A/HRC/28/37 the Child.6 The right to live independently and to be included in the community has also been recognized in regional human rights documents, such as the European Social Charter (art. 15) and the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (art. 4, para. 2 (b)). 11. Several United Nations human rights treaty bodies and other mechanisms, including the special procedures of the Human Rights Council,7 have contributed in developing the various elements of the right of persons with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, for instance, considers this right from a non-discrimination perspective, while the Committee on the Rights of the Child stressed that disability should never be a reason for institutionalization of children.8 The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has consistently addressed this right in its dialogue with States parties, as well as in individual communications.9 III. Elements of article 19: choice, support and availability of community services and facilities 12. Article 19 reflects the diversity of cultural approaches discussed during the negotiations of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, where care was taken to ensure that the right covered under the article was not limited to the provision of services available in developed countries. States parties are given a range of options, with the provision that they respect the principles of control by persons with disabilities over their lives and non-segregation from the community.10 13. Living independently does not mean living alone or in isolation.11 Rather, it means exercising freedom of choice and control over decisions affecting one’s life with the same level of independence and interdependence within society on an equal basis with others. Consequently, article 19 refers to “living independently and being included in the community” as one right, where autonomy and inclusion are mutually reinforcing and jointly avoid segregation.12 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 For instance, articles 2, 9, 16, 20, 23, 25 and 27. For instance, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (see A/HRC/22/53), the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (see A/HRC/27/47) and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (see A/67/227). See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 5, and Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 7 (2006) on implementing child rights in early childhood, and general comment No. 9 (2007) on the rights of children with disabilities. See Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, communication No. 3/2011, H.M. v. Sweden, Views adopted on 19 April 2012. The Committee determined that the denial of a building permit for an indoor pool for the purpose of rehabilitation was a violation of article 19 (b) and would have the effect of forcing the complainant to enter an institution. See, for instance, Marianne Schulze, Understanding the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Handicap International, 2nd ed., 2009). See the contribution of International Disability Alliance. See, for instance, the daily summaries of discussion at the seventh session of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, 19 and 20 January, 2006. Available from www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc7sum19jan.htm and www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc7sum20jan.htm. See also the report of the third session of the Ad Hoc Committee, footnote 53, available from www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc3reporte.htm, and the daily summary of discussions related 5