A group of disability and human rights organisations, including EASPD, is calling on the Council of Europe to withdraw a proposed addition to the Oviedo Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine. The proposal could allow people with mental health problems to be treated against their will. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has also written to the Council of Europe asking them to withdraw the proposal, making this a truly international call for action.

Disability organisations have been fighting against this proposal for more than a decade. UN bodies, national human rights bodies, the former Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, and even the Council of Europe's own Parliamentary Assembly have all joined them in opposing it. Despite all these calls, only the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers can make the final decision to drop it.

At the same time, the Council of Europe recently took a positive step by recognising the importance of autonomy in mental health care. A development EASPD welcomed, as this places respect of personal choices at the very centre of mental health care. This is a positive sign, but its success depends entirely on how and if it will be put into practice.

Why does this matter for your work?

If the Council of Europe adopts this proposal, it would make it easier for governments to justify forcing treatment on people with mental health problems, without respecting their personal choices. This goes against everything that person-centred, rights-based care stands for.

EASPD will keep you updated as this situation develops. We encourage you to raise this issue in your own country and support the call to withdraw the proposal.