The final report on last week’s UN human rights review of India has just been adopted, and included ten recommendations and seven questions and observations on caste discrimination, made by a total of 14 UN member states. It is now imperative that the Indian government accept all the recommendations made on caste.
The report on the UN human rights review of the UK was adopted today. A significant recommendation on caste discrimination has been included in the final report. This will provide the basis for monitoring and reporting on the UK’s efforts to amend its legislation to include caste and promote a national strategy to eliminate caste discrimination in the next four years.
The consultation, organised by the National Coalition for Strengthening the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act (NCSPA), recapped and analyzed the interventions made by the Coalition, arrived at a consensus on elements of proposed amendments to the act and chalked out effective future strategies required for national, state and local level.
When India and the UK come up for review by the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on 24 May, IDSN urges all UN member states to seize this important opportunity to address concerns about caste discrimination based on recommendations by civil society and UN human rights bodies.
Press Release (HRW & IDSN): (Geneva, May 14, 2012) – United Nations member states should make ending caste-based discrimination a priority when they review India’s human rights record at the UN Human Rights Council in late May, 2012, Human Rights Watch and the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) said today. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of India at the Human Rights Council is scheduled for May 24.
Pakistan will be reviewed for the second time by the UPR Working Group at the 14th UPR session on 30 October 2012. On this occassion, Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network (PDSN) and IDSN have prepared and submitted a stakeholders' report to the OHCHR on 23 April 2012 concerning discrimination against Dalits in Pakistan.
On 9th of May thousands of Dalits and Adivasis (Tribals) from all over India stormed up to the Parliament in New Delhi to demand their rightful economic share in the state and union budgets.
In Nepal, Dalits are protesting the preliminary results of the constitution drafting process as Dalit concerns have not been duly reflected in the proposed 1st draft.
Following a targeted campaign by the National Campaign for Dignity and Eradication of Manual Scavenging and other activists, Indian Parliamentarians are now taking the issue of manual scavenging up in Parliament.
A Motion in the Dutch Parliament on full supply chain transparency in the garment industry in India has been adopted in the wake of the report ‘Maid in India’ by SOMO and the India Committee of the Netherlands
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