The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities effectively prohibits guardianship, psychiatric detention and forced treatment, and adopts a support model of legal capacity as the alternative. The Special Rapporteur on Torture says that forced psychiatric interventions may constitute torture or ill-treatment. In this workshop, Tina Minkowitz, one of the drafters of the CRPD, will explain the new paradigm of legal capacity and the relevance of the international framework on torture, and will suggest ways that U.S.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is a unique human rights treaty that was created under the leadership of people with lived experience of disability. The Convention marks a shift in thinking about disability from a social welfare concern to a human rights issue. It acknowledges that societal barriers and prejudices are themselves disabling and must be dismantled. This informative workshop with human rights activist Myra Kovary will discuss the core principles of the CRPD and the Convention's special significance for users and survivors of psychiatry.

This presentation is designed to accompany the Oct. 21 "Intro to the Human Rights Framework and the US Human Rights Movement" teleconference. Please feel free to follow along during the call: to view the presentation, click here. 

To listen to the recording of the teleconference, click here.

Users and Survivors of Psychiatry Support President Obama’s Intention to Sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Signature is only the beginning; grassroots engagement is essential to meaningful ratification

September 4 - International human rights lawyer Tina Minkowitz provides an audio introduction to the human rights framework as regards users and survivors of psychiatry. 

Washington, DC | May 14, 2009 |Two national disability rights organizations, the Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (CHRUSP) and the U.S. Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (USNUSP) support H. Res. 416, which expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the “United States should become an international human rights leader by ratifying and implementing certain core international conventions” and affirms the historic role of the United States in the development of global human rights standards.

U.S. Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry Launches the “Human Rights for ALL” Tour

Series of Community Teach-ins to raise awareness about human rights and the UN Disability Convention