DRI Op-Ed published in Chicago Tribune: Now is the time for international aid to protect Ukraine’s most vulnerable

May 8, 2014 – Washington, DC – This morning, the Chicago Tribune published an Op-Ed by Disability Rights International (DRI) Executive Director Eric Rosenthal calling for urgent international action to protect the 85,000 children detained in Ukraine’s orphanages. Instead of funding the orphanages that segregate children from society, DRI is urging the United States and other international donors to support programs to help families who wish to keep their children out of institutions.

Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommends a ban on shock devices used on children with disabilities at the Judge Rotenberg Center

April 25, 2014 – Washington, DC - Following testimony yesterday by Disability Rights International (DRI) and several other advocacy organizations, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel on neurological devices has recommended a federal ban on electrical shock devices used to punish and control the behavior of children with disabilities– a practice condemned by the United Nations to be torture under international law.

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.

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.