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80 nations sign U.N. pact to protect rights of disabled

Convention prohibits discrimination

UNITED NATIONS: Eighty countries have signed the United Nations convention enshrining the rights of the world's 650 million disabled in what the U.N. human rights chief called an unprecedented show of support to empower the physically and mentally impaired.

The U.N. held a ceremony on Friday, the first day the convention opened, for signatures. Not only did 80 countries and a representative of the European Union sign it but Jamaica announced that it had also ratified the convention. That means only 19 more ratifications are needed before the convention comes into force, and speaker after speaker urged speedy approval.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour announced the huge level of support at a news conference afterward.

``It's certainly unprecedented in terms of support for a human rights instrument, but it's apparently setting records for the signature of any convention in the United Nations,'' she said.

The convention is a blueprint to end discrimination and exclusion of the physically and mentally disabled in education, jobs, and everyday life. It requires countries to guarantee freedom from exploitation and abuse for the disabled, while protecting rights they already have — such as voting rights for the visually handicapped and wheelchair-accessible buildings. The convention guarantees that the disabled have the inherent right to life on an equal basis with the able-bodied and requires countries to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability and guarantee equal legal protection. Countries must also ensure the equal right of the disabled to own and inherit property, to control their financial affairs, and to privacy over their personal lives.

According to the latest U.N. figures, about 10 percent of the world's population, or 650 million people, live with a disability.

AP

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