OHCHR has a mandate to ensure the inclusion of the rights of persons with disabilities in the United Nations system by raising awareness, understanding and recognition of disability as a human rights issue and developing guidance on the rights of persons with disabilities and mainstreaming their rights across the UN system. This note aims to provide guidance to victims and civil society organisations on the use of the individual communication procedure before the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), when alleging a State party’s violation of a right under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). It is also meant to help other actors supporting and working on the rights of persons with disabilities.

It addresses both aspects when submitting a complaint. First, it looks at the issue of admissibility by explaining the most significant conditions to be met to file a communication. Second, it briefly deals with the merits, by focusing on the right to be free from torture, given the pattern of such violations throughout the conflict in Syria as an example of a ground on which to file a claim.

Source: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights