27 October 2014

A legal capacity revolution is possible – if we consider the difficult cases

I have been asked to try and bridge the gap between human rights, governments and service provider communities. Jan asked me to offer some critical reflections about – his words – the 'human rights tribe' – and what they (we) need to do to bring about the legal capacity revolution.
2 May 2014

Meeting Yusuf

In 2010 my colleague Eyong went to Kenya to find out what the top issues for people with disabilities were. There, he met with lots of great NGOs like Users and Survivors of Psychiatry Kenya, and the Kenyan Association of People with Intellectual Handicap. They told him about how people with disabilities were constricted in their lives because their relatives and their community treated them as children, taking decisions for them, in their purported best interests.
30 October 2013

Girls and women with disabilities have rights too

2,200 people in Moldova are forced to live in 13 psychiatric and social care institutions: from Badiceni to Brinzeni, Balti to Bender, and Tiraspol in the Transnistria region. A third of these people are stripped of their autonomy. They are under guardianship where others control their lives. They are rendered invisible and invalid.
5 September 2013

The Romanian government killed a young man with disabilities. Will it get away with it on a technicality?

OliverTalks - Our Executive Director explains how the Romanian government is attempting to avoid accountability for the death of Valentin Câmpeanu in a psychiatric institution.
3 September 2013

Why should the United States ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities?

3 September 2013, Budapest. In his latest post, our Executive Director gives his alternative to Secretary of State John Kerry's speech.
18 June 2013

Two years and seven minutes ago

In June 2011 I spoke to the Venice Commission for seven minutes to try and persuade them that people with disabilities should have the right to vote. Yes, you read that correctly.
30 May 2013

Legal capacity litigation

I wrote yesterday about a conference I went to last week in Serbia. This OliverTalks post summarises my presentation about legal capacity litigation.
29 May 2013

Serbian judges sentence 3,500 people to civil death each year

Last Tuesday I participated in the first day of a two-day conference in Belgrade, about legal capacity and community living, organised by various NGO partners in the “Person” project, which is funded by the European Commission (aka European taxpayers).
21 May 2013

Building inclusive communities through Circles of Support

Last Tuesday I went to Rugby, a town 50 minutes by train from London and spent the day with my friend Mandy Neville who runs an NGO called Circles Network. Mandy radiates positive energy and it is no wonder that this distinctive charity now has branches in all four of the countries which comprise the UK, running a range of services all focused on helping individuals and creating inclusive communities.
15 April 2013

Croatia’s EU election is more important for some than others

Croatia voted yesterday to elect 12 Members of the European Parliament, in preparation for the country’s accession to the European Union on 1 July. The measly turnout of 20.74% indicates that most Croatians considered the election unimportant. But for around 16,000 people yesterday was the first time that they were treated like citizens.

FOLLOW ME

toggle