The Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission in Bangladesh, Mr Mizanur Rahman, urged the Government to be more generous in protecting the rights of Dalits at a press conference jointly organised by the Bangladesh Dalit Parishad (BDP) and the Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF).
The latest IDSN newsletter once again underlines that caste discrimination is a serious international human rights issue.
The IDSN 2010 Annual Report is now published and ready for download.
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.
In a statement concluding her January visit to India, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, raised particular concern for the situation of Dalit human rights defenders and noted widespread deficiencies in implementation of laws to protect human rights defenders.
Former British prime minister Gordon Brown recently visited a project in India that seeks to end discrimination against dalits – and was shocked at the living conditions he saw in the poor Delhi neigbourhood - Bhalswa.
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.
A study just released on caste discrimination in the UK finds evidence of caste discrimination in work, provision of services, education, and harassment and violence as a result of caste discrimination.
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.
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