UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kang, strongly urges Nepal to act to adopt new legislation to fight rampant caste discrimination in the country. The statements came in connection with Ms. Kang’s April visit to Nepal.
March was a very active month for Dalit women in Nepal who have been busy with activities to mark the International Women’s Day, the Social Women’s Forum and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The many active participants at the events confirmed that there are plenty of women ready to ensure discrimination against women in Nepal is a thing of the past.
On the International day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal) and the National Dalit Commission (NDC) alongside the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the Jagaran Media Center (JMC), have released statements urging the Nepal Government to live up to its commitments and do more to end caste discrimination in the country.
The latest IDSN newsletter once again underlines that caste discrimination is a serious international human rights issue.
More than 20 states referred to caste discrimination in their interventions during the Universal Periodic Review of Nepal. The Nepali government has expressed its support for a number of the recommendations made on 25 January in Geneva.
The IDSN January 2011 newsletter includes news that: Campaigners for Dalit rights finished 2010 on a strong note with lots of activities around Human Rights Day on 10 December and participation in various international events. In India, terrible atrocities against Dalits continued to make headlines, and in Nepal, the efforts to include strong provisions against caste discrimination in the constitution gained further momentum. The United Kingdom move closer to making caste discrimination illegal, as government commissioned research provided evidence of this form of discrimination in British society.
The National Dalit Commission of Nepal (NDC) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal) have called for improvements in a draft bill on caste discrimination.
The International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, New York University School of Law (CHRGJ), Lawyers’ National Campaign for Elimination of Caste Discrimination (LANCAU), Dalit Studies and Development Centre (DSDC), Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) have today, on the occasion of Human Rights Day, issued a letter to the Constitutional Committee and the High Level Taskforce in Nepal urging that they include measures to combat caste discrimination in the constitution.
In the run up to human rights day 2010 Dalit activists have been mobilising through marches and awareness raising activities from activism in Nepal, a march in India, and human chains in Bangladesh to an exhibition in the UK to highlight the plight of Dalits. These are great initiatives, but the battle for securing human rights for more that 260 million Dalits, discriminated against on the basis of their caste, is fought every day in the communities by Dalit men, women and children who speak up to stop discrimination against them despite the risk of violence, rape, public humiliation, destruction of property and other acts of reprisal.
A monitoring mission in Siraha district of Eastern Nepal has prompted human rights monitors to urge the government to act immediately to ensure access to justice for victims of caste and gender discrimination.
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