Conférence OPS/OMS de Montréal

Over the last couple of years, public awareness of problems involving mental health and the rights of handicapped people has been growing. Hence, in November of 1990, the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) held the Regional Conference for restructuring psychiatric care in Latin America . During this event, which took place in Caracas , Venezuela , participants adopted a declaration that established a bridge between mental health and human rights. This event, along with the recognition that the institutional model was endangering psychiatric patients' fundamental rights, led the World Health Organization (WHO) to create the Nations for Mental Health program and, inherently, the Mental Health Global Action Plan.

Then, in December of 2001, following a decade of non-binding international declarations and instruments, the General Assembly of the United Nations decided to constitute an ad-hoc comity charged of putting together an International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities ¹. One of the committee's first steps was to ask the UN High Commissioner on Human rights to study and evaluate the efficacy of measures taken by the international judicial system to protect the rights of handicapped persons. This study² showed that there existed no non-binding international instrument designed specifically for protecting the rights of handicapped persons. Evidently, this lack of resource also applies to the field of intellectual disability. Thus, in order to obtain the full ensemble of laws defining human rights, one must refer to over 180 treaties, conventions and declarations, each one focusing on a different area of concern (e.g.: child protection, right to work, discrimination against women, etc.³ ). The UN ad hoc committee thus decided to concentrate its work on a consolidation of these rights into a binding international treaty.

The constitution of an ad hoc committee was made possible way of a major evolution of the conception of the person with a disability in the organization of state services. Putting aside the biomedical model, the international community now defines handicapped persons' rights according to the fact that they are human beings and not persons with a handicap. We are thus in presence of a change of paradigm which is based on the principle that all human beings possess fundamental rights. Persons with an intellectual disability have the right to benefit from this change of paradigm which is at the heart of all the Ad Hoc committee's endeavours.

Herein lies the purpose of the Montreal PAHO/WHO Conference on Intellectual Disability , organized by the Lisette-Dupras and West Montreal Readaptation Centres, in collaboration with the Montreal WHO / PAHO Collaborating Centre . This conference grew out of a desire to put intellectual disabilities on the international agenda by examining the impact of the work of the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on an International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on the every day life of persons with an intellectual disability. Its main goal was to oversee the ratification of the Montreal Declaration on Intellectual Disabilities ⁴ -an instrument designed to assist international organizations, states, and various social and civil actors in their endeavours aimed at insuring that the rights attendant to a full and complete citizenship are granted to persons with an intellectual disability.

The Montreal Declaration does not aim to go over, one by one, all of the fundamental rights of persons with an intellectual disability which are already generally referred to in international declarations and conventions. Rather, the idea is to remind the international community of the distinct nature of the exercise of the fundamental rights of persons with an intellectual disability as it tries to ensure that these rights are acknowledged and enforced. The Montreal Declaration thus emphasizes the 3 following fundamental rights: equality, non-discrimination and auto-determination. In sum, it forbids discrimination and stresses the obligation of society to establish adequate means of support in order to allow the inclusion and social participation in society of persons with an intellectual disability.

The Montreal Declaration presents with many probable spin offs in such fields as politics, economics, social work, culture and research. This declaration represents a first attempt to obtain a consensus on the fundamental rights of people with an INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY. Henceforth, key advocates in the field of intellectual disability and from all three American sub-continents now agree on what constitutes a person with an intellectual disability's right to equality. Better yet, the Conference participants were able to define supported decision-making standards for persons with an intellectual disability while showing the utmost respect for their fundamental rights.

Even though the Montreal Declaration on Intellectual Disabilities does not constitute a binding legal document per se , it provides guidance and serves as a standard with which the Americas can refer to when dealing with the rights of persons with an intellectual disability. As no other document of the sort exists, it is safe to say that this document is bound to become The reference in matters relating to the fundamental rights of persons with an intellectual disability.

¹United Nations, Comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, GA Res 168, UN GAOR, 56 th Sess, Agenda Item 119(b), UN Doc A/RES/56/168 (2001).

²Gerald Quinn & Theresa Degener, "Human Rights are for all : A study on the current use and future potential of the United Nations Human Rights instruments in the context of disability" , Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, February, Geneva 2002

Montreal PAHO/WHO Conference on Intellectual Disability and Montreal WHO/PAHO Collaborating Center . Montreal Declaration on Intellectual Disabilities . Lachine : Lisette-Dupras readaptation centre; West Montreal readaptation centre, 2004. 5p.