At the 64th session of the UN General Assembly the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, Mr. Githu Muigai, expressed his serious concern about caste discrimination and recommended States to “engage in substantive discussions on this topic”. He specifically called on States to take action on the draft UN principles and guidelines to eliminate caste discrimination.
IDSN urges the UN Forum on Minority issues to consider ways to enhance political participation, especially for Dalit women.
A Pakistani Dalit activist and human rights defender was released by his abductors on 28 October after having endured 34 days of captivity.
In an interview with US weekly The Nation, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says that caste systems can be removed “through an expression of international outrage”.
UN Rights Official calls on world to end caste discrimination like it did apartheid.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, calls on the international community to ‘come together’ and support caste affected-communities ‘as it did when it helped put an end to apartheid.’
The international debate on caste discrimination is also taking place on blogs and media websites. Now is the time to join the debate on caste discrimination as a human rights violation and the role of the international community.
The world’s largest English-language newspaper, The Times of India, called the UN’s stance on caste discrimination an “embarrassment” to India, and the BBC World Service aired a live debate programme on caste discrimination on 29 September.
Dalit representatives from South Asia and Japan met the leading human rights official, Madam Navi Pillay, in Geneva on 16 September. The High Commissioner assured that all forms of discrimination – including caste discrimination – will remain a priority concern for her office.
The government of Nepal is setting an international example in addressing one of the world’s most serious human rights issues. It strongly supports the UN guidelines on caste discrimination as an effective mechanism to eliminate a human rights outrage that affects 260 million people globally.
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