The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders has released a report with a strong focus on the dire situation of Dalit human rights defenders, following her 2011 visit to India.

“Dalits’ rights activists strive for the promotion and realization of Dalits’ civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. The range of human rights violations they suffer is appalling,” writes the Special Rapporteur.

She expresses awe at the work and courage of Dalit human rights defenders in undertaking their activities and details the key violations they face:

“From the dominant caste, Dalits’ rights defenders reportedly face, inter alia, death threats, beatings and caste-based insults in public places, direct and indirect destruction of their property/belongings; and filing of false cases against them.”

“With regard to the police and state officials, Dalits’...

In a letter to the Presidents of the European Council and European Commission regarding the EU India summit, Human Rights Watch strongly urge the EU to address a number of pressing human rights issues in India including the situation of Dalits.

They draw specific attention to the situation of Dalits stating that:

“Dalits and tribal groups remain vulnerable despite constitutional provisions and laws designed to protect them. More than a sixth of India's population, approximately 160 million people, live at the bottom of the caste structure. They are denied access to land, clean water, and education, left out by the recent modernization process and surge in economic growth, forced to work in degrading...

Navsarjan Trust have released the study 'Gender Violence and Access to Justice for Dalit Women in collaboration with Minority Rights Group International. The report finds Dalit women face severe difficulties in accessing justice and are extremely vulnerable to violence, sexual abuse and other atrocities.

"If it is a crime to be born a woman in society, it is a bigger crime to be born a Dalit woman. This, at least, is what a study by human rights organisation, Navsarjan Trust, says.

While women are normally considered to be vulnerable to atrocities, women belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) are more prone to various crimes. The study shows that it is more difficult for Dalits to get justice in the court of law for their traumatic sufferings. The study indicates that in the cases of violence by non-Dalits on Dalit women, no non-Dalit accused have been convicted so far, and in cases of violence by Dalits on Dalit women, there have been convictions only in six cases.

The study, 'Gender-Violence and Access to Justice for the Dalit Woman: Final Report December 2011', was undertaken by Navsarjan Trust in collaboration with Minority Rights Group International, London. It was focused on three districts of Rajkot, Kutch and...

The United Nations Human Rights Office in Nepal (OHCHR Nepal) organized a regional symposium on access to justice for victims of caste-based discrimination. Challenges, lessons learned and good practices from Nepal were shared with participants from the country and other South Asian nations. The Office’s report - Opening the Doors to Equality: Access to Justice for Dalits in Nepal - served as the basis for the discussion.

At the same time, the report identifies the challenges and obstacles that continue to prevent victims from accessing the justice system. These include the low levels of awareness that caste-based discrimination is a crime; lack of appropriate support from law enforcement agencies; and the social and economic factors that further hinder progress, such as poverty.

The report presents...

Dalit human rights defenders from India, Nepal and Bangladesh voiced their concerns about effective political participation of Dalit women at the 4th session of the UN Forum on Minority Issues. The thematic focus of the session, which was held in Geneva on 29-30 November 2011, was “Guaranteeing the rights of minority women”.

When summing up her experience, Ms. Pushpa Vaghela, a Dalit women’s leader from Navsarjan Trust in India, explains that it was “a good learning experience” to see how the UN system works and to meet other minority representatives from all over the world. Despite the different cultures, issues, and language, she says that “the vision and mission is the same” for all participants. She concludes that overall it was “a great memory of life to understand, know, struggle, and learn” from this event.

During the Forum’s sessions, two Dalit women leaders made presentations in the panel discussion on minority women and effective political participation, on 29 November. Ms. Sonu Rani, who is associated with the...

A way to effectively address caste-based discrimination in India is by reforming institutions of justice administration. This means changing the manner in which institutions like the police, prosecution and judiciary function in the region. At the moment, what are obtained in the name of human rights are only empty promises. When public institutions of justice fail having a law to guarantee non-discrimination of Dalits is of no meaning. What is achieved in India will have tremendous influence in the region.

Police reforms

Despite constitutional protection and laws like the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 there is hardly any improvement in the investigations into the violations of Dalit rights. The reason is quite obvious. The investigators are the police and among them prejudices against Dalits run deep.

The Indian police is primitive concerning the caste issue. It can be also said that police is the most undeveloped of all the public institutions in the country. A combination of factors, including its colonial origin and the overwhelming influence of old Indian prejudices have made the Indian policing system one of the most archaic institutions of the world.

India has attempted to modernise many of its institutions and achieve some degree of success. In commerce, for example banking, India has achieved remarkable success and today is in a position to compete efficiently with the...

"The adoption of legislation criminalizing caste-based discrimination was a great achievement in 2011 for the Dalit community, who had long been advocating for this legislation. However, this legislation runs the risk of being rendered meaningless, if no tangible rejuvenation of the justice system takes place."

On the occasion of the 63rd Human Rights Day, the Asian Human Rights Commission is releasing its annual report on the state of human rights protection in Nepal through 2011. The report is available here.

Given the continuity of challenges presented in this report, the AHRC wishes to take the opportunity of its publishing to restate the crucial importance of a continuous OHCHR presence in the country to ensure that the issues of accountability and justice are not sacrificed to political considerations. We therefore urge the government to extend the OHCHR's mandate to ensure its capacity to monitor the human rights situation in Nepal until the completion of the transition process.

2011 began with the Government of Nepal committing before the international community to uphold the rule of law and defend the human rights of its people. During the United Nations Human...

Press Release: Activists, members of international organisations, NGOs, Solidarity Networks and researchers from across the world, have launched a landmark Urgent Global Call for Action to Eliminate Caste-Based Discrimination.The call was launched on the 1st December, as an outcome of the International Consultation on Good Practices and Strategies to Eliminate Caste Based Discrimination, held in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, spoke at the Consultation, affirming the commitment of the Nepal Government to take this call for action forward. In his speech he reached out to other Governments of caste affected countries to come forward and join Nepal in making this issue a priority on a global level.

Mr. Shrestha commented, “I firmly believe that this consultation will be instrumental in bringing all concerned parties together to end caste-based discrimination.”

Head of the Asia Pacific Unit at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Rory Mungoven, confirmed the commitment of the OHCHR to making caste-based discrimination a priority in their work, not only in Nepal, but also on a...

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) calls for Government attention to Nepal’s Dalits, the Gandharva community in particular, who suffer from severe food insecurity and poverty.

Dear Prime Minister:

During the month of the World Food Day (October 16) and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (October 17), the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) would like to bring your attention to Nepal’s Dalits, the Gandharva community in particular, who suffer from severe food insecurity and poverty.

More than half of Nepal’s population live below the poverty line, living on less than USD 1.25 a day, with Dalits being the most vulnerable among other social groups. About 40 percent of children under five years of age are underweight, and 40 percent of children under 16 are engaged in child labour. Structural inequality and caste based discrimination remains the biggest obstacle in achieving Dalits’ fundamental rights and eradicating the poverty they suffer from, despite some institutional efforts to this effect by the government.

As clearly...

The UN and national level Dalit bodies are urging the Government to end the bonded labour system in Nepal, known as the Haliya system, and implement rehabilitation schemes for freed Haliyas. Haliyas in Nepal are predominantly Dalits, excluded from other work due to rampant caste discrimination.

Read the full Joint Press Release from the UN, National Human Rights Commission, National Dalit Commission, and National Women Commission below:

End the Haliya system in Nepal say the NHRC, NDC, NWC and UN

KATHMANDU - Although the September 2008 agreement between the Government of Nepal and Federation of National Haliya Liberation Society formally declared the liberation of Haliyas, tangible outcomes have yet to be achieved. The draft Haliya Prohibition Bill has not been passed, and the Government has yet to form the high level Haliya Emancipation and Rehabilitation Commission as agreed, or to publicize the results of the survey of Haliyas in Nepal”, stated a press statement released today by National Human Rights Commission, National Dalit Commission, National Women Commission and two UN agencies, the International Labour Organisation and the UN Human Rights Office in Nepal.

“Three years after signing of the agreement,...