In a historic decision, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities released its official inquiry report on Mexico, finding "grave and systemic" human rights violations against children and adults with disabilities confined in institutions.

Based on a petition by Disability Rights International (DRI), this investigation exposes the reality behind closed doors in psychiatric hospitals, orphanages, shelters, and "anexos" (addiction rehabilitation centers) across Mexico. 

Watch as Priscila Rodríguez, Director, DRI Women’s Health and Justice Initiative, describes DRI's groundbreaking legal victory against Guatemala in the case of Federico Mora Patients v. Guatemala and the legal precedent this can set to protect people with disabilities throughout the Americas. 

For captions in Spanish: watch here.

Watch as Priscila Rodríguez, Director, DRI Women’s Health and Justice Initiative, describes DRI's groundbreaking legal victory against Guatemala in the case of Federico Mora Patients v. Guatemala and the legal precedent this can set to protect people with disabilities throughout the Americas. 

For captions in English: watch here.

Disability Rights International (DRI) & United States International Council on Disabilities (USICD) cohosted this 2 part UN COSP side-event exploring international implications of recent developments in the United States and around the world.

Standing Up for Disability Inclusion & International Engagement in a Time of Adversity: A Global Response from the US Disability Community 

Eric Rosenthal, Founder & Executive Director of Disability Rights International (DRI), discussed DRI findings on exploitation and trafficking from institutions, joined by UN Special Rapporteur on Disability and international activists. 

Disability Rights International (DRI) hosted this UN COSP virtual side-event exploring the challenges that indigenous people with disabilities are facing in communities in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and the United States.

In late April 2022, Disability Rights International (DRI) brought a team of people with disabilities and family activists, including medical and disability service experts, to visit Ukraine’s institutions for children with disabilities. 

This is a video produced by DRI on the investigation. 

Video for DRI PSA Senate Bill for the International Children with Disabilities Protection Act

Disability Rights International is a human rights organization dedicated to protecting the human rights and promoting the full community integration of persons with disabilities worldwide.

This bill represents everything we’ve been working on for over two decades. All children — especially children with disabilities — need our support to live and grow up in a loving family. And they need protection against being placed in orphanages or other institutions.

—   Laurie Ahern, President, Disability Rights International