Event | Global Perspectives on the Draft Additional Protocol to the Oviedo Convention | 14 Jun 2021

Mental Health Europe (MHE) is delighted to invite you to an online event about global perspectives on the draft additional protocol to the Oviedo Convention organised by MHE and Validity Foundation on 14 June from 14:30 -16:00 CEST.

Since 2014, the Council of Europe (regional organisation composed of 47European countries) and its Committee of Bioethics are working on a legally binding instrument to regulate involuntary treatment and placement in psychiatry – the so-called “draft additional protocol to the Oviedo Convention”. This initiative has been highly criticised by users and survivors of psychiatry, organisations of persons with disabilities, other civil society organisations, bodies within the Council of Europe and experts from the United Nations, including the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Despite the opposition, member states of the Council of Europe have continued to support the work on this draft protocol, ignoring their obligations under international law. A final draft has been approved and will be put for a vote in early June 2021 within the Committee of Bioethics, and could move into final adoption at the end of 2021 or 2022.

In light of the continued development of the draft additional protocol, Mental Health Europe and Validity Foundation are organising a side event during the 14^th Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the United Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Speakers will outline the draft additional protocol to the Oviedo Convention and its conflicts with the UNCRPD and other human rights instruments. Additionally, speakers will explain why the draft additional protocol is harmful to persons with disabilities, in particular persons with psychosocial disabilities. In addition, the event will provide global perspectives on the draft additional protocol and its implications beyond the Council of Europe.