Human Rights and Disability A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions To mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 25 June 2009, the Committee against Torture, the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture issued a joint statement. The statement highlighted the increased risk faced by persons with disabilities of falling victim to abuse and neglect in a number of contexts – in particular institutions, but also at the hands of family members – and called on States to ensure that torture prevention measures recognise the rights and risked faced by persons with disabilities. The Committee against Torture has called on various States, including Latvia, Japan and the Netherlands, to create viable alternatives to the institutionalisation of persons with psychosocial/psycho-neurological conditions.175 For example it recommended that Japan take action to ensure that: … outpatient and community services are developed and the number of institutionalized patients is brought down.176 This line of jurisprudence resonates strongly with the interpretation of article 19 of the UN CRPD (on the right to live independently and be included in the community) by the CRPD Committee. The Committee against Torture has expressed concern regarding the treatment of people with psychosocial disabilities confined to hospitals and institutions. For example, following its examination of the Netherlands, the Committee recommended that the State party: … use restraints and solitary confinement as a measure of last resort when all other alternatives for control have failed, for the shortest possible time and under strict medical supervision.177 The Committee has also recognised the failure to address disability hate crime as a violation of the right to live free from inhuman and degrading treatment. For example it recommended that Poland: …incorporate offences in its Penal Code to ensure that hate crimes and acts of discrimination and violence that target persons on the basis of their sexual orientation, disability or age are punished accordingly.178 The European Union Fundamental Rights Agency is currently working on a project dealing with hate crime against children with disabilities, which should set a benchmark for such research and provide useful policy recommendations.179 It is vital that NHRIs refer to the evolving standards and interpretation of the Convention against Torture when working on issues involving abuse and violence against people with disabilities. Even if institutionalisation is ended, there will still be a need to focus on abuse issues, especially in the context of services and, to some extent, in the family environment. 5.5. THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD AND DISABILITY Intersectionality between children and disability is specifically addressed in article 7 of the UN CRPD. However, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee) has a long track record of focusing on children with disabilities. The CRC Committee issued the comprehensive General Comment No. 9 on the rights of children with disabilities in 2007, which remains an important reference point.180 It is also very engaged on the issue of 76 175 See CAT/C/LVA/CO/3-5 (2013); CAT/C/JPN/CO/2 (2013); and CAT/C/NLD/5-6 (2013). 176 CAT/C/JPN/CO/2, para. 22. 177 CAT/C/NLD/5-6, para. 21. 178 CAT/C/POL/CO/5-6, para. 25. 179 See http://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2012/children-disabilities-targeted-violence-and-hostility. 180 CRC/C/GC/9/Corr.1.