Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

List of issues in relation to the initial report of Panama **

A.Purpose and general obligations (arts. 1-4)

1.Please provide updated information on the progress made in implementing the National Disability Policy, and on whether the National Strategic Plan that ended in 2014 has been replaced by another such plan and whether there are sufficient economic, material and human resources for the implementation of the National Strategic Plan 2015-2019.

2.Please explain the existing mechanisms for consulting the representative organizations of persons with disabilities, including those representing women and children with disabilities, on the adoption of policies, legislation and other issues affecting them. Also please explain how new Act No.15 of 2016 ensures that such consultations take place.

B.Specific rights (arts. 5-30)

Equality and non-discrimination (art. 5)

3.Please provide information on measures taken to prevent, combat, punish and provide redress for acts of discrimination on grounds of disability in practice and to recognize the structural, multiple and intersectional dimensions of discrimination and denial of reasonable accommodation as a form of discrimination on the basis of disability, in all spheres of activity.

Women with disabilities (art. 6)

4.Please elaborate on the inclusion of women with disabilities in policies for gender equality and on gender mainstreaming in legislation and policies on disability. Please also indicate the measures that have been taken to ensure the full development, advancement and empowerment of women with disabilities.

Children with disabilities (art. 7)

5.Please provide information on measures taken to protect children with disabilities from ill-treatment, abuse and exploitation, and to prevent the abandonment, neglect and institutionalization of children with disabilities.

Awareness-raising (art. 8)

6.Please describe the public awareness strategies adopted to regularly raise awareness in society about the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities and the measures taken to ensure that persons with disabilities and their representative organizations are involved in the design, conduct, monitoring and evaluation of awareness campaigns and strategies.

Accessibility (art. 9)

7.Please provide information on the implementation of national plans and measures to ensure the accessibility of facilities open to the public, transportation, information and communications, with time frames and penalties for non-compliance, in both urban and rural areas. Please also elaborate on the participation of representative organizations of persons with disabilities in that process.

Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies (art. 11)

8.Please provide information on the practical implementation of protocols and procedures for the management and reduction of disaster risk as it relates to persons with disabilities, in urban, rural and remote areas, and on the participation of representative organizations of persons with disabilities.

Equal recognition before the law (art. 12)

9.Please describe any legislative proposals that have been made to repeal legal provisions that impose restrictions on the legal capacity of persons with disabilities, such as articles 404 to 407 of the Family Code and article 45 of the Civil Code, and to establish support systems to ensure autonomy and respect for the will and preferences of the person in decision-making.

Access to justice (art. 13)

10.Please provide information on the effectiveness of the measures taken to provide procedural accommodations and full accessibility in order to ensure the effective participation of persons with disabilities in legal proceedings, in various capacities and at different stages of the proceedings, throughout the State party.

Liberty and security of the person (art. 14)

11.Please provide information on measures taken, including the provision of procedural and age-appropriate accommodations, to ensure that persons with disabilities benefit from procedural guarantees on an equal basis with others. In addition, please explain what mechanisms have been adopted to improve prison conditions, including through the provision of reasonable accommodation, for persons with disabilities who have been deprived of their liberty.

Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art. 15)

12.Please provide information on the steps taken in practice to ensure that no person with disabilities is subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including instances of involuntary or forced institutionalization, the use of physical, chemical or mechanical restraints, and involuntary or forced treatment.

Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (art. 16)

13.Please provide information on measures taken to ensure protection and access to justice for women, children and older persons with disabilities who experience abuse, physical or psychological ill-treatment, sexual violence or exploitation. Please include information on accessible temporary shelters, psychosocial recovery and rehabilitation programmes, and legal redress. Please also include information on records of such cases and the establishment or strengthening of an independent mechanism for monitoring the observance of this right.

Living independently and being included in the community (art. 19)

14.Please indicate what measures have been taken to provide community support services, including personal support, so that persons with disabilities may live independently in the place of their choosing.

Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information (art. 21)

15.Please give details of measures taken to ensure that public and private entities that provide information to the public do so in forms and formats that are accessible to all persons with disabilities and, especially, to ensure that such entities have sign-language interpreters.

Respect for home and the family (art. 23)

16.Please supply information on measures taken to ensure that persons with disabilities have effective access to information, education and services relating to sexual and reproductive health.

Education (art. 24)

17.Please elaborate on the measures taken to implement a plan, with time frames, indicators and the allocation and transfer of sufficient human and material resources, for the transition to inclusive, quality education for all persons with disabilities, particularly women and indigenous persons in rural and remote areas. Please indicate how inclusive education has been incorporated into the teacher training curriculum at all levels of education and at the national level. Please also explain what type of training is received by teachers at mainstream schools.

Health (art. 25)

18.Please provide information on the existence of legal guarantees and protocols regulating the free and informed consent of persons with disabilities with respect to medical treatment and surgical, psychiatric and invasive procedures, and ensuring that substitute decision-making is avoided in such situations.

19.Please elaborate on measures to ensure the accessibility of health care, including physical facilities, furnishings, equipment, and information and communications regarding the provision of health services, to persons with disabilities. Please also indicate what measures have been taken to provide training to health professionals, including those working in sexual and reproductive health care, in both urban and remote rural areas, on the rights and needs of persons with disabilities.

Work and employment (art. 27)

20.Please provide information on measures to ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided in the workplace with a view to promoting the employment of persons with disabilities, including the implementation of affirmative action measures, in both the public and private sectors, with sanctions for non-compliance. Please also describe the efforts made to protect their labour rights and ensure that they are hired and employed on an equal basis with others. Please indicate whether the State party has a plan to develop reliable statistics on the number of persons with disabilities who are unemployed, and provide information on measures to remove existing barriers to the employability of persons with disabilities in both the private and the public sectors.

Adequate standard of living and social protection (art. 28)

21.Please describe the measures taken to ensure access for persons with disabilities, including those who belong to indigenous peoples, migrants, those living in poverty and those living in rural areas, to social protection programmes, especially poverty reduction programmes and strategies. Please also indicate how these programmes cover additional disability-related expenses.

Participation in political and public life (art. 29)

22.Please provide information on measures taken to guarantee the right of all persons with disabilities to vote by secret ballot, on their own or assisted by a person of their choice, and with full respect for the free expression of their will, and the steps taken to ensure the full accessibility of voting procedures, environments, facilities and materials. Please indicate what measures are in place in the State party to eliminate restrictions on the participation of persons with disabilities, especially with regard to political parties.

Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport (art. 30)

23.Please describe the measures adopted to ensure that cultural, recreational, tourism and sporting facilities and services in the public and private sectors are accessible to persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities.

C.Specific obligations (arts. 31-33)

Statistics and data collection (art. 31)

24.Please supply updated information on the development of statistics and data collection systems based on the human rights approach to disability.

International cooperation (art. 32)

25.Please outline the measures taken to ensure that the rights of persons with disabilities, as enshrined in the Convention, have been mainstreamed in national plans for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. Please also indicate what steps have been taken to ensure that organizations of persons with disabilities play a significant part in these processes.

National implementation and monitoring (art. 33)

26.Please describe the steps taken to designate an independent mechanism to monitor implementation of the Convention and to ensure the participation of representative organizations of persons with disabilities in that mechanism.