Description
Around 30,000 children and adults with mental health problems are in residential centers and psychiatry hospitals in Romania, thus falling under the international legal definition of „deprived of liberty”. Civil society has raised serious concerns as to the inhumane treatment to which some of these persons are being submitted in some of the centers. The Romanian state has failed to implement a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) to cover such institutions, while civil society, with the exception of the Applicant, does not undertake monitoring visits. The possibility of the patients themselves to complain is almost non-existent, also due to legal gaps. The project “The death camps next to you” aims to develop an NPM, support its adoption with the Partner also by sensitizing the large public through a comprehensive media and new media campaign with the support of trained new media journalists, and pilot the NPM implementation through 15 unannounced monitoring visits in such institutions. The visits would be made by 9 members of the specialized civil society but also the target group (former users of mental health services) trained within the project.
Summary of project results
Around 30,000 children and adults with mental health problems are in residential centres and psychiatry hospitals in Romania, thus falling under the international legal definition of „deprived of liberty”. Civil society has raised serious concerns as to the inhumane treatment to which some of these persons are being subjected. The Romanian state has failed to implement a National Preventive Mechanism to cover such institutions, while civil society does not undertake monitoring visits. In order to promote the law proposal for the establishment of the National Monitoring Mechanism (MNM), within the financed project there were organized street actions and exhibitions under the title „Death Camps Next To You” in various cities in the country. During the street campaign, with an estimated number of 30,000 visitors, an overall number of 3,000 postcards addressed to the political authorities were signed. 10,879 signatures on an the online petition were gathered. Those documents were formally presented in the Senate Plenary Session in December, 2015 when the final vote for the law proposal was scheduled. Lobby and advocacy activities have been implemented in order to support the law project through debates that took place in Bucharest. Throughout those activities, senators, leaders of Parliament’s Groups of Interests, Members of the new established Government were contacted. Those efforts for promoting and sustaining the law initiative were crowned in December 8, 2015, when the law project was unanimously voted in the Joint session of the Senate’s Specialised Commissions and, later, on December 21, 2015, at the Senate Plenary Session, when the Law regarding the establishment of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Mechanism in Romania (Law 8/2016) was adopted. The adoption of Law 8/2016 is only the beginning of a long chain of changes aiming to improve the life conditions of the persons with mental disabilities, in order for them to have a dignified and independent life. In addition to the advocacy and awareness activities, other activities were carried out: observing and monitoring the way in which the rights of the institutionalised persons with disabilities are respected and counselling and legal support activities.
Summary of bilateral results