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Groups seek new disability law
Advocacy groups for disabled persons are seeking a new law to replace the current 1997 disability law, which they say is ineffective
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Advocacy groups for disabled persons are seeking a new law to replace the current 1997 disability law, which they say is ineffective.
'One thing we want to highlight is that we want a disability protection law that adopts a totally different philosophy. The current situation and condition is different from 17 years ago when the Law No. 4/1997 was created,' Fajri Nursyamsi of the Disability Draft Bill Working Group told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Thirty-five disabled community groups and 15 civil society organizations from areas across Java are attending a two-day meeting in Yogyakarta to discuss the disability draft bill currently included in the 2014 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas).
Fajri said there were still opportunities for disabled persons to provide input in the ongoing deliberations of the draft bill.
'The most fundamental weakness of the Law No. 4/1997 on disabilities is that disabled protection principles stipulated in the law are based on charity whereas disabled communities have rights the state must fulfill as part of human rights protection,' said Fajri, who is also a researcher for the Legal and Policy Studies Center (LPSK).
Fajri further said Indonesia had ratified the Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities (CRPD) through Law No. 19/2011 on CRPD ratification. The CRPD requires the state to respect, fulfill and protect the rights of disabled persons. (ebf)
