Paper details
| Paper authors | William I. Pons |
| In panel on | The Forgotten Affected Population: Recognizing and Accounting for Crimes against Persons with Disabilities |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
In 1946 the International Military Tribunals at Nuremberg indicted, prosecuted, and convicted four individuals for crimes against humanity for their roles in the systematic targeting and killing of persons with disabilities as part of the Nazi Aktion T4 program. While using the nomenclature of the time, there is no mistaking the significance of the judicial recognition that the targeting of persons with disabilities on the basis of their disability qualifies as a crime against humanity. This recognition – that disability-based crimes can and do rise to the level of serious violations of international law – was subsequently forgotten.
Recently, a shift has occurred within the international community towards the recognition of disability-based crimes as potentially serious violations of international law and the acknowledgment of an obligation on States to provide accountability for those crimes. The obligation is enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in article 11, and the shift has been codified within UN Security Council resolution 2475, which reaffirms this obligation to seek accountability for criminal acts targeting persons with disabilities and to provide access to justice and effective remedy.
While there is emerging literature exploring how disability-based crimes can and should be recognized within the current legal mechanisms and frameworks, there has not yet been a direct examination of the jurisprudential history and legal evolution on the topic. This paper seeks to remedy this by providing the foundational assessment and context of the judicial history of serious violations against persons with disabilities starting with Nuremberg and tracking the evolution of its recognition and prosecution to modern day.
