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.
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 photo exhibition and seminar in the UK Department for International Development (DFID) highlighting the issue of caste discrimination and the presentation of One World Action’s Sternberg Award to the Dalit Women’s Forum in Dhaka, are some of the events taking place to ensure a much needed focus on Dalit issues in the UK around December’s Human Rights Day.
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.
Manual scavengers from across India gathered at a mass rally in New Delhi Monday 1 November and demanded immediate government action to end manual scavenging once and for all, rehabilitate former manual scavengers and apologise for decades of suffering imposed on this group.
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