The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, will be in Mountjoy prison tomorrow to draw attention to the plight of the disabled in enclosed environments.
The commissioner will present a report calling for a radical new approach to the representation of disabled people.
The document, Advocacy - A Rights Issue, is part of a campaign to raise awareness of human rights advocacy and its importance to disabled people in enclosed environments, such as hospitals, residential care and prisons.
It has been drawn up by the Forum of People with Disabilities and calls on the Government to provide legislation for representation of disabled people in the Disabilities Bill, which has been promised for publication before Christmas.
Ms Edwina Hogan of the forum said the report was essentially about disabled people who could not look after themselves, but who had rights and who wanted a voice.
Disabled people who lived in these environments were often told where to live and had no say in their education or living conditions, she said.
