| WCL event examines U.N. Convention on Disability Rights BY ADRIENNE FRANK During an Apr. 9 speech at the Washington College of Law (WCL), former Pennsylvania governor Dick Thornburgh (R) called on the United States to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, arguing that it “represents the principles that Americans hold dear: basic recognition and equal protection under the law.” “The U.S. should live up to its leadership role in recognizing those basic principles by signing and ratifying this convention,” said Thornburgh, who delivered the keynote address during the daylong conference focusing on the convention, which opened for signature and ratification on Mar. 30. More than 80 countries have signed the convention, which promotes and protects the rights of the world’s 650 million people with disabilities. It also bans discrimination on the basis of any form of disability and obligates signees to fight prejudice and promote awareness of the societal contributions of people with disabilities. “We should not be so proud to think that we can’t learn from other countries,” said Thornburgh, who, under President George H. W. Bush played a leading role in the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. Conversely, he said, the United States should seize this “opportunity to export to the world the very best we have to offer.” About 140 people, including some who helped draft the convention, turned out for the conference, which was broadcast live on the Internet. The event featured nearly two dozen academics, advocates, and policy makers, who discussed the convention, its guarantees, and its implications. The goal, said event organizer Erin Scheick, of WCL’s Human Rights Brief, was to enable participants “to engage in a creative dialogue about strategies for unifying the disability, human rights, and development communities in a manner to place pressure on the current U.S. administration to adopt, ratify, and implement the convention.” In addition to Human Rights Brief, the event was also sponsored by WCL’s Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law; Mental Disability Rights International; National Council on Independent Living; U.S. International Council on Disabilities; and Syracuse University. WCL plans to host a follow-up event in the fall. |
