24 May 1989

16th plenary meeting

Principles and guarantees for the protection of persons detained on grounds of mental ill-health or suffering from mental disorder

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling Commission on Human Rights resolution 1989/40 of 6 March 1989,

1. Authorizes an open-ended working group of the Commission on Human Rights to meet for a period of two weeks rprior to the forty-sixth session of the Commission to examine, revise and simplify as necessary the draft body of principles and guarantees for the protection of mentally ill persons and for the improvement of mental health care submitted to the Commission by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, with a view to submitting it to the Commission at its forty-sixth session;

2. Requests the Secretary-General to extend all facilities to the working group for its meeting prior to the forty-sixth session of the Commission;

3. Requests the Secretary-General, on the basis of the comments received from Governments, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations in response to paragraph 6 of Commission on Human Rights

resolution 1989/40, to prepare a working paper showing the

modifications that would be made to the existing draft body of

principles and guarantees as a result of those comments.