Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

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

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

1.Please explain the measures taken to:

(a)Review and harmonize all legislation, policies and measures, including the removal of derogatory terminology such as “persons of unsound mind”, to adhere to the Convention and the human rights model of disability in line with the Committee’s general comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and non-discrimination;

(b)Legally define the term “reasonable accommodation” in line with the Convention and explain to what extent the concept is incorporated into policies and programmes.

2.Please provide information on the measures taken to promote and support the establishment of self-governed organizations of persons with disabilities, in particular organizations of women with disabilities, and ensure their effective participation in the design and monitoring of legislation, policies, programmes, regulations and other relevant measures.

B.Specific rights (arts. 5–30)

Equality and non-discrimination (art. 5)

3.Please provide information on:

(a)The steps taken to ensure that legislation, including the draft criminal code, adheres to the Convention, taking into account the Committee’s general comment No. 6, and that it provides equal and effective legal protection against all forms of discrimination on the basis of disability, including multiple and intersectional discrimination;

(b)The measures in place to explicitly recognize that the denial of reasonable accommodation constitutes disability-based discrimination;

(c)The accessible and effective complaints mechanisms that exist for persons with disabilities who are victims of discrimination and the sanctions provided for in law against perpetrators of disability-based discrimination.

Women with disabilities (art. 6)

4.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The measures in place to ensure that women and girls with disabilities and their representative organizations are meaningfully consulted in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of laws, policies and programmes relating to persons with disabilities, in line with the Committee’s general comment No. 7 (2018) on the participation of persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through their representative organizations in the implementation and monitoring of the Convention;

(b)How the rights of women and girls with disabilities are included in mainstream gender policies and programmes and those of gender are included in disability-specific policies and programmes.

Children with disabilities (art. 7)

5.Please provide information on:

(a)The specific comprehensive policies and strategies that are in place to ensure the protection of the rights of children with disabilities;

(b)The measures in place to raise awareness of the rights of children with disabilities among children with disabilities, their parents and other family members, and professionals working for and with children;

(c)The systems in place to enable children with disabilities to effectively participate in and express their opinion on matters that affect their daily lives.

Awareness-raising (art. 8)

6.Please explain the measures taken, which target the general public, persons with disabilities, the media, employers, health and education professionals and community leaders, among others, to combat, stigma, prejudice, harmful practices, deep-rooted cultural beliefs, negative attitudes, bullying, hate crimes and discriminatory language aimed at persons with disabilities, and the measures taken to overcome entrenched gender and disability stereotypes to promote the human rights model of disability. Please provide information on the measures taken to ensure the meaningful consultation and effective participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in awareness-raising campaigns.

Accessibility (art. 9)

7.Please explain the measures taken and the budget allocated to ensure the effective implementation and monitoring of the Accessibility Act No. 10/16 of 2016 and outline what sanctions are in place for breaches of the Act. Please provide additional information on the measures taken to promote the accessibility of public buildings, facilities, transportation and information and communications, including in Braille and Easy Read formats and in sign language, for persons with disabilities throughout the State party, particularly in rural areas.

Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies (art. 11)

8.Please provide information on:

(a)The efforts made by the State party to develop disability-inclusive laws, strategies and protocols for situations of risk, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters, including droughts, floods and epidemics, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030;

(b)The measures taken to ensure that persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, are meaningfully consulted and actively involved in such efforts;

(c)The measures taken to establish a targeted, sustainable humanitarian emergency framework to ensure the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others, and specifically in the context of the public health emergency resulting from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In particular, please inform the Committee about measures to provide persons with disabilities with accessible information concerning the scope of and prevention of the virus; to ensure continuous access to support and mainstream community services, including in-home care and personal assistance; to provide equal access to health care, including live-saving measures; and to ensure that disability benefits are guaranteed at all times.

Equal recognition before the law (art. 12)

9.Please explain the measures taken to:

(a)Conduct a review of the State party’s legislation, with a view to repealing any law that deprives persons with disabilities, including persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, of their legal capacity;

(b)Establish supported decision-making regimes for persons with disabilities to replace guardianship and other systems of substituted decision-making.

Access to justice (art. 13)

10.Please describe the measures taken to:

(a)Provide procedural accommodation in judicial and administrative proceedings for persons with disabilities, including persons with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities and persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind, to facilitate their access to the justice system, including physical access to the courts and law enforcement buildings, accessibility of information and communications, and the provision of free legal aid;

(b)Provide systematic training to judges, legal professionals, court officers and prison officers on the provisions of the Convention, including the obligation to provide procedural and age-appropriate accommodation.

Liberty and security of the person (art. 14)

11.Please inform the Committee about the measures taken to review and repeal laws and practices that allow for the deprivation of liberty on the basis of actual or perceived impairment, in particular for persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities.

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

12.Please provide information on the measures taken to:

(a)Review and repeal laws, regulations and practices that allow non-consensual medical interventions, including the use of seclusion, physical, chemical and mechanical restraints, and on the measures taken to end and fully prohibit such practices;

(b)Prohibit and investigate cases of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the remedies available to victims.

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

13.Please explain the legal and other measures adopted to:

(a)Provide persons with disabilities with the appropriate channels to report instances of exploitation, violence, abuse and neglect in any setting;

(b)Provide the necessary protection and support services, such as accessible temporary shelters, psychological support and legal aid, to persons with disabilities who are survivors of exploitation, violence or abuse, particularly women and girls with disabilities.

Protecting the integrity of the person (art. 17)

14.Please provide information on the measures taken to prohibit the forced sterilization of persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls with disabilities, and the remedies available to victims.

Liberty of movement and nationality (art. 18)

15.Please provide updated information on the measures taken to:

(a)Ensure that refugees with disabilities can obtain official identification documentation, so as to facilitate their exercise of the right to liberty of movement;

(b)Strengthen the birth registration system to ensure the registration of children with disabilities immediately after they are born, including in rural areas;

(c)Ensure that all persons with disabilities, including those affected by leprosy, have a civil registration document.

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

16.Please provide information on the efforts made by the State party to implement and monitor the right of persons with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community. In particular, please describe the support that is available in the community for them to decide where, how and with whom they want to live. Please indicate whether there are budgetary allocations in place for support services, including assistive devices, technology and personal assistance for persons with disabilities.

Personal mobility (art. 20)

17.Please provide information on the assessment criteria used to determine the eligibility of persons with disabilities to receive the assistive devices provided by the State. Please also indicate whether the provision of the assistive devices is extended to rural areas and whether they are affordable and available locally.

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

18.Please provide information on the measures taken to:

(a)Facilitate access to public information in all formats, including sign language, captioning, Braille, Easy Read, plain language and other augmentative and alternative means and modes of communication;

(b)Ensure that the information provided to the public by the mass media, private media and the Internet is made equally available to persons with disabilities in accessible means, modes and formats;

(c)Officially recognize Angolan sign language in the law and increase the number of qualified sign language interpreters.

Respect for privacy (art. 22)

19.Please provide information on the measures taken to enforce the constitutional provisions mentioned in the State party report (CRPD/C/AGO/1, para. 111) to respect the right to privacy of persons with disabilities, including by raising awareness among family members and caregivers, sanctioning any violations and providing remedies.

Respect for home and the family (art. 23)

20.Please explain the measures taken to:

(a)Promote the rights of persons with disabilities to family, parenthood and relationships, including by raising awareness of this right among the judiciary, child protection services and in the general community;

(b)Provide support to children with disabilities and their families, as well as to parents with disabilities to support them in the fulfilment of their parental responsibilities;

(c)Ensure that children with disabilities, including children affected by leprosy, are not living on the street as a result of being excluded from the family.

Education (art. 24)

21.Please provide information on:

(a)The measures taken, including strategies or action plans, to transition from segregated education to an inclusive education system, to ensure the right to inclusive education for persons with disabilities, without discrimination, including the provision of individualized support to students with disabilities in mainstream schools;

(b)The budget allocated, as a proportion of the total education budget, for the training of teaching staff, support staff and non-teaching staff on the core competencies and values required for working in inclusive education.

Health (art. 25)

22.Please explain the measures taken to:

(a)Ensure in law and in practice the right to free and informed consent of persons with disabilities, including women and girls with disabilities and persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities, in relation to medical treatment or interventions;

(b)Provide systematic training to health personnel and traditional health attendants on the rights of persons with disabilities in accessing health care and services, including women and girls with disabilities, with the involvement of representative organizations of persons with disabilities;

(c)Ensure access to the health-care infrastructure, services and public health education for persons with disabilities, in particular community-based health services, including HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health services, in urban and remote rural areas.

Habilitation and rehabilitation (art. 26)

23.Please indicate whether habilitation and rehabilitation services are available to all persons with disabilities, irrespective of the cause of the impairment and whether the beneficiaries are military veterans or not.

Work and employment (art. 27)

24.Please provide information on:

(a)The employment rate of persons with disabilities, in both the public and private sectors in the open and sheltered labour markets, disaggregated by disability, sex and age;

(b)The measures taken to increase the employment rate among persons with disabilities in the open labour market, such as incentives for employers who employ persons with disabilities, and programmes in place for training employers on the rights of persons with disabilities and on the provision of reasonable accommodation;

(c)Whether disability-based discrimination in employment, including the denial of reasonable accommodation, is prohibited under the law, the sanctions provided for in the law for employers who do not comply with the relevant legislation and the remedies available to victims of such discrimination.

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

25.Please provide information on:

(a)The measures taken to safeguard an adequate standard of living and social protection for persons with disabilities, in particular children with disabilities, women with disabilities, older persons with disabilities and persons with disabilities in rural areas;

(b)Any plans to establish disability support schemes or a disability fund to improve the standard of living of persons with disabilities, especially those who live at risk of poverty or below the poverty line, including measures to provide them with disability allowances to enable them to meet the extra cost of disability-related expenses.

Participation in political and public life (art. 29)

26.Please provide information on the measures taken to:

(a)Repeal article 9 of Organic Act No. 36/11 and ensure the right to vote to all persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others, in particular persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities;

(b)Ensure that the electoral processes and information related to elections is fully accessible to all persons with disabilities;

(c)Promote the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities, particularly women with disabilities, in political and public life, and ensure they can exercise their right and opportunity to stand for election, be elected and effectively hold office and perform public functions at all levels of government, on an equal basis with others.

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

27.Please explain the measures taken to:

(a)Increase the availability of accessible spaces of culture, sport, recreation and leisure for persons with disabilities, both in rural and urban areas;

(b)Ratify the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled.

C.Specific obligations (arts. 31–33)

Statistics and data collection (art. 31)

28.Please indicate the measures taken to improve the collection, analysis and dissemination of disaggregated qualitative and quantitative data on persons with disabilities. Please indicate the steps taken to develop data-collection tools in this regard, using the Washington Group Short Set of Questions on Disability and its related methodology.

International cooperation (art. 32)

29.Please indicate the measures taken to ensure that persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, are:

(a)Effectively consulted and included when engaging with international development partners to mainstream disability in the planning, implementation and evaluation of development and poverty-reduction programmes;

(b)Meaningfully consulted and involved in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

National implementation and monitoring (art. 33)

30.Please provide information on:

(a)The mandate, activities, and designation of members of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD/C/AGO/1, para. 159) and the human, technical and financial resources allocated to it in order to carry out its mandate;

(b)The measures taken to ensure that there is a designated independent monitoring mechanism that is in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles);

(c)The measures taken to ensure the meaningful involvement of representative organizations of persons with disabilities in the monitoring of the enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities under the Convention.