Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina calls on all those responsible to cut the Gordian knot, accelerate the dialogue, and with sincere intentions on all sides, everything be done to find a compromise solution and after seven weeks finally end the strike, which gravely is distressing many people across Slovenia. The longest lasting doctors’ strike in the history of Slovenia presents agony for numerous patients and their relatives, and above all for persons with disabilities.

In recent weeks, the Ombudsman has received complaints from several persons with disabilities who have had their appointments for medical check-up for the extension of the driver’s licence cancelled, which violated their human rights. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities clearly stipulates that the state must enable persons with disabilities accessibility, the right to an independent life, inclusion in the community, and the right to ensure the highest possible independent personal mobility. The complainants who turned to the Ombudsman urgently need their own car for an independent life and full participation in all areas of life as well as independent mobility outside their area of residence. “The strike is absolutely a legitimate way of reaching certain goals, which is also provided for by the Constitution, yet from the perspective of human rights it is difficult to understand and completely unacceptable that the right to strike is placed before the right of persons with disabilities, to which the state has also made commitments on the international level,” emphasises Ombudsman Svetina.

The institution of the Human Rights Ombudsman supports the content of the government’s efforts to, if agreement regarding the immediate respect of the rights of persons with disabilities cannot be achieved, directly respond to the mentioned violations of the rights of persons with disabilities during the strike. “However, we would like to warn that it needs to be handled in the manner in line with the Constitution, as it derives from several decisions by the Constitutional Court regarding the adoption of decrees. Thus, I suggest to the government that it prepare a proposal for the supplementation of the Medical Services Act as soon as possible, one that will, during the strike, enable persons with disabilities to receive all medical services as it now guarantees for children under the age of 18, patients over the age of 65, and pregnant women,” stresses Ombudsman Peter Svetina.