Convention of Rights 11: Right to life

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD) forms the foundation of disability rights laws in Uganda and is the model for the Persons With Disabilities Act (PWDA) 2006. The CRPD underlines and recognizes that persons with disabilities (PWDs) are entitled to all the human rights enunciated in the The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If you are a PWD the rights in the CRPD are your rights, if you do not have a disability it is your duty to uphold and promote these rights.

Article 10 of the CRPD says every human being has the right to life. All necessary measures should be taken to ensure that PWDs enjoy the full right to life equally with other people.

This Article affirms that disability is a part of human diversity. Every human being, the CRPD says, has the right to life and PWDs have this right on an equal basis with others.

Disability is also intimately connected to the right to life. For instance, harmful cultural practices may violate the right to life; where resources are scarce, food or medical treatment may be given to boys and withheld from girls. The practice of female genital mutilation can result in death or create life threatening conditions during birth. Other practices that violate the right to life include, removing life giving treatment to newborn children with disabilities or underestimating the quality of life of PWDs resulting in the withdrawal of life saving treatments by healthcare providers. The workbook Human Rights. Yes! Part 2, the CRPD continues:

The enjoyment of the right to life by persons with disabilities is inextricably linked to the enjoyment of other human rights. For example, if a person with a disability has no access to health care or rehabilitation services, their right to life may well come under threat. Subjecting persons with disabilities to dangerous working environments or to conditions that amount to forced labour is likewise potentially life threatening.

The May 2016 report by the committee that oversees the implementation of the CRPD in Uganda, the Committee on the Rights of PWDs: Concluding observations on the initial report of Uganda, has this to say about the right to life:

18. The Committee is concerned about the violations of the right to life of persons with disabilities in some communities where myths abound that disability is a “curse” leading to harmful consequences to persons with disabilities.

19. The Committee recommends that the State party raise public awareness on the right to life of persons with disabilities and take legal action against perpetrators. 

If you are a PWD the right to life is of fundamental importance to you. If people call you curse and treat you badly this is harming your right to life, you have the right to take legal action against the perpetrators.

Discarded: The Home of Hope centre in Jinja, Uganda, tries to care for abandoned children with mental health problems.
Physical and mental disabilities are perceived as a 'curse' and an embarrassment to families, who hide their children away or throw them out on the streets.

This is written in Article 10 of the CRPD in the following way:

Article 10

Right to life

States Parties reaffirm that every human being has the inherent right to life and shall take all necessary measures to ensure its effective enjoyment by persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others.