The institutions are still inaccessible for people with disabilities

For people with disabilities private and other institutions are still inaccessible because there is still no physical access for persons with disabilities. They have been gotten any information and still have problems when it comes to voting in elections and have financially difficulties, this was announced at the Roundtable on “Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Political and Public Life”.

The General Director of the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, Blanka Radosevic – Marovic, said that the results of this table should become part of an inclusive society based on an international document in this domain, which is the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Convention claims that persons with disabilities should have equal and inalienable rights, that everyone has the right to enjoy rights and freedoms, that full enjoyment of these rights are guaranteed to persons with disabilities, said Marovic.
She said the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights is working to ensure that all rights of persons with disabilities are guaranteed and regulated by law. She said that human rights laws prohibit any type of discrimination against persons with disabilities. The laws prevent discrimination and allow persons with disabilities access to facilities and information, creation of conditions for independent living, political and public engagement, physical rehabilitation, free speech and more, Marovic said.
‘’Discrimination is considered to impede the right of persons with disabilities to have the right to candidate for election, the right to run organizations, the right to choose institutions, to hold public office, and more. Penalties for discrimination against persons with disabilities range from EUR 10,000 to EUR 20,000. The analysis showed only 10 out of 59 laws were harmonized when it is the matter of discrimination law’’, said Marovic.
The plans of the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights are to establish equality of persons with disabilities with other persons in the field of human rights as in the region and in the world. In the countries of the region and the world as well as in our country, it was requested that blind persons should be allowed to vote by election using the templates and have an independent and secret ballot, which began to apply since 2013, said Marovic.
A member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and one of the authors of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Damjan Tatic said that all human rights and freedoms belong to persons with disabilities just like to other human beings. This assumption can be derived from the universality and indivisibility of human rights, Tatic said.
In reality, people with disabilities around the world face barriers to the enjoyment of human rights, discrimination, marginalization and disenfranchisement.
Article 21 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees that every individual has the right to participate in the management of his country’s public affairs. But in practice, persons with disabilities have encountered various obstacles in exercising this right, Tatic said.
Persons under the custody may be deprived of the right to vote and to be elected to public authorities. People with sensory disabilities often cannot access information and wheelchair users find inaccessible polling stations.
Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that every citizen has the right to participate in the conduct of public affairs, to elect and to be elected to public authorities. But in practice, persons with disabilities have encountered various obstacles in exercising this right, Tatic said.
At the roundtable was stated that there are still institutions and facilities in Montenegro that do not have ramps for persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities still do not have the conditions at each polling station to exercise their right to vote. Persons with disabilities continue to be difficult to hire and do not receive adequate financial or other assistance. In most cases, people with disabilities live below the poverty line.

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