The revised version of

A Handbook on the Human Rights of Persons With Disabilities: Understanding the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

is now online.

The NYTimes reports that India is discussing the constitutional recognition of the right to food. While obviously part of a political debate, which also eyes likely effects in upcoming elections, the essential question is: should there be a right, an entitlement to have access to basic food stuffs?

On July 28 2010 the United Nations’ General Assembly declared access to clean water a human right. So far, access to water has been interpreted as part of the right to food as enshrined in Article 11 of the Covenant on Economic & Social Rights, which states inter alia:

The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.

The Committee charged with monitoring the implementation of the Covenant and its interpretation, in 2002 explained in great detail why water is an essential part of food, declaring:

The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.

The move by the General Assembly adds to this the weight of a resolution, recognizing the importance of access to clean water on a human rights based approach.

The BBC relays a study reported by the British Medical Journal suggesting that health related inequality is currently greater than it was during the Great Depression in the 1920ies.

The Age reports for the Australian State of Victoria what is already common knowledge among torture prevention experts and others working on human rights issues in police and related work: lack of resources, particularly understaffing can cause human rights violations. Compare, e.g. the Standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT).

Based on a 5.000 page, 10 volume report of 12 years, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron apologized for the “unjustified and unjustifiable” killings of 14 civil rights activists on Bloody Sunday, reports the Guardian.

Big report in the NYTimes on universal coverage of health care “in dirt-poor country,” Rwanda.

Jennifer Bartlett in a NYTimes Online column, ”Assumptions” for city room blog describes her experience venturing through New York with cerebral palsy.

Micah Kellner, a NY assembly man, responded with the following letter:

Ordinary New Yorkers expect to be treated according to a simple standard of common courtesy and respect, and those of us with disabilities are no different. Yet too often we are confronted by strangers who make bizarrely inappropriate comments or offer unnecessary and unasked-for expressions of sympathy. There is a double standard here — as if we are not entitled to the same basic consideration taken for granted by others in their daily interactions.

Kellner stresses the importance of overcoming social barriers: “equality begins with respect for people’s differences, and with overcoming deep-seated preconceptions about people with disabilities.”

As part of its Demand Dignity Campaign, amnesty international, in its Report From Promises to Delivery demands that the fight against poverty - the spear head of the Millennium Development Campaign - be based on human rights.

The Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty, Magdalena Sepulveda in her Report to the Human Rights Council warns that the changing of societal patterns and family living arrangements means that older persons are at an increased risk of extreme poverty.

“Societies are abandoning traditional care practices,” the Special Rapporteur warns and calls on systemic measures such as realization of the right to social protection through universal pensions.

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