Roadmap formed to protect rights of disabled

The Cyprus Confederation of Organisations of the Disabled (Kysoa) said on Tuesday that a roadmap for establishing fundamental rights for people with disabilities in Cyprus is being implemented.

The content of the roadmap was finalised after Kysoa wrote a letter to about 80 organisations and associations advocating for people with disabilities, asking for pointers and suggestions to submit to the government.

“Over the years, we received countless complaints from people with disabilities about the repeated violations of their rights,” Kysoa said on Tuesday.

The confederation added that the roadmap will act as the final reminder for the government to respect the rights of people with disabilities.

“Further violations, complaints, reports and petitions will be presented daily to the media to ensure that the rights of people with disabilities are respected.

“Moreover, we will also address the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and other EU institutions asking them to intervene and directly address our government, demanding an end to its refusal to implement the human rights of citizens with disabilities,” Kysoa said.

Furthermore, Kysoa said the state needs to urgently implement public policies of real social inclusion in the community, bringing as an example, the failure to pay social benefits to disabled people and their exclusion from decision-making processes directly concerning them.

“In the event that all proposed actions do not produce the expected results, we will be obliged to make widespread complaints to the United Nations Committee for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities about the continuing flagrant violations of their dignity,” Kysoa said.