Text published on Canal Down21 regarding the approval of the Convention in Argentina http://http://www.down21.%20org/latinoameric%20a/argentina/%201editorial.%20htm%20EDITORIAL
On May 23, 2008, by the Law 26.378, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the nation, meeting in the National Congress, have ratified the legislation of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol approved before the Assembly of the United Nations at the end of the year 2006. This is an extraordinary piece of news, although it has not been given any attention by the mass media since it appears that these media outlets are only interested in the conflicts between the government and the rural sectors which have been making alarming us lately.
This good news implies that within the existing legal framework of our nation, the concepts of the International Convention will be given power above and beyond that of the Constitution. In other words, its power will be abocve that of any current law in any of the three levels: National, State, or City. Also, because this was a convention on human rights, it has been interpreted to be more powerful than the Constitution due to the complementary articles 31 y 75 inc. 22 y 24 of the Constitution. And there’s more. Having ratified the Optional Protocol as well, citizens are legally given the opportunity to denounce the state (in each of its three levels) for failure to comply with the rights granted in the Convention.
What does this all mean? Have we solved all of the problems affecting persons with disabilities? Will they be solved immediately? No. The answer, unfortunately, is no. There will be no immediate solutions, nor will there be changes in the reality of the daily live of our families. The silence which has existed facing this far-reaching political and institutional fact demonstrates that disability remains off our agendas; our personal agendas as well as our political agendas (of various governments). However there has been a change, and for the better, in the level of legal leverage and morals which we now have on hand to fight for our rights and the rights of our children. The applicability of the Convention, directly operating as it intends to, implies that legal loopholes have been filled in. It implies that we now have a solid foundation on which to fight for our rights and for the concrete actions which we need to take place. In addition to changing the law, we now need to change the concrete applications of the law by its administrators in order for us to overcome the remaining barriers.
What work lies ahead? A lot. We must familiarize ourselves and profoundly meditate upon the meaning of the Convention for all of us. We must remember that along with each right granted, comes a new responsibility. We must promote the content, range, and applicability of the Convention. We must demand that its promises are honored in all cases, even when this implies an effort and committment on our part.
This is the beginning of the road. It will be worth the journey.
The complete text for Argentina can be seen at http://www1. hcdn.gov. ar/dependencias/ dsecretaria/ Periodo2008/ PDF2008/SANCIONE S/0134-S- 2007d.
Originally published on http://wwwderechospcd.blogspot.com/ by Eduardo García
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