MEXICO CITY — Ten years ago, a human-rights group released a scathing, groundbreaking report on abusive, decrepit conditions in Mexican institutions for the mentally and physically disabled, moving the country to promise change and to take the lead in writing international agreements to protect the disabled.
But in a report Tuesday, the group, Disability Rights International, working with a Mexican human-rights organization, said that a year-long investigation revealed “atrocious and abusive conditions” that included lobotomies performed without consent, children missing from orphanages, widespread filth and squalor, and lack of medical care.
The Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights, which helped compile the report, said the “human-rights violations being perpetrated against children with disabilities in Mexico are every bit as serious as any this organization has documented over the last 20 years.”
The report recommends a host of changes, including a shift toward more community-based services; establishing a foster-care system for children with disabilities; and more independent oversight. The New York Times
