Panel details

Panel organiser(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online
Number of paper presentations	4
Location	Bergen

Abstract

Article 11 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) provides an “explicit obligation for States to accord protection to persons with disabilities consistent with international law obligations” including those found within international criminal law.[1] This obligation has been recognized by UN Security Council resolution 2475 (2019), Sustainable Development Goal 16, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[2] Yet, serious violations of international law against persons with disabilities— including targeted killings, enforced disappearances, and use as human shields—in wars and other humanitarian crises are commonly overlooked by investigations and seldom addressed by tribunals and other justice mechanisms despite documentation and reporting.[3] The proposed panel will discuss and examine the contours of this impunity gap, including the lack of attention given to and awareness of violations of international law against persons with disabilities, the associated legal obligations, the realities from the field for persons with disabilities and investigators, and ways to ensure disability-inclusive accountability. Panelists will include a researcher from the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV), a representative from the International Disability Alliance (IDA), a representative from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), independent expert William Pons, and a representative from Global Rights Compliance (GRC).

[1] William I. Pons, et. al., Disability, Human Rights Violations, and Crimes Against Humanity, 116 American Journal of International Law, at 71 (2022).

[2] UNSC resolution 2475 (2019), UN Doc. S/RES/2475 (2019), para. 2; UN Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs, Goal 16, available at https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/envision2030-goal16.html; and Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UN Doc. A/76/146, paras. 92-94.

[3] See William I. Pons, et. al., Disability, Human Rights Violations, and Crimes Against Humanity, 116 American Journal of International Law, at 62-70 (2022); and William I. Pons, et. al., Addressing the Accountability Void: War Crimes Against Persons with Disabilities, 105 International Review of the Red Cross 922, at 465-483 (2023).

Paper presentations