As EU opens door to Bulgaria, disabled people continue to be shut in institutions, victim seeks justice at European Court

4 October 2006, Budapest (Hungary), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Strasbourg (France). Continuing to bring the rights of people with disabilities to the agenda of Bulgarian and international community, today the Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC) and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) send another case to the European Court of Human Rights. The groups represent Mr. K, a man who was needlessly detained in a Bulgarian psychiatric hospital and drugged with psychiatric medication against his will, despite five psychiatrists recommending outpatient treatment.

The complaint, filed today on behalf of Mr. K, alleges that Bulgaria violated Mr. K’s rights to personal liberty and private and family life. It also accuses Bulgaria of failing to provide a clear and effective legislative framework regulating the enforcement of mandatory treatment orders, and highlights the lack of effective judicial review of psychiatric detention.

‘Mr. K. case demonstrates the continuing flaws of the Bulgarian justice and mental health systems, which can so easily strip vulnerable persons of their human rights.’ said Aneta Mircheva, Bulgarian attorney representing Mr. K.

Executive Director of the Mental Disability Advocacy Center, Oliver Lewis, said: ‘Bulgaria and Romania are due to join the European Union in 2007, yet many children and adults with disabilities still spend their entire lives in institutions. Last week the European Commission confirmed that the Bulgarian authorities are not sufficiently reducing the numbers of people with disabilities in institutions. The EU must ensure that there is continued focus on human rights and continued momentum for reform when Bulgaria and Romania join the EU early next year. They must also ensure that funding goes to closing institutions and providing community services, not making institutions prettier.’

The facts of the case are that in 2004 Mr. K’s sister applied to a court to detain and force Mr. K to receive psychiatric medication in a hospital. In the court proceedings, a panel of five psychiatrists who examined Mr. K found him perfectly able to live in the community, and found no need to detain him in a hospital. The panel of experts even testified that treatment in the hospital may worsen Mr. K’s mental health. However, the Sofia District Court ordered Mr. K’s hospitalization, a decision later approved by the Sofia City Court. Neither court provided reasons for their decisions.

However, the court decisions to detain and forcibly treat Mr. K were not immediately enforced. He continued to live in the community and coped well with his mental health problems by engaging in outdoor sport activities. Suddenly, six months after the Sofia City Court’s decision, police officers entered his home, arrested him and took him to a psychiatric hospital. There was no court procedure available to Mr. K to review whether the detention was still necessary in his case.

Mr. K was detained in the hospital for three months, during which he was forced to receive psychiatric medication without his consent. He was placed in an overcrowded room and was denied any sort of non-medication therapy. His mental health deteriorated because of the lack of meaningful activities as well as lack of therapy and attention from the hospital staff. For Mr. K the denial of exercise, which had helped his mental health until his hospitalization, was particularly painful.

The application to the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights argued that Mr K. was a victim of Article 5 (right to liberty) and Article 8 (right to private and family life) and that he be awarded compensation.

(notes for editors)

This work in Bulgaria was made possible through a generous grant to MDAC from Doughty Street Chambers, London, UK.

The European Commission’s 26 September 2006 report on Bulgaria and Romania can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/key_documents/reports_sept_2006_en.htm

For more information, contact:
Jan Fiala, MDAC Legal Officer
Tel: +36 1 413 2730
Email: mdac@mdac.info

Aneta Mircheva, BHC Attorney, MDAC Legal Monitor in Bulgaria
Tel: +359 2 943 4876
Email: bhc@bghelsinki.org

The Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC) is an international non-governmental organization based in Budapest that promotes and protects the human rights of people with mental health problems and intellectual disabilities across central and eastern Europe and central Asia. MDAC works to improve the quality of life for people with mental disabilities through litigation, research and international advocacy. MDAC has participatory status at the Council of Europe and is a cooperating organization of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights.

The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee is an independent non-governmental organisation for the protection of human rights. The objectives of the committee are to promote respect for the human rights of every individual, to stimulate legislative reform to bring Bulgarian legislation in line with international human rights standards, to trigger public debate on human rights issues, to carry out advocacy for the protection of human rights, and to popularise and make widely available human rights instruments.