Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Report: Croatia institutionalizes disabled

|
|
 
  
Published: May 3, 2010 at 12:38 PM

NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- At least 7,000 mentally disabled Croatians remain in institutions despite the nation's commitment to a treaty on disability rights, a human rights group said.

Croatia was one of 85 countries to sign the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities two years ago, Amanda McRae, a Human Rights Watch spokeswoman, said in a release Monday.

The treaty stresses the rights of people with disabilities to live in their communities rather than in institutions.

Other countries across Europe are moving toward community-based care and support while the number of mentally disabled people in institutions in Croatia is growing, McRae said.

"The trend in Croatia on institutionalization is in the wrong direction," she said. "Croatia needs to step up its efforts as a matter of urgency."

Under the treaty, Croatia is required to report to the United Nations this month about its progress in implementing the treaty.

© 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Father's Day: Celebrity dads The 2012 Miss USA competition Faces of the 2012 French Open
2012 MTV Movie Awards Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee Notable deaths of 2012
Additional U.S. News Stories
1 of 20
Lil Niqo arrives at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, California
View Caption
Rapper Lil Niqo arrives at the MTV Movie Awards at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California on June 3, 2012. UPI/Jim Ruymen
fark
Some of the world's weirdest ice cream flavors. Come for the octopus and stay for the pink peppercorn...
Nearly half of Americans believe in Creationism, sex in the Champagne Room
Armed robbers break into video store and leave emptyhanded, proving once again that there just isn't...
Finally, a fantasy league for the entertainment tab that doesn't involve Christina Hendricks mudwrestling...
Google Earth is great for mapping out trips, finding a nearby Starbucks, and, oh yeah, disovering...
What proper name would you bestow upon the Fark squirrel?