Document Type

Article

Journal Title

Hague Yearbook of International Law

Volume

27

First Page

27

Publication Date

2014

Abstract

This article examines the potential of international human rights standards to account for heightened risk and vulnerability to human rights abuses for persons with disabilities in politically repressive environments. We offer a preliminary assessment of whether and how a disability-cognizant accounting of human rights in repressive regimes can lead to a more credible and comprehensive understanding of disability in such contexts. In so doing, we make the case for a more thorough and thoughtful application of international disability rights standards to better inform human rights investigations, transitional justice approaches, and international criminal law proceedings. To illustrate this methodology, we analyze health and human rights disparities for North Koreans with disabilities by framing health disparity within a socio-contextual and rights-based understanding of disability. Specifically, we consider the social determinants of health in health outcomes for persons with disabilities using the human rights frame offered by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Using North Korea as a case study, we argue that assessing the social determinants of health and the disabling impact of social, physical, and other exogenous factors is likely to yield insights on health disparity in repressive (and other) environments.

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