Spoštovani predsednik Danilo Türk!

Po dolgem času se vam oglašam in vas pozivam, da že končno nekaj ukrenete glede spoštovanja človekovih pravic v Sloveniji, torej vaši domovini. Posebno sedaj, ko kandidirate za generalnega sekretarja ZN bi se lahko z nekaterimi gestami izkazali tudi v praksi; saj bil bi pravi čas. Npr. v stilu pokaži kaj znaš! 

Verjetno se spomnite s kolikimi dopisi sem vas zasuvala v upanju, da kot predsednik republike storite kaj pozitivnega in predvsem konkretnega glede spoštovanja sprejetih zavez s podpisom Konvencije ZN o pravicah invalidov[1] (MKPI), ki jo je Slovenija ratificirala že v letu 2008, kmalu potem, ko ste vi prevzeli vlogo predsednika republike. In potem je bilo vse popolnoma drugače, kajneda?

Letos mineva deseta obletnica sprejetja tega pomembnega mednarodnega dokumenta v ZN. Takrat je bilo v nas veliko upanje, da se bo s tem dokumentom pospešeno vse obračalo na bolje, saj smo dobili pravni instrument s katerim se bomo lahko odločno borili za doseganje enakih možnosti in človekovih pravic, dostojanstva hendikepiranih posameznikov, prepovedi diskriminacije na vseh področjih človekovega življenja ter nenazadnje segregacije v institucije. Pa je to upanje povsem zamrlo, ko so bila vsa naša dolgoletna prizadevanja, drug za drugim prevarana, izigrana in politično zlorabljena s strani vsakokratnih aktualnih politik. Ne samo, da stvari več ali manj stagnirajo in se Konvencija ZN ter njeni posamezni členi preprosto ignorirajo pri sprejemanju sprotne zakonodaje, se ne implementirajo v nacionalne politike posameznih resorjev, ampak se na neki ravni celo vse obrača na slabše. Dovolj zgleden primer je, da so osebno asistenco vtaknili v Zakon o dolgotrajni oskrbi, ki je namenjen starejšim, cel ta zakon celo prestavili iz sociale v domeno medicine in Ministrstva za zdravje. Že sama preambula MKPI jasno in odločno zavrača takšno paradigmo.

Še vedno se namreč varčuje pri in na revnih, vojska je obubožana, val beguncev nas je zajel in sedaj čakamo na ponovnega, zdravstvo je na psu, sociala ne ve kje se jo drži glava, sodstvo nima nobene kredibilnosti, še posebej sedaj, ko se bolan Bavčar igra košarko na prostosti in ne na Igu, kamor spada... skratka vedno dovolj izgovorov, da se nikoli ne najde čas in denar za Zakon o osebni asistenci, s katerim že več kot desetletje težimo vsakokratni politiki. Tudi vi ste bili žrtev dveh ali treh mojih nadležnih intervjujev.

Govorimo predvsem o 19. členu MKPI, ki je za nas, ki potrebujemo osebno asistenco tudi do 24 ur na dan, temeljnega in življenjskega pomena. Kaj ste vi osebno v času vašega predsedovanja Republiki Sloveniji v tej smeri naredili?

Nič, zgolj ob 3. decembru, mednarodnem dnevu hendikepiranih, ste morda bežno in zgolj zaradi protokola omenili načelno stališče, da je ta dokument potrebno spoštovati in ga implementirati. Seveda se to v praksi ne dogaja, niti danes ne in kot kaže, se ne bo niti jutri. Zaprte institucije ali zavodi, kjer bodo segregirani posamezniki, zgolj na podlagi svojega hendikepa, še naprej prisiljeni živeti, še več  brez velikih zadržkov se konstantno gradijo novi. O deinstitucionalizaciji je sedaj seveda moderno govoriti in voditi okrogle mize, a vse v daljnji prihodnosti, ker še nismo pripravljeni dovolj dobro. Morda bomo v naslednjih 20ih do 30ih letih. 

Bila sva kandidata na predsedniških volitvah 2007, kjer sem imela priložnosti pogostih srečanj z vami in moram reči, da mi je kmalu postalo jasno, da ste pravi diplomat in birokrat; v negativnem smislu obeh besed. Veliko leporečite, malo poveste, še manj naredite. Tako se baje zelo daleč pride, diplomacija je pa itak garancija za uspeh v mednarodnih krogih, še posebno razumljena iz slovenske kulturne perspektive. »Vsemu kimaj, ničemur ne nasprotuj, čim manj izražaj svoje stališče.« Ne bom pozabila prizora, ko sem vas na RTV ujela, medtem ko ste s svojo PR-ovko vadila že vnaprej pripravljene odgovore na potencialna vprašanja. Priznam, da mi je šlo kar malo na smeh, saj bi nekdo z vašimi referencami in renomejem, tako vsaj predpostavljam, moral na vprašanja človekovih pravic odgovarjati brez zadrege, tudi sredi noči.

Kakorkoli že, leta so minila in vi poskušate ponovno naskakovati prestižno mednarodno funkcijo, vlada vas pri tem aktivno podpira. Gre zopet bolj za prestiž kot kaj drugega? Morda imate še čas, da naredite pred tem še kaj za nas?

Res ne bi hotela špekulirati koliko možnosti imate, ker vaših sokandidatov ne poznam, a v obeh primerih, če vam uspe ali ne, je vaša politična in etična dolžnost, da rešujete tudi tovrstna vprašanja. Ne zgolj konkretno v Sloveniji, ampak seveda vsaj v okviru EU, če že ne po svetu, kjer pa so osnovni življenjski pogoji še toliko slabši, da o neodvisnem življenju sploh ne moremo govoriti.

Elena Pečarič

Dear president Danilo Türk,

I write to you again after a long time to call upon you to take measures regarding the respect of human rights in Slovenia, your own homeland. Especially now, when you are running for Secretary-General of United Nations, you could distinguish yourself with some gestures in practice as well; it would certainly be the right time for it, e.g. in the style of show and tell.

You probably remember the many letters I swamped you with, hoping that you would do something tangible as president of the Republic of Slovenia regarding the respect of commitments made with the signing of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [1] (UN CRPD), which was ratified by Slovenia as early as 2008, soon after you took on the role of president of the republic. And then everything was different, right?

Ten years have passed this year since this important international document had been adopted by the UN. Back then, we had had high hopes that things will start to turn for the better very soon, because we finally had a legal instrument with which we could put up an adamant fight to have equal opportunities and respect of human rights, dignity of persons with disabilities, ban on discrimination in all aspects of living, and last but not least ban on segregation in institutions. However, our hopes were dashed completely when all our efforts had been deceived, played and politically abused by politicians of the time. Not only are things more or less stagnant and UN CRPD and its individual articles are mostly ignored when adopting current legislation, on some level things are actually turning for the worse. One such example, ramming personal assistance into the Long-term Care Act, which is meant for aged people, which was transferred from the domain of Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to Ministry of Health, is telling enough. The very Preamble of UN CRPD emphatically dismisses this paradigm.

Slovenia is still saving on public funds for the poor, the army is impoverished, we were hit by a wave of refugees and we are expecting the next one, medical services are in shambles, social services have no rhyme or reason, judiciary has no credibility, especially now when the supposedly ailing Igor Bavčar is playing basketball free as a bird instead of in jail where he belongs. There are always more than enough excuses for not finding the time and funds for Personal Assistance Act, with which we have been pestering politicians for a decade. You yourself have been a victim of two or three pestilent interviews with me as well.

Our focus, above all, is Article 19 of UN CRPD, which is for us, who need personal assistance up to 24 hours per day, of utmost and decisive importance. What have you personally done about this while you were president of the Republic of Slovenia?

Nothing, except maybe making a brief general point on 3^rd December, International Day of Persons with Disabilities that this document should be respected and its articles implemented. Of course, this is not happening today and, as it seems, it will not happen tomorrow either. Institutions where segregated individuals are forced to live simply because they have disabilities, continue to exist and new ones are being built without any special reservations. Of course, these days it is fashionable to talk about deinstitutionalisation and to organise round tables, but all goals are set in distant future, because "we are not ready yet." Maybe we will be ready in the next 20 or 30 years.

We were both presidential candidates in 2007 where I had a chance to meet with you often and I have to say that it became quite clear to me very soon that you are a true diplomat and a bureaucrat in the negative sense of both words. You smooth-talk a lot, say little and do even less. Supposedly that is one way to make it far and diplomacy is a guarantee to success in international circles anyway, especially as seen from Slovenian cultural perspective: "nod to everything, counter nothing and express your opinion as rarely as possible." I will never forget a scene when I caught you on public television practicing with your PR agent pre-prepared answers to potential questions. I must admit it made me laugh a little, because someone with your credentials and reputation should, in my opinion at least, answer questions on human rights without predicament in the middle of the night if need be.
Anyway, years have passed and you are again running for a prestigious international post and you have active support from Slovenian government. Is it more about prestige or is it something else? Could you maybe find some time to do something for us?

I do not want to speculate on your chances to win the position of Secretary-General, because I do not know your competitors but whether you are ultimately successful or not in securing the post, it is your political and ethical duty to solve such issues not only in Slovenia but also in the EU if not the whole world, where living conditions are much worse and independent living is but wishful thinking.

Elena Pečarič