Eric Rosenthal

Eric Rosenthal "is the founder of Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI), an advocacy organization dedicated to the international recognition and enforcement of the rights of people with mental disabilities. He has served as the organization's Executive Director since 1993.

"Rosenthal has conducted monitoring and evaluation missions in psychiatric institutions, mental retardation facilities, prisons, jails, and orphanages in Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine and Uruguay. Rosenthal has trained disability rights activists in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. He has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the UN Special Rapporteur on Disability, and the US National Council on Disability. In 2001, Rosenthal was elected to the Board of Directors of the United States International Council on Disability (USICD), the US affiliate of Rehabilitation International and Disabled Persons International (DPI)...

"Rosenthal received a BA with honors from the University of Chicago in 1985. He received his law degree cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1992. He was selected for the Public Interest Law Scholars program at Georgetown and currently serves as an advisor to students in the program. Eric Rosenthal was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship in Public International Law (1991), an Echoing Green Public Service Fellowship (1993), and a Kornfeld Fellowship in Bioethics (2000). Rosenthal has also published numerous academic articles and book chapters on the international human rights of people with mental disabilities.

"In May 2001, the Mental Health Association of New York awarded him a "Humanitarian Award" for "exceptional dedication and leadership in advocating for the humane treatment of people with mental disabilities worldwide.""