In Bulgaria and across Eastern Europe, unrevised laws dating back to the times of the Communist regime deprive mentally ill adults of rights, human rights groups say, cited by the International Herald Tribune.

In an article on Monday the newspaper points out that in Eastern Europe there can still be found jail-like regimes for patients suffering from a wide range of mental disabilities, from mental illness to intellectual disability.

The article stresses that guardianship laws in Bulgaria and across the region provide no effective oversight of guardians who assume control of their wards' property or bank accounts.

"We call it civil death. Once you are under guardianship, that's it. You basically become a non-person. These guardianship systems have noВ safeguards" the paper quotes Victoria Lee, a human rights lawyer at the Mental Disability Advocacy Center in Budapest.

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