Uganda’s Disability Rights Advocate for Mental Health Hon

(New York) – Benon Kabale, a Ugandan disability rights advocate, is the 2024 recipient of the Human Rights Watch Marca Bristo Fellowship for Outstanding Leadership in Disability Rights, Human Rights Watch announced today on International Human Rights Day those with Disabilities.

For years, Kabale has been fighting for the rights and dignity of people with mental disabilities (mental health conditions). As a veteran, Kabale has been seeking justice after being arrested and detained in a mental health hospital. In 2018, he founded and currently serves as the executive director of the Mental Health Recovery Initiative, which aims to raise awareness of the human rights of mental health and promote respect and protection of the autonomy of people with disabilities of the mind.

“Benon Kabale has shown incredible perseverance in promoting mental health rights, guided by his own experiences of having his rights violated in mental health settings,” said Elizabeth Kamundia, director of disability rights. to Human Rights Watch. “His unique fight for justice offers a ray of hope for people with disabilities, a group that is still largely marginalized in Uganda and around the world.”

In 2015, Kabale, together with the Center for Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) with the support of the Validity Foundation and Mental Health Uganda, accused the government of detaining and keeping people with mental disabilities in wards aside from mental health facilities. They urged the court to declare this treatment a violation of basic human rights guaranteed by the Ugandan constitution. The case is still on appeal, and as of June 2023, the Center for Food and Adequate Health Rights (CEFROHT) has taken over representation.

The trial followed Kabale’s detention at Butabika Hospital, Uganda’s national mental health hospital, first in 2005 and again in 2010. The first time, hospital staff threw him to the ground, stabbed with something, and they stripped him. He woke up naked, in a closed, dark, cold and soundless room with no air, beds or toilets. He was kept there in complete isolation for more than 24 hours.

In 2018, the high court ruled against Kabale, stating that self-isolation did not violate his rights. Disappointingly, the judge rejected his testimony, saying “it is unbelievable that he could have remembered everything he went through” because Kabale admitted that he had mental problems. The judge thus confirmed the often held but mistaken belief that people with intellectual disabilities cannot be reliable or competent witnesses.

“I consider this meeting as a step towards the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Uganda in 2008, especially in the field of mental health,” Kabale said. “Based on my experience, I strive to be the voice of people with mental and intellectual disabilities around the world.”

Kabale was selected from a panel of nominees cited by Human Rights Watch staff for their leadership on disability rights. As part of his fellowship, Kabale will receive research, advocacy, communications, and fundraising training from Human Rights Watch colleagues. The conference continues to provide opportunities to strengthen his network with other organizations and advocates, especially those focused on the human rights of mental health.

Human Rights Watch has established a fellowship in honor of disability rights icon Marca Bristo, founder of Access Living and former chair of Human Rights Watch’s disability rights advisory committee. Bristo was a leading advocate for the passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and helped create the disability rights policy of Human Rights Watch. He encouraged Human Rights Watch to actively involve people with disabilities in its work and to invest in the development of emerging disability rights activists.

The colleagues of Marca Bristo have continued to promote the rights of the disabled with additional skills to carry out their work effectively. For example, in 2023/2024 the employee Mariana Lozano informed the countries participating in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) about the rights of young people with mental disabilities, especially their rights of education that includes work.

In March, 2022/2023 activist Benafsha Yaqoobi received the International Women of Courage Award from the US Department of State for her remarkable success in advocating for the rights of women with disabilities in Afghanistan. Hauwa Ojeifo, Marca Bristo’s 2020 lover and founder of She Writes Woman, a mental health charity in Nigeria, has received funding from Melinda French Gates to promote women’s health and well-being according to her accomplished.

“This fellowship has supported a growing number of leaders with disabilities, and Benon Kabale embodies the passion and drive needed to advance disability rights and improve mental health care around the world,” said the president and CEO. Access Living’s Karen Tamley. “As a human rights activist, Benon’s extensive work in Uganda demonstrates his unwavering commitment to justice. We look forward to seeing the significant impact his work will have this year and in the years to come.” .”