The Application of the CRPD and Other International Human Rights Instruments in Mental Health Care

The international human rights framework was adopted by the United Nations in 1948 through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, followed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1966. There was no specific mention of the right of people with disabilities in these documents. The rights of persons with mental illness received international acknowledgement through the United Nations Mental Illness Principles in 1991. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) adopted by the United Nations in 2006 is a treaty that embeds the rights of people with disabilities into the international law. The CRPD requires the States Parties to protect and promote the economic, social and cultural rights as well as the civil and political rights of people with disabilities. It requires reshaping of mental health legislation and policy by promoting alternatives to coercion and investing into resources required for accessible social and health services. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the UN Resolution on Mental Health and Psychosocial Disabilities, 2023 incorporate the principles of the CRPD to ensure that no-one is left behind and to reaffirm mental health as an essential component of universal health coverage. This book uses the case history method to promote a conversation to provide practical ways forward to implement the principles of the CRPD for protection and promotion of the human rights of people with mental illness.