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DRI’s work and media campaigns have exposed to the world the horrors these children face. The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, social media, ABC, NPR, NBC, news and documentaries – just to name a few - have continually covered DRI’s work, including DRI’s opinion and editorial pieces, resulting in uninterrupted pressure on those who have the power to assist in making change.

DRI submits amicus brief to Mexican Supreme Court in a landmark case for disability rights

 Mexico City, Mexico- July 16, 2013 - Disability Rights International (DRI) and partners in Mexico presented an amicus brief last week to the Mexican Supreme Court in the case of Ricardo Adair, a 24-year old Mexican youth with Asperger Syndrome. Ricardo has lived under the legal guardianship of his parents since 2007, when a judicial review decided he was unable to make decisions on his own.

DRI Ambassador Holly Valance Promotes Worldwide Campaign to End Institutionalization of Children

London - June 26, 2013 - Disability Rights International Ambassador and UK actress Holly Valance, along with her husband Nick Candy and Camilla and Celestine Clauson, also patrons of DRI, accompanied DRI on a recent trip to Eastern Europe to visit institutions and promote the

DRI Perspective, "Segregation and Abuse in Institutions," published in 2013 UNICEF Report

"The detention of children in institutions is a fundamental human rights violation. We can bring it to an end, on a worldwide scale, through a moratorium on new placements." -DRI Perspective in 2013 UNICEF State of the World's Children Report Click here to read DRI's contribution to UNICEF's report.

DRI’s Serbia affiliate releases human rights report: The Hidden and Forgotten

Washington, DC -- May 6, 2013 -- Last week, DRI's affiliate in Serbia, the Mental Disability Rights Initiative of Serbia (MDRI-S), released the English version of The Hidden and Forgotten, a human rights report exposing the abuses inside Serbia's institutions for children and adults with disabilities. Click here to read the report.

DRI Testimony: US Action Needed to Protect Disability Rights Worldwide

Washington, DC – April 23, 2013 - Today the US National Council on Disabilities (NCD) held a public hearing on US ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).  NCD invited Eric Rosenthal of Disability Rights International to testify about actions that NCD and the US Government can take to advance ratification and implementation of the CRPD. Read DRI's testimony here.

Disability Rights International continues to pressure Guatemalan government to end human rights abuses at notorious psychiatric facility

March 15, 2013 -Disability Rights International (DRI), partnering with the Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese of Guatemala City (ODHAG), visited the Federico Mora Hospital this week where we had documented life-threatening abuses against children and adults in the facility, including sexual and physical abuse. The Archbishop of Guatemala City, Oscar Julio Vian Morales visited Federico Mora at our invitation and spoke to the Guatemalan press, signaling his support for the community integration of people with disabilities.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture calls on Obama Administration to take action to end torture at Massachusetts school for children with disabilities

Washington, DC – March 5, 2013 - Juan Méndez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council yesterday in Geneva holding governments around the world accountable for violations of the UN Convention Against Torture. The report cited the United States, calling on the federal government to bring an end to the use of electric skin shocks and restraint at the Judge Rotenberg Center (JRC) in Canton, Massachusetts.

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights orders Guatemala to protect children and adults from abuses in psychiatric facility

Washington, DC - November 28, 2012 - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS) announced its ruling on an emergency "precautionary measures petition" filed by Disability Rights International (DRI) and the Office of Human Rights of the Archdiocese of Guatemala City (ODHAG) on behalf of more than 300 children and adults at Federico Mora Hospital, Guatemala City's psychiatric facility, a dilapidated collection of buildings adjacent to a large penitentiary facility at the edge of the city.