UN treaty bodies
REVIEWS OF CASTE-AFFECTED COUNTRIES
The UN treaty bodies have extensively addressed the issue of caste discrimination in reviews of caste-affected countries.
The country profiles below also refer to relevant treaty body observations and recommendations and provide links to shadow reports submitted by IDSN in association with members and partners.
IDSN facilitates civil society inputs with a view to mainstreaming the concern about caste discrimination to ensure that the UN treaty body committees address this on a systematic basis. IDSN aims to ensure effective follow-up to the treaty body reviews by disseminating the concluding observations to international and national actors, making recommendations for further action, and encouraging civil society to make use of them in their national work.
GENERAL COMMENTS
CERD General Recommendation 29 on descent-based discrimination
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) takes caste-based discrimination into consideration when examining countries of particular concern.
In 2002, CERD adopted General Recommendation 29 on the term "descent" in article 1(1) of the Convention. The General Recommendation reaffirmed that caste-based discrimination falls within the scope of the Convention and therefore constitutes an effective framework to improve analysis and reporting on governments’ performance. Affected countries are now obliged to report to the CERD Committee taking into consideration the specific recommendations made by the Committee.
> Link to CERD General Recommendation 29 on descent
CESCR General Comment No. 20 on non-discrimination
General Comment No. 20 on Non-Discrimination in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was adopted by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) at its 42nd session in May 2009. In this General Comment, the Committee reaffirms that "the prohibited ground of birth also includes descent, especially on the basis of caste and analogous systems of inherited status." The Committee recommends States parties to "take steps, for instance, to prevent, prohibit and eliminate discriminatory practices directed against members of descent-based communities and act against dissemination of ideas of superiority and inferiority on the basis of descent."
> Link to CESCR General Comment No. 20 on non-discrimination
CERD General Recommendation No. 32 on special measures
At its 75th session in August 2009 the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) adopted General Recommendation No. 32 on Special Measures: The meaning and scope of special measures in the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The General Recommendation affirms General Recommendation 29 on Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Convention (Descent), which makes specific reference to special measures. In the General Recommendation, the Committee states that special measures should be carried out on the basis of accurate data, disaggregated by race, colour, descent and ethnic or national origin and incorporating a gender perspective, on the socio-economic and cultural status and conditions of the various groups in the population and their participation in the social and economic development of the country.
> Link to CERD General Recommendation No. 32 on special measures
MORE INFORMATION
The UN treaty bodies monitor the implementation of the core international treaties. In the context of caste discrimination, the following committees are particularly relevant when reviewing affected countries:
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
- Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
- Human Rights Committee (CCPR)
- Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
- Committee Against Torture (CAT)
When States parties meet their reporting obligations, they are examined every four or five years depending on the reporting cycle of each Committee. The past and future sessions are displayed on the individual websites of the committees.
Each committee is composed of expert members who examine the governments' fulfillment of their obligations under the international treaties during a two-day country review. Inputs prepared by civil society organizations, and follow-up to the country examinations, are considered a vital part of the reporting cycle to document the implementation gaps in the state’s human rights performance.
> Read more about the UN treaty bodies (OHCHR website)
SEARCH - AND KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!
The Universal Human Rights Index (UHRI) is an online search platform that provides a comprehensive overview of UN recommendations produced by UN human rights bodies. With this tool, you can access all recommendations by searching on specific issues (e.g. “caste”, “dalit” or "descent"), countries, human rights and bodies.
Presently the UHRI contains information from UN treaty bodies, Special Procedures, and later also from the Universal Periodic Review.
> Search the UN database for relevant references in any country of interest
