A/63/175 informed consent. Inside these institutions, persons with disabilities are frequently subjected to unspeakable indignities, neglect, severe forms of restraint and seclusion, as well as physical, mental and sexual violence. 3 The lack of reasonable accommodation in detention facilities may increase the risk of exposure to neglect, violence, abuse, torture and ill-treatment. 39. In the private sphere, persons with disabilities are especially vulnerable to violence and abuse, including sexual abuse, inside the home, at the hands of family members, caregivers, health professionals and members of the community. 4 40. Persons with disabilities are exposed to medical experimentation and intrusive and irreversible medical treatments without their consent (e.g. sterilization, abortion and interventions aiming to correct or alleviate a disability, such as electroshock treatment and mind-altering drugs including neuroleptics). 41. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that in many cases such practices, when perpetrated against persons with disabilities, remain invisible or are being justified, and are not recognized as torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The recent entry into force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol provides a timely opportunity to review the anti-torture framework in relation to persons with disabilities. A. Legal framework for the protection of persons with disabilities against torture 42. The absolute prohibition of torture contained in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is reaffirmed in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. According to article 15 of the that Convention, persons with disabilities have the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment and, in particular, to scientific or medical experimentation. Article 15, paragraph 2, contains the obligation for States parties to __________________ 3 4 08-44075 See e.g. Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) reports on Argentina (2007), Serbia (2007), Turkey (2005), Peru (2004), Uruguay (2004), Kosovo (2002), Mexico (2000), the Russian Federation (1999) and Hungary (1997), available at www.mdri.org; International Disability Rights Monitor regional report of Asia (2005), available at: www.ideanet.org; Mental Disability Advocacy Centre report on cage beds in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia (2003) available at www.mdac.info; Amnesty International reports on Bulgaria (2002) and Romania (2005), available at: www.amnesty.org; and Human Rights Watch, Ill-Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness (2003) available at: www.hrw.org. See also, Committee on the Rights of the Child, concluding observations on the initial report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (CRC/C/15/Add.153, para. 50), on the initial report of Serbia (CRC/C/SRB/CO/1, paras. 35 and 36) and on the third periodic report of Colombia, (CRC/C/COL/CO/3, para. 50); Human Rights Committee, concluding observations on the initial report of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CCPR/C/BIH/CO/1, para. 19); Committee against Torture, concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of the Russian Federation (CAT/C/RUS/CO/4, para. 18) and on the third periodic report of Bulgaria (CAT/C/CR/32/6, paras. 5 (e) and 6 (e)). See State of Disabled People’s Rights in Kenya, Disability Rights Promotion International 2007, B. Waxman Fiduccia and L. R. Wolfe, Women and Girls with Disabilities: Defining the Issues, Centre for Women Policy Studies, 1999. 9