photo: PAP/Jacek Turczyk
The document, which was originally signed by Poland in the wake of the December 2007 UN General Assembly, establishes a series of standards concerning the effective protection of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights, as well as basic freedoms of people with disabilities.
“I think that this is a great victory and success, above all for disabled people,” Komorowski said, reflecting that in general, Polish society is becoming more attuned to the problems faced by the disabled.
The convention, which is the first international charter of its kind devoted solely to people with disabilities, contains provisions prohibiting discrimination, and draws attention to the need for the disabled to participate in decision-making.
Some 120 states have now ratified the charter, while 153 states have signed, but not yet ratified the convention, the latter group including the United States of America, the Russian Federation, Israel and the Netherlands.
Politician offends the disabled
Meanwhile, in spite of Poland currently performing more successfully in the Paralympics than in last month's Olympics, a former presidential candidate has offended disabled people with regard to the games.
Janusz Korwin-Mikke, whose Party of the New Right (KNP) won a modest 1 percent in the 2011 general election, disparaged the games, saying that they “do not have much to do with sport.”
Writing for the Nowy Ekran portal, the politician argued that “you might as well organize a chess tournament for morons, or bridge tournaments for people with Down syndrome.
“If we want humanity to develop, we should be watching people on television who are healthy, beautiful, strong, fair, wise - and not perverts, murderers, weaklings, losers, the lousy, idiots and, unfortunately, the disabled,” he argued.
Korwin-Mikke, who dubs himself a conservative libertarian, is not an MP at present as his party failed to broach the five percent threshold needed to enter the lower house of parliament. (nh)