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES:
https://www.causes.com/campaigns/102618-stop-torture-in-psychiatry-in-norway

Result: Norway lies to CRPD Committee 26 March 2019: “When it comes to the interpretive declarations, the declarations has no bearing on the legal status on the Convention in Norwegian law, nor how the Convention is followed up by Norwegian authorities, including municipalities.

Appendix: "Guidelines on the Participation of Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs) and Civil Society Organizations in the work of the Committee" reads:

II.    Participation in the reporting procedure within the framework of the review of the State Party
        Written submissions
5. The Committee welcomes all written submissions with relevant country-specific information that contributes to the review of State Party reports, in accordance with article 35 of the Convention. To ensure that the Committee is provided with such submissions at a relevant stage of the procedure, they should be submitted at one or several of the following times:
(a) before or after the state party submits its report
(b) before the adoption of the list of issues
(c) after the state party has submitted its replies to the list of issues and before the constructive dialogue
(d) before the Committee adopts the list of issues within the framework of its simplified reporting procedure




1http://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/5/1/15/htm

2https://www.sintef.no/contentassets/f98d2810156e4dd6b8b7aa1da8174334/endeligrapport_sintef-a26086_2.pdf

3http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT/CRPD/CSS/DEU/19757&Lang=en

4http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRPD/C/DEU/CO/1&Lang=en