General News

Third day of the CRPD Committee's 8th session Geneva

Delegation Replies

Re education for children with disabilities, the delegation said that education was a basic method to promote the all-round development of persons with disabilities and their inclusion in society and that China had always attached great importance to education. China had taken a multi-layered approach to ensure that children with disabilities had the opportunity to receive education on an equal basis. For all children with disabilities we provide zero rejection approach for education. For children who have the capacity to receive regular education in all primary and secondary schools, these children are accepted and for those severely impaired children with disabilities special education is provided through - in special schools. In addition, there was a provision for teachers to visit children's homes if needed.

Re the State secrets law, in 2010 China had amended the State secrets law and had greatly reduced the scope of issues covered by that law. Regarding disclosure of information, in most areas China published official statistics unless the level of economic development did not allow collection of information or the information had been collected by non-official bodies, in which case it was beyond the control of the government to make that information available to the general public. Citizens could either freely request information or apply for it. Issues of general concern were made public, including the functioning, structure and procedures of state organs; information is available on National Family Planning website in English and Chinese, if a citizen feels they have been denied information, they can bring a lawsuit. With the economic and social development of China and the improvement of China's capacity building, the information and statistics collected by government and disclosure will improve.

Re poverty reduction strategies for persons with disabilities in particular, the aim was to improve the capacity of those persons and to facilitate their inclusion in development. For example, loans at low rates were granted to persons with disabilities and practical or technical training was also provided to them so they could set up and run their own business or get involved in farming and other similar activities. through such measures as minimum living allowance and other measures try to guarantee that persons with disabilities can enjoy minimum living standards.

Re independent living, the delegation indicated they attach importance to inclusion in the community and gaining autonomy; set up agencies to provide this service- sunshine home, set up educational and employment agencies and institutions.

Re participation of persons with disabilities in public affairs was an important matter. China attached great importance to the construction of organizations for persons with disabilities to facilitate their participation in decision-making processes. The public service role of DPOs is obvious- many social organisations for persons with disabilities include organisations by parents of disabled children supported by government; facilitate persons with disabilities in monitoring CRPD implementation measures. Verification of data and assessment of monitoring is conducted by government bodies, DPOs and other organisations.

Re violence against children and women, relevant legislative measures (Marriage Law, Law on Protection of Minors) prohibitedto abandon persons with disabilities or to subject children with disabilities to abandonment or ill treatment. Corporal punishment in schools and inhumane or cruel treatment of children was also prohibited by law. A hotline and mobile message service had also been set up to facilitate reporting incidents of domestic violence. There were awareness-raising programmes to combat domestic violence. The delegation asserted that the government recognises the right of women with disabilities to have children on an equal basis with others. Forced sterilisation of intellectually challenged women was forbidden and there are severe punishments for it once it is disclosed.

Re humanitarian situations, contingency plans exist for emergency situations involving persons with disabilities. Training was also provided to the families of persons with disabilities to help them deal with emergency situations. Timely treatment was provided to persons with disabilities who may have been injured in emergency situations; try to reduce the degree of handicap as early as possible, this method was used following the earthquake and obtained good results.

Re accessibility construction, the regulation on the accessibility construction adopted in August 2012, lays down clear measures for the construction of accessible environments. Visits, seminars, the solicitation of ideas through internet and listening to the suggestions of social bodies and DPOs had all helped the government to take specific implementation measures in that area. There are 35 articles of this regulation, including general principle, the construction, the information exchange, community service, legal responsibility. These regulations reflect the general design and reasonable accommodation. The major concept of this regulation is the principle and the working mechanism of accessibility. The government, through its competent departments, had taken concrete action to implement regulations for construction development. In addition, there were local regulations which had specific provisions in place to build larger barrier-free facilities. There are a few facilities who have been out of order because of poor maintenance and thegovernment will strengthen our efforts to provide maintenance of these accessible facilities.

Re HK, the Women's Commission members have diverse backgrounds expertise and experience they locally - regularly meet with local women's groups including concerned groups on the rights of women with disabilities to exchange views. The government is actively considering appointing a female member with disabilities to the Women's Commission. Re medical treatment, where it is impossible to ascertain the views of the patient who is mentally incapacitated the views of their family should still be solicited the health care team should also work towards a consensus with the family as far as possible unless the view of the family is clearly contrary to the patients best interest. The HK mental health ordinance the ordinance is under review and they would consider any need to amend the ordinance, taking into account local circumstances with a view to addressing the needs of persons with psychosocial disabilities. Re guardianship, guardian must be 18 or above, and with personality generally compatible with the person concerned.

Re Macao, had developed various barrier-free facilities in recent years that took into account the safety of persons with disabilities. Road construction had been improved and public areas and tourist sites had been adapted to the needs of persons with disabilities. Re ligher sentences: Article 66 of the criminal code contains provisions of license centres is applicable to all persons, including persons with disabilities. According to this article, there are several cases applicable to a lighter sentence because the person who does not have the capacity to control their actions. Re corporal punishment of children apart from the protection provided above the disciplinary action against students in the public schools is contained in relevant regulations. Any punishment which is infringement of the integrity of the person is outlawed.

In the private school, the government provides guidance on the management of the school to avoid cruel treatments. Re sign language. the social welfare Bureau cooperates with NGOs to recruit sign language interpreters to provide 24-hour service to persons with need. NGOs provide training for sign languages.

Articles 20-33

Chair: asks about the welfare of blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng.

Silvia Quan Chang : what is real possibility available to DPOs, in addition to CDPF, to participate in the monitoring mechanism of the CPRD and ensure actual compliance with the terms of the Convention?

Theresia Degener : concerned about reports in press on persons with disabilities working in degrading, abusive and exploitative conditions, art 27, the government admits these conditions in replies to List of issues and it states it rescued persons with mental and intellectual from forced labour- how many, in which region, how many investigations, prosecutions, and if found criminally liable, which and how many sanctions ordered? The figure of 8.6% unemployment of persons with disabilities implies 91.4% employment rate of persons with disabilities- unheard of in the world and contradicted by published studies that 43% of disabled mainlanders over 15 are illiterate, nationwide only 63% aged 6-14 are enrolled in school, 85% poor persons with disabilities have not been educated past junior middle schools, how is this explainable?

Gabor Gombos: Article 22, re screening and surveillance techniques used to promote mental health of the Chinese population- Are there concerns about this and is there consideration of reviewing these with respect to the right to privacy and right to liberty?

Article 25, how can persons victims of industrial injury but who do not meet criteria necessarily to be classified as persons with disabilities have access to health insurance?

Article 29, in report, no person with disability is deprived of right to vote and to participate in public life, however it acknowledges that those who are legally incapacitated have no right to vote- this is a contradiction. Re China and 2 SARs ; is there consideration to lift this limitation on restriction of the right to vote?

Edah Maina: Plans to transition the disability programmes from medical model to rights-based responses from yesterday emphasised a lot on medical model which is contrary to CRPD.

Hyung Shik Kim : HK's concept of unjustifiable hardship, how does that work without creating a situation of discrimination against persons with disabilities? Performance assessment, seems to be working for employers and against the rights of persons with disabilities.

Articles 33 & 21, freedom of expression and opinion; activities of NGOs, concerned about to what extent DPOs are actively participating in decision making and policy formulation re persons with disabilities.

Carlos Rios : education & unjustified hardship : how do we have a qualitative weighting of the concept? Art 25, health, persons with HIV/ADS, what steps taken by government to ensure their right to information, right to health and rights in general are realised?

Stig Langvad : no answer on size of largest institution in China and what kind of persons with disabilities live there ? Art 33, difficult to see how it lives up to the Paris Principles, how is it independent in that context?

Art 24, while China is in its 11th 5 -year programme, it still has 1700 special schools and 2600 special classes for children with disabilities when other countries are moving in opposite direction towards inclusive education in mainstream schools.

What kind of qualifications are needed to be able to teach children with disabilities in inclusive settings in regular schools?

Art 25, what is the justification for introducing regulations to monitor persons with psychosocial disabilities such as the Mental Health Prevention Service Regulation of 2012 in Shanghai which encourages reporting of "symptoms" of persons suspected of having mental disorders so they can be taken to clinics for treatment?

In relation to Article 27, whether regulations securing the help of employees are covering all kinds of workers including persons with disabilities regardless of where they are employed?

Maria Soledad Cisternas: Art 24, how many children are actually in the inclusive education system and regular schools and how many of them are in special education institutions?

What kind of measurement criteria are being used to carry out this measurement of quality?

What kind of monitoring is being carried out by the Ministry of Education in terms of capturing How many children are included in these facilities and how many judicial measures have been taken in China since the Convention entered into force to address the unjustifiable difficulties involved in having children accessing these educational institutions because of the lack of reasonable accommodations? What policies are being adopted to eliminate what is meant by the productivity assessment which actually is detrimental to including people with disabilities in the workforce and what kind of legal action under the Labour Code can be taken to address the issue of denial of reasonable accommodation and non-inclusion in the labour force? Re sunshine home program for people suffering with leprosy is being implemented and how they have their inclusion in the labour market. Is there an independent monitoring organisation that has been set up to look at situations when there is no consent from person with psychosocial disabilities?

Ana Pelaez: Re abandoned children, what efforts taken to ensure children in institutions can have a family and live in the community? Clear restriction for prospective foreign adoptive parents to adopt, what kind of specific care and education being provided for boys and girls in these institutions and facilities where they have been abandoned?

How do women with disabilities exercise their sexual and reproductive health care; access to OBGYN services?

Xavier Torres Correa : is there a sign language that is specifically Chinese which is legally or constitutionally recognised and what participation is there of deaf Chinese persons?

Lotfi Lallahom : does the CDPF manage to raise awareness of parents of disabled children as well as among other persons with disabilities of their fundamental rights?

Delegation Replies

According to the law, all citizens enjoyed equal rights of civil acts. The People's Court was there to guarantee and protect the rights of persons in proceedings. China had adopted practical measures such as the use of sign language interpretation, legal aids and other assistance in order to protect the rights and interests of persons with disabilities. In 2013 a review would be carried out of the legal aid and services to persons with disabilities and in 2015 a final review and inspection would be carried out on the legal aid programme for persons with disabilities.

China publicised information concerning persons with disabilities and to that end it made use of traditional mass media and new social media and had taken a number of other awareness-raising initiatives. Also, an effort was being made to remove discrimination against persons with disabilities across the country. Regarding social activities, efforts were made to improve society's respect towards and care of persons with disabilities and to give them an opportunity to showcase their talents.

There were 40,000 welfare agencies across the country which worked to provide social welfare to all age categories of persons with disabilities. Particular importance was attached to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in family and community life. China was committed to helping children with disabilities have sound physical and psychological development.

There were specific provisions to adopt children with disabilities, according to the adoption law. More than 10,000 children had been adopted by families from European and North American countries, with which China had effective co-operation. Specific factors were taken into consideration in such cases, such as the physical and economic condition and the educational level and age of the prospective adoptive parents.

The delegation acknowledged that China, as a populous nation, faced significant challenges in combating forced labour and illegal employment. In that respect, China had improved its law on employment and had taken a series of measures to improve the comprehensive supervision of employment and to prevent the exploitation, illegal confinement or cruel or inhumane treatment of persons with disabilities in employment. Forcing persons to work was a crime punishable by law with imprisonment and a fine. Individuals had been prosecuted for cases of involuntary employment or staged accidents of persons with disabilities so that insurance could be claimed by their employers.

The 8.6% unemployment rate for persons with disabilities which the Committee had was the registered rate provided by employment agencies and did not reflect the real situation. In reality, 50% of persons with disabilities employed in urban regions and 60% in rural regions.

Regarding persons with psychosocial disabilities,the Ministry of Health was working to improve the services available to persons with psychosocial disabilities. Only persons with severe mental disorders who had harmed themselves and were likely to do so again, or harm others, were hospitalised involuntarily in accordance with the relevant law.

A person would be disqualified from being registered as an elector only if they were found under the mental health ordinance to be incapable, for reason of mental incapacity, of managing and administering their property and affairs, decided by a court.

In HK, employees with disabilities enjoyed the same statutory minimum wage protection and had the right to opt for a productivity assessment- the right to invoke productivity assessment is vested in the person with disability rather than the employer. This mechanism was the result of discussions between administration and persons with disabilities, parents groups and EOC. Legislative council had scrutinsed it when adopting minimum wage bill. Persons with disabilities who do not opt for assessment receive minimum wage.

In Macao, no discrimination was made against persons with disabilities in their right to vote and to be elected, except if declared incompetent by a court. The election law provided that persons with disabilities, if necessary, could be accompanied in the voting procedure, a right which was not enjoyed by other citizens.

Concerning the case of blind Chinese citizen Chen Guan Chang, China had closely followed the law, according to which all citizens' rights were protected. At the same time, citizens were expected to abide by the law. Upon release from jail in 2009, he had fully enjoyed his rights and had received a special treatment as a person with disabilities. His allegations were being investigated in accordance with the law.

Re education, in 2010, 1,706 special schools, 425,000 students inclusive schools, 350,000 students inclusive classes counting for 66.9% of total students with disabilities. Students are mainly those with visual, hearing and intellectual disabilities.

Re insurance : on industrial injury, all persons who suffer from occupation or industrial injury are entitled to insurance, whether they have the disability certificate is not in question.

Re right to vote of persons with psychosocial disabilities, all people equal before the law, they enjoy equal political rights, one exception – during the period of the illness can refrain from participating in election to avoid abuse or irregularities in the political process.

Re social model, persons with disabilities not only a health problem but also a question of rights. Adopted about 70 laws and several hundred local laws on rights of persons with disabilities.

Re persons with HIV/AIDS, even though it was debatable whether persons living with HIV/AIDS were persons with disabilities, the delegation stressed that those persons' right to marriage, inheritance, election and access to medical care were guaranteed and that China did not discriminate against persons on the basis of their HIV status. The government provided subsidies to persons living with HIV/AIDS. Chinese government will never on ground of HIV/AIDS deprive a person of right to vote.

Re Sign language, Article 29 of the Law on the Protection of persons with disabilities stipulates that the Government must support the research and development of sign languages. Article 21 of the regulation on accessible environments provides that the TV stations must provide news broadcast at least once in a week with sign language. Sign languages must be provided in all public events. Sign language is also an important part of all official documents. China has formulated a work program on the development of sign languages. In 2010 Ministry of Education and CDPF established a sign language research center in order to establish a standard for the sign language and to research into a general center for sign language. In the year 2007 sign language interpretation is considered as a new profession. There are two full certificates for this profession. The delegation stated they pay particular attention to the participation by persons with hearing disabilities in the study of sign languages.

protection of rights of employees with disabilities, according to China's labor law and labor contract law, employs with disability are guaranteed of their - employees with disabilities are guaranteed of their equal rights the regulations on employment promotion clearly defines the responsibility of the employers. The obligation includes the provision of labor protection and to the employees with disabilities and shall not discriminate against them on any ground. The employers must in light of the actual condition of the employees provide various kinds of trainings to them

Re employees with disabilities are guaranteed equal. Employers' obligation includes the provision of labourr protection; targeted employment assistance, must be given to these employees. Rehabilitation placement and job application services must be provided as well.

Re sunshine home project, designed to provide residential care for persons with intellectual disabilities and severe disabilities. Every year the central Government provides 250 million yen to persons with disabilities for rehabilitation and community services.

Closing remarks by delegation

The head of the delegation stated that this review is a valuable opportunity to bring forward the course of persons with disabilities in China. All the constructive recommendations and proposals by members of the Committee as well as their interests of promoting and protecting persons with disabilities as long as they are in the spirit of the Convention and suitable to China's conditions will become an important reference for us in developing strategies for the persons with disabilities. It is the consistent view of the Chinese Government that human rights progress is closely linked to the economic and social development of the country. China still has a long way to go in terms of protecting the rights and interests of persons with disabilities. With a pragmatic and scientific attitude, the government will continue to redouble its efforts along the direction laid down in the Convention. The head of the delegation gave a special thanks to the NGOs which have followed and participated in the review of China and stated that they were very attentive to their questions and recommendations, are ready to further strengthen their cooperation and dialogue with the NGOs. Whilst recognising that the economic, political systems and social development levels of HK and Macau differed to mainland China, the head of delegation stated that they share the same goal of implementing the Convention and protecting the rights and interests of persons with disabilities.

The dialogue with China closed at 1.05pm.

Side event on Argentina

At 1.45pm, IDA hosted a side event on Argentina in which DPO & NGO representatives of Red por los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad (REDI), Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS) and Human Rights Watch presented the Committee with further information on Argentina. Representatives referred to the current reform of civil code which provides an opportunity to update Argentinian law to comply with the CRPD. While there are some advances such as introducing supported decision making, this remains only an option for judges to apply and is not to be systematically offered, and ultimately the substituted decision making model persists. Regarding employment, the 4% quota for public posts is not respected, nor sanctions applied; regarding special education there is no inclusive policy with respect to all levels of education but the state response has been special schools; regarding the right to live in the community, while there is a programme in that respect- the SAVA programme, it remains unimplemented and the government admits this in the replies to list of issues; lack of access for women with disabilities to reproductive health and services, frequent denial of contraception and abortion to women with disabilities, lack of accessibility of information on reproductive health care and lack of physical accessibility in particular in rural and impoverished areas. The majority of Committee members were present at this side event and participated actively in discussion with the Argentine DPO & NGO representatives.

From 3 - 6pm, the Committee commenced the review of Argentina which will be reported on shortly

*The summary is provided by the IDA secretariat and is not an official record of the proceedings.

** The Chinese delegation was composed of:

Head of Delegation

Deputy Head of Delegation Members of Delegation

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