Open letter to the Council of Europe to end coercion in mental health practices

EASPD joins other Civil Society Organisations, National Human Rights institutions and Equality Bodies to call the Council of Europe to withdraw the draft Additional Protocol to the Oviedo Convention.
Read the open letter to the Committee of Minister, signed by European Disability Forum (EDF), Mental Health Europe (MHE), Autism Europe, European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD), European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), European Network of Ex/Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (ENUSP), Inclusion Europe, Society of Social Psychiatry P. Sakellaropoulos, Confederation of European Firms, Employment Initiatives and Cooperatives (CEFEC), Validity, Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability (Malta) and the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights.
Note to the readers
In 2014, the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO, formally Committee on Bioethics or DH-BIO) started work on the draft Additional Protocol to the Oviedo Convention, with the purpose to “protect the rights of people with mental disorders” subject to involuntary treatment and involuntary placement in psychiatry. Facing widespread opposition from various stakeholders including the United Nations, the Council of Europe and civil society, the decision on the adoption of the draft Additional Protocol has been suspended until 2024.
Throughout the suspension, various deliverables were produced by CDBIO including the draft Recommendation on respect for autonomy in mental healthcare which we welcome. Nevertheless, we are aware that with the upcoming evaluation of the draft Recommendation and other deliverables, the Committee of Ministers must decide whether or not to advance the draft Additional Protocol.
In light of this pending decision, we, the undersigned reiterate our profound concerns and unwavering opposition to any further development and adoption of this Protocol. Instead, we must lead the way together in ending coercion in mental health practices, promoting good practices, and creating legal clarity for the implementation of human rights law.