PROTECTING MINORITY RIGHTS – A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has elaborated State obligations under article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It has held that segregation can occur “without any initiative or direct involvement by the public authorities”327 and noted that States have positive obligations to end segregation arising under previous Governments.328 It has recommended that States should: monitor trends that give rise to segregation and work to eradicate the consequences of segregation; undertake to prevent, prohibit and eliminate segregation; “secure for everyone the right of access on an equal and non-discriminatory basis to any place or service intended for use by the general public”; and “take steps to promote mixed communities”.329 As noted, article 19 (b) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides that States should ensure that persons with disabilities have access to support services “necessary to support living and inclusion in the community, and to prevent isolation or segregation from the community”. Article 23 (3) of the Convention provides that States must “prevent concealment, abandonment, neglect and segregation of children with disabilities”. More broadly, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has found that segregation constitutes a violation of various provisions of the Convention. Thus, the Committee has noted that segregation is a form of violence, abuse and other cruel and degrading punishment, as prohibited by articles 15 and 16.330 The Committee has also stated that segregated models of education contravene both article 5 and article 24 of the Convention331 and has consistently expressed its concern about segregation in education in its periodic reviews of States.332 The Committee has expressed concern at segregated employment arrangements, such as the practice of so-called “sheltered workshops”.333 The Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities has also noted that “segregated facilities and/or the lack of support, including support services” pose “additional challenges” in access to essential services such as health care and education.334 SEGREGATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES In its inquiry concerning Hungary under article 6 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was asked to investigate whether the country’s institutional arrangements for persons with disabilities – and in particular for persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities – violated provisions of the Convention. The complaint focused in particular on allegations of violations of article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities guaranteeing the right to live independently and be included in the community. The complaint noted facts, including that, in 2018, 98,539 persons had been institutionalized, of whom 24,553 were persons with disabilities. As of the end of 2018, a total of 54,959 persons with disabilities were under guardianship, of whom 48,945 were disenfranchised of their voting rights. In a report on the inquiry made public in September 2020, the Committee found “grave violations of rights under the Convention, and considers that the system of guardianship and institutionalization profoundly affect the lives of a substantial number of persons with disabilities, particularly discriminating against persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities and perpetuating segregation and isolation from society”.335 44 327 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, general recommendation No. 19 (1995), para. 4. 328 Ibid., para. 2. 329 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, general recommendation No. 29 (2002), paras. (p)–(q). 330 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 6 (2018), para. 56. 331 Ibid., para. 64. 332 CRPD/C/TUR/CO/1, para. 48; and CRPD/C/IND/CO/1, para. 50. 333 Thus, for example, “models and practices of service provision, especially in rural and remote areas, continue to segregate persons with disabilities through sheltered employment, segregated education and limited access to social housing” (CRPD/C/HUN/IR/1 and Corr.1, para. 101 (j)). See also CRPD/C/CAN/CO/1, para. 47; CRPD/C/SVK/CO/1, paras. 73–74; CRPD/C/SRB/CO/1, paras. 55–56; CRPD/C/BIH/CO/1, paras. 47–48; CRPD/C/AUT/CO/1, para. 44; and CRPD/C/BOL/CO/1, paras. 61–62. In its general comment No. 6 (2018), the Committee urged States to: “Facilitate the transition away from segregated work environments for persons with disabilities and support their engagement in the open labour market, and in the meantime also ensure the immediate applicability of labour rights to those settings.” See Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 6 (2018), para. 67 (a). See also Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 18 (2006), para. 17. 334 A/71/314, para. 6. 335 CRPD/C/HUN/IR/1 and Corr.1, para. 107.