BBC EXPOSÉ SHOWS URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO END CAGE BED HORROR

12.00.00am GMT Tue 15th Jan 2008

A BBC Documentary to be shown this evening will uncover continued widespread use of cage beds in children's institutions in the Czech Republic.

Liberal Democrat MEP Liz Lynne, who is Vice President of the European Parliament's All Party Disability Intergroup and jointly led a campaign in 2004 that led to the Czech Government bringing forward its ban on cage beds commented:

"We have been calling upon the Czech government to eliminate this barbaric practice for some time. Despite assurances won during their accession to the European Union and a hard won ban on the use of cage beds in the Czech Republic, it is clear that continued abuse is widespread.

"This is a question of human rights - there is no justification for the use of cage beds which is an appalling practice and completely unjustifiable according to human rights law.

"The new UN Convention on the rights of disabled people clearly establishes that such cases of blatant human rights abuse against disabled people are not acceptable in the eyes of the international community. I hope that other EU countries and the European Institutions will now apply pressure on the Czech Republic and indeed any other countries where such abuse is uncovered.

"I have written to Czech colleagues in the European Parliament, in addition to the current Commissioner for Disability issues, the former Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, and hope real pressure is applied to see an urgent review of the implementation of the ban by the Czech authorities as well as commitment to the de-institutionalisation of all disabled people."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

A BBC documentary to be aired this evening on the ten o'clock news will uncover widespread, illegal, use of cage beds in the Czech Republic, a country which joined the European Union in 2004, giving assurances as it did so that the use of caged beds would be stopped.

Liz Lynne, has long campaigned against the use of cage beds and is patron of the Mental Disability Advocacy Centre (MDAC) as well as being the European Parliament's Draftsperson for the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People and the European Parliament's recent report on the EU"s Disability Action Plan 2006-2007.

In 2004, Liz jointly led a cross party campaign in the European Parliament to end the use of cage beds in the Czech Republic. For more information on this campaign please see:

http://www.lizlynne.libdems.org.uk/news/000286/harry_potter_joins_the_fight_to_end_czech_cage_bed_use.html

The Czech government has been aware of the international human rights concern about cage beds since a visit by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) in 2002.

The use of "cage beds" in the Czech Republic has been criticized by the European Parliament on numerous occasions, including by Gunther Verheugen, the then European Union Enlargement Commissioner.

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visited Opava Psychiatric Hospital and the Ostravice Social Welfare Home in April 2002. The CPT concluded that "net- and cage-beds are not an appropriate means of dealing with patients/residents in a state of agitation. The CPT recommended that "cage-beds be immediately withdrawn from service and that net-beds cease to be used as a tool for managing such persons as soon as possible", adding that "more suitable means than net-beds can also be found to ensure the safety of persons with impaired mobility or nocturnal disorders (e.g. disorientation/sleepwalking)." (Council of Europe document CPT/Inf (2004) 4)

The United Nations Human Rights Committee commented on cage beds for the first time in August 2003 during its examination of Slovakia, stating that "The use of cage beds should immediately cease." (UN document CCPR/CO/78/SVK)

The European Parliament, in its "Annual Report on Human Rights in the World in 2002", said that the EU Parliament "is particularly concerned about the continued use of cage beds […] in a number of eastern European countries." The report called on the countries concerned "to cease this degrading and inhuman practice without delay" (EU document 2002/2011(INI)).

The Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC) is an international non-governmental organization that promotes and protects the human rights of people with mental health problems and intellectual disabilities across central and eastern Europe and central Asia. MDAC works to improve the quality of life for people with mental disabilities through litigation, research and international advocacy. MDAC has participatory status at the Council of Europe and is a cooperating organization of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. MDAC, H-1241 Budapest, PO Box 263, Hungary. Tel: (+361) 413-2730, fax: (+361) 413-2739, email: mdac@mdac.info, web www.mdac.info