Hotel bans 'annoying' kids with Down syndrome

by Steve Tallantyre from The Local (Spain's News in English):
Spain's leading Down syndrome association has slammed a hotel for turning away a group of children with the condition 'in case they annoyed' other guests.
A reservation for a group of children with Down syndrome, who were to celebrate an end-of-term trip, was refused by an Almeria hotel hotel on the grounds that "these kinds of people might annoy other guests".
Management of the Hotel CaboGata Plaza Suites, of the ZT Hotels group, have apologized for the gaffe but the case has now been passed to Almeria's public prosecutor according to Spanish daily El País.
A worker from Down España asked a travel agent to get prices from three nearby hotels in order to organize an end-of-term trip for the children, who attend a school run by the association.
One of them, CaboGata Plaza Suites,  responded by saying, "We do not admit groups of guests with mental disabilities," because, "this has happened before."
The association reported the incident to the public prosecutor because it felt that there was "a clear case of discrimination against disabled people that breaks the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Spain."
The convention prohibits "all discrimination on the grounds of disability".
This is not the first case of its type in Spain, according to Down España.
A nightclub in Sabadell and a pub in Alicante have both been prosecuted in recent years for refusing access to people with Down syndrome.
In 2009 a parish priest refused to give First Communion to a girl in Barcelona, saying that she was already "one of God's angels".
"We haven't gone public with this incident to victimize anyone but to educate the public," said Agustín Matía, head of Down España.
Sources from the hotel have apologized to the association, saying that the incident had been "a misunderstanding" and claiming that hotel staff had believed they were dealing with a group of former hotel guests with a different mental disability whose visit had been "very confrontational".
Hotel management claim that staff have been "deeply affected" by the incident which has led to a wave of criticism on social media networks.
They added: "In 35 years of business we have never refused access to guests with Down syndrome," who they said, "have been, are, and always will be very welcome."
Down España advised that families encountering any type of discrimination should demand a complaint form to record the details before contacting the public prosecutor.

Steve Tallantyre (news@thelocal.es)

Russia's lower house approves bill to ban U.S. adoption

from CNN:
Lawmakers in Moscow moved to ban Americans from adopting Russian children Friday, as they passed a bill that imposes a series of sanctions on U.S. interests, state media reported.

Russia is one of the top sources of international adoptions to the United States.

The State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, adopted the bill on its third reading, the state-run RAPSI news agency reported.

The measure will now move to the Federation Council and, if approved there, will go to President Vladimir Putin to be signed into law, the news agency said.

The legislation could affect hundreds of American families seeking to adopt Russian children.

It also bars any political activities by nongovernmental organizations receiving funding from the United States, if such activities may affect Russian interests, the news agency said, and imposes sanctions against U.S. officials thought to have violated human rights.

The move by Russian politicians is widely seen as retaliation to a law that U.S. President Barack Obama signed on December 14. That bill, called the Magnitsky Act, imposes U.S. travel and financial restrictions on human rights abusers in Russia. It was criticized by Russian leaders.

The U.S. act is named after a Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky who uncovered the largest tax fraud in the country's history in the form of rebates claimed by government officials who stole money from the state. After Magnitsky died in a Moscow detention center in 2009, his name became the basis of Washington's list of Russian officials who were involved in the tax fraud and in the deceased lawyer's detention.

The bill passed by the State Duma is named in turn after Dima Yakovlev, a 2-year-old boy who died while in the care of a U.S. adoptive family, RAPSI said.

Its implementation would nullify an agreement between the United States and Russia, in which the countries agreed to additional safeguards to protect children and parties involved in intercountry adoptions.

From 1999 to 2011, there were 45,112 adoptions to the United States from Russia, second to only China, according to the U.S. State Department statistics. However, the number of adoptions from Russia has waned in recent years after a peak in 2005.

Backers of the Russian bill said American adoptive parents have been abusive, citing 19 deaths of Russian children by their foster parents since the 1990s, according to local media.

In 2010, an American woman sent her adopted son back to Russia, saying that the then-7-year-old boy had violent episodes that made the family fear for its safety.

Amnesty International called Thursday on Russian lawmakers to reject a measure it said would "have a chilling effect on human rights defenders and civil society," as well as ending U.S. adoptions.

"There is a huge risk that the vaguely worded provisions in this bill will be used to clamp down on government critics and exposers of abuses. Indeed this would appear to be its real purpose," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia program director.

"This bill is frankly a childish response to the Magnitsky Act. The Duma should be focusing its efforts on how it can strengthen Russian civil society and not weaken it."

Teen With Down Syndrome Banned From Flight for 'Security Issue'

from KTLA News:
A family claims they couldn't board their cross-country flight to Los Angeles after their son was singled out and discriminated against because he has Down syndrome.

Joan and Robert Vanderhorst were flying on American Airlines from Newark, New Jersey to Los Angeles on Sunday with their 16-year-old son Bede.

But they say that as they waited to board the flight, they were told that they weren't allowed on the plane.

Joan pulled out her cell phone and began to videotape, documenting what she believes was a violation of her son's civil rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Bede -- who was labeled a flight risk -- can be seen in the video sitting at the gate, quietly playing with his hat.

In the video, you can hear Joan sobbing and her husband expressing disbelief.

"He's behaving," Robert says. "He's demonstrating he's not a problem."

"Of course he's behaving. He's never not behaved," Joan adds.

"I kept saying, 'Is this only because he has Down syndrome?'" Joan said in an interview with KTLA via Skype.

The family has flown together dozens of times. The only thing different about this flight was that they had upgraded for the first time to first class.

"This little boy had a seat in the first class area, and for some reason, they didn't want that. That wasn't acceptable," Joan said.

American Airlines claims Bede was "excitable, running around, and not acclimated to the environment" and that the pilot had unsuccessfully tried to calm him down.

"For the safety of the young man and the safety of others, American Airlines offered to book another flight for the family," American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller told KTLA.

Robert says the family was warned their son's behavior was a concern because their first class seat was to close to the cockpit and a distraction to the pilot could cause a mid-flight emergency landing.

"My son is no different from a 4 or 5 year old as far as behavior," Robert insisted.

The Vanderhorsts claim Bede hadn't caused any troubles and instead was being discriminated against.

Eventually, airline personnel called airport police to intervene -- and the family was booked on a United Airlines flight.

The Vanderhorsts eventually got to their home near Bakersfield and say they were not refunded for their upgrade fee, which they were never able to take advantage of.

They say they plan to sue American Airlines, and hope their experience will teach the company and people in general a valuable lesson.

"Respect each person's dignity," Robert said. "Every one of us should be treated with equal dignity."

CNN interview with Eric Dompierre - being banned from high school sports

from CNN by Ted Rowlands:

Eric Dompierre, a Michigan high school student with Down Syndrome, is told can't play sports because he's too old. CNN's Ted Rowlands reports.

Show your support, as over 80,000 people already have, by signing a petition to Let Eric Play

Read a prior article on this topic here.