Lawyer discusses disability rights
Erick Acuña Pereda delivered a presentation yesterday in the Eck Hall of Law discussing the challenges and obstacles facing regional human rights systems to incorporate the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a treaty adopted in 2006. Acuña is currently a researcher for the Peruvian Working Group of the Ibero-American Network of Experts on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. His lecture was sponsored by the Notre Dame Law School’s Center for Civil and Human Rights. Acuña started by explaining the importance of having certain laws to protect the rights of those with disabilities. “According to a report by the World Health Organization this year, there are more than 4 million people with mental disabilities throughout the world, and seven percent of these people live in developing countries,” Acuña said. “I think it is so important to discuss this topic because whether you work in a public institution or a civil society we should always try to take into account the disability approach either by public policy, litigation or workshops, and know that people with disabilities should have a voice and should be part of it and be included.” While in law school, Acuña said he first became interested in the issue while choosing his thesis topic. “I wanted to research about certain groups that are in a situation of vulnerability, but I wanted it to be a new topic that hadn’t been talked about before,” he said. “After talking with my professor and researching, I ran into indigenous people, African American people, migrants, and women and children, but then I read about people with disabilities.” Acuña said he was struck by the lack of literature on the topic. “What struck me the most was that there is almost nothing written on it,” he said. “They are suffering a lot and there are injustices regarding their disabilities, so that’s why I thought it was a really important topic to write about.” Acuña said there is a major difference between the medical approach and social approach to the CRPD. Prior to the CRPD, the medical approach defined disabled people as mental patients with abnormalities of body structure, appearance or function of an organ or system. However, after the CRPD the entire dynamic and climate of the discussion of the rights of those with disabilities changed, he said. “Before the adoption of the CRPD, people with mental disabilities were considered very ill and therefore needed to be cured be medical care,” Acuña said. “The old definition of those who are mentally disabled has a very negative connotation and made it seem like these people were different from everyone else and needed protection.” Acuña also discussed the right to legal capacity that he said is, “the most important pillar of the CRPD treaty.” The right to legal capacity bans the practice of guardianship for those with mental disabilities. Under the CRPD, it says there shouldn’t be substitution of decisions, he said, but instead there should be support in helping those with mental disabilities make decisions. “With this right to legal capacity, they can make their own decisions and their own mistakes, just like everyone else does,” Acuña said. Finally, Acuña analyzed the approaches of the Inter-American, European, and African legal systems to those with mental disabilities. He said under the CRPD, “states have the moral obligation to make everything that they can to actually create a situation where people with mental disabilities can fulfill or exercise their right of any convenience.” Contact Shannon O’Brien at sobrie12@nd.edu
August 23, 2020 Share This StoryFacebookTwitteremailPrintLinkedinRedditThe Latest from the Indianapolis 500, which was delayed from Memorial Day weekend because of COVID-19:___5 p.m. Marco Andretti has led the field to the green flag for the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500, the familiar field of 33 roaring down the canyon-like front stretch of empty seats at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.The warm-ups found Andretti following the IndyCar two-seater driven by his grandfather and 1969 winner Mario Andretti with his father and team owner Michael Andretti in the second seat. It was the first time that the three generations of the family were on the track at the Brickyard at the same time.The call to start the engines was delivered by Roger Penske, whose family purchased the speedway along with the IndyCar Series. He promised that fans would be “back home again in Indiana” in 2021.___1 p.m. The story of the second quarter of the Indianapolis 500 has been miscues on pit road.Alexander Rossi was challenging race leader Scott Dixon when he came out of Turn 4 too hot and missed the entry to pit lane. Sage Karam lost a lot of time when he locked up his tires and missed his stall on pit road. Rookie driver Rinus VeeKay also lost several seconds when he stalled leaving his pit, then he was penalized for hitting a team member.The most intriguing part of the race so far has been pit strategy. Several of the Team Penske drivers are on a completely different strategy from the leaders, including the defending winner Simon Pagenaud. They are hoping that strategy may help overcome what appears to be a gap between Honda and their own Chevrolet engines.___3 p.m. The Latest: Rossi crashes out of Indy 500 after pit problems It’s been the Scott Dixon-Alexander Rossi show at the Indianapolis 500, though plenty of crashes behind them have provided an exciting subplot to “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”The latest involved Spanish youngster Alex Palou, who got out of the groove and slapped the wall in the short chute between Turns 1 and 2. Palou was running in the top 10 when he crashed.The timing of the crash creates some fuel intrigue. Teams can make it about 30 laps on each green-flag run before needing to pit. There were just under 80 laps to go when Palou brought out the caution flag.___4 p.m. James Davison has brought out the first caution flag of the Indianapolis 500 when he made contact with the wall in the opening laps and his right front tire turned into a ball of fire.Davison was able to exit the car without any problem. His car was still smoking as it was lifted onto a flatbed truck.Scott Dixon went immediately to the front when the green flag dropped, passing pole sitter Marco Andretti heading into Turn 1. Ryan Hunter-Reay also was on the move in the opening laps as Honda flexed the muscle it has shown all month.___1:30 p.m.
The countdown is on to the start of the Indy 500, which was delayed from its traditional date in May because of the coronavirus pandemic and will be run without fans for the first time in its 104 editions.New track owner Roger Penske, whose team has four cars in the field, and IndyCar executives have tried to create an entertaining prerace show for broadcaster NBC. But the build up to “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” is still somewhat eerie without the 250,000-plus fans who typically show up inside the Brickyard.Driver introductions took place with the voice of the public address announcer echoing off the empty stands. There also will be no military parade or balloon release, two staples of race day. But there will be Jim Cornelison singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” and the Air Force’s famed Thunderbirds performing a flyover.___More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Alexander Rossi will want to forget all about this year’s Indianapolis 500.The winner of the 100th edition of the race spent the early stages dueling with Scott Dixon for the lead. But he was forced to play catch-up when he was told to pit late and missed pit lane, then was penalized and sent to the back of the field later when he bumped another car on the release from his stall following another stop.Rossi was trying to aggressively work back to the front when he got loose and hit the outside wall. That brought out a caution with 53 laps remaining, putting pit strategy front and center for the rest of the field.___4:30 p.m. Scott Dixon has dominated the first half of the Indianapolis 500, much as the five-time IndyCar champion and 2008 race winner has dominated the rest of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing.Dalton Kellett brought out a caution before the midway point when he hit the wall hard. That erased about a lead of about 10 seconds that Dixon had built over the course of a long green-flag run. But after the field cycled through pit stops, Dixon found himself at the sharp end of the field once again.When the race went to green, Conor Daly and Oliver Askew were involved in a heavy wreck deep in the field. Askew was visibly shaken as he climbed out of the car, sitting on the tub for several minutes to catch his breath.___3:30 p.m. Marcus Ericsson got into some turbulent air while running near the front of the Indy 500 and slapped the outer wall in Turn 2, bringing out the second caution flag on the hot, sunny day in Indianapolis.Scott Dixon had led the first 28 laps before taking the field down pit road for the first set of stops. He was still in first after the stop with Takuma Sato, Alexander Rossi and Marco Andretti close behind.The weather could play a factor in the race. It is much warmer than it typically is during the race in May.___1:40 p.m. Associated Press 