NGO Comments on the draft text
Draft article 13

Intervention by World Federation of the DeafBlind

h) promoting the training and legalization of guides, interpreters and guides-interpreters to ensure the access to information and communication to persons with disabilities according to their necessities.

Intervention by (Australian) National Association of Community Legal Centres, People with Disability Australia Incorporated, Australian Federation of Disability Organisations

Mr Chairman:

Thank you for the opportunity to address the Ad Hoc Committee.

The ability to communicate and receive information in Braille, sign language, plain-language, and by other alternative or augmentative means is an instrumental pre-condition to the exercise of the civil and political right of Freedom of Expression. It is therefore appropriate that accessible means of communication are given detailed attention in this Convention.

Nevertheless, accessible means of communication are only one dimension of the human right of Freedom of Expression. The current drafting of this article creates the risk that accessible means of communication will be taken to be the only dimension of the right of Freedom of Expression applicable to people with disability. We therefore suggest either that:

(a) accessible means of communication are dealt with instead in either draft article 18 Participation in Political and Public Life, or draft article 19 Accessibility; or

(b) the text of the article commences with the phase “Freedom of Expression and Opinion includes the right to communicate by accessible means.”

This will avoid any potential for the particularity of this draft article to derogate from the overarching and multidimensional right of Freedom of Expression, which is applicable in all respects to people with disability.

Sub-paragraph (b) requires States parties to ‘accept’ the use of alternative modes of communication. While this is welcome, we believe the article needs to be significantly strengthened to require official recognition of sign language. In most States of the world, including Australia, sign language is not officially recognized. This results in inequality before the law, and an inability to enjoy other rights and duties of citizenship for people who are deaf. A number of States, including most recently New Zealand, have recognized sign language as an official language, and we believe it is critical that this emerging human rights norm is mandated in this convention.

The Bangkok draft equivalent of this article also requires that accessible means of communication are provided in a timely manner, and without additional cost. We believe it is important that the article is amended to incorporate these imperatives.

It is important that recognition of accessible means of communication includes the obligation to provide information in easy-language formats that will facilitate comprehension of information by people with cognitive disability or people who have limited literacy.

Additionally, the terms of the article also require some refinement – “equal footing” in the opening paragraph should be amended to read “on equal terms” and the term “encouraging” in sub-paragraph (f) should be significantly strengthened to read “requiring.” This would more properly address the fundamental importance of non-State actors also being bound by the terms of this convention, given the impact of their activities on the lives of people with disability.

Thank you for the opportunity to make this intervention.