This joint submission specifically draws attention to the issues relevant to people with disability in response to the call for comments on the draft General Comment of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) on Article 4 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).

Many people with disability experience deprivation of liberty in health, social care, forensic, educational and work contexts, and we are also represented, and in some cases over-represented, in other custodial contexts, including within prison systems.

Yet at present, the Draft General Comment, while referring to a range of circumstances relevant to people with disability, does not explicitly discuss the unique factors which underpin and shape the deprivation of liberty and treatment of people with disability.