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Archive | Human Rights Defenders

We have a dream

In 1948, the year that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed, thousands of Dalits gathered outside a temple in India, from which they had been barred entry because of their caste. A […]
December 10th, 2018|Access to justice, Human Rights Defenders, South Asia, United Nations|
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EU encouraged to step up action on the issue of caste discrimination in global supply chains

The hearing was chaired by MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, Chair of the subcommittee on human rights. Ramesh Nathan focused his presentation on caste and contemporary slavery in supply chains with a specific focus on the […]
December 1st, 2018|Business, Caste-based slavery, European Union, Human Rights Defenders, India, South Asia|
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Dalit human rights defenders attend the EU-NGO Forum

The overarching theme for the 2018 Forum was “Defending universality – Making Human Rights Reality”. 2018 marked the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration, the 25th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action as […]
November 23rd, 2018|European Union, Human Rights Defenders, India, Nepal|
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EU high-representative calls the UN NGO Committee “hostile to civil society interests, particularly … caste discrimination.”

In her answer to MEP Jean Lambert’s question, on what the EU were doing to support IDSN’s application for UN consultative status, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, stated that, “A critical […]
October 8th, 2018|Access to justice, Human Rights Defenders, Political Participation, United Nations|
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Sanitation worker deaths spark protests demanding an end to manual scavenging in India

The call to action has come from the Safai Kramchari Andolan (SKA), an organization that has been fighting for the rights of manual scavengers and helping them break out of the practice. The protesters […]
September 26th, 2018|Human Rights Defenders, India, Manual Scavenging|
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Senior UN official raises concern over the ‘de facto’ rejection of ECOSOC status for IDSN

In his address to the Human Rights Council, the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Andrew Gilmour, raised concern over the “repeated deferrals and apparent lack of transparency amounting to a de facto rejection on […]
September 20th, 2018|Human Rights Defenders, India, Political Participation, Uncategorized, United Nations|
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MEPs: EU should cancel agreements with India until unjustly jailed human rights defenders are released

The letter from the MEP’s  specifically demands the immediate release of Prof. GN Saibaba, Varavara Rao, Gautam  Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves,  Arun   Ferreira, Surendra Gadling, Prof Shoma Sen, Sudhir Dhawle, Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raul, and Sudha […]
September 18th, 2018|Access to justice, European Union, Human Rights Defenders, India|
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India: MRG & IDSN strongly condemn latest arrests of prominent human rights defenders  

‘These and other arbitrary arrests undermine free speech and dissent, which are cornerstones of truly democratic societies,’ emphasises Carl Söderbergh, Director of Policy & Communications at Minority Rights Group International (MRG). ‘India should be […]
August 31st, 2018|Access to justice, Human Rights Defenders, India|
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Regional conference on equal access to justice calls for action to end caste discrimination

There were national human rights practitioners and advocates from the region, key state champions and regional actors to highlight the state and national efforts to advance the rights of Dalit and marginalized communities. The […]
August 15th, 2018|Human Rights Defenders, Nepal, South Asia|
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EU High Representative asked to outline how the EU intends to support IDSN’s application for UN consultative status

The MEP’s question also states that, “It is extremely troubling to learn that the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), an international NGO focusing on caste-based discrimination and other forms of discrimination based on work and […]
August 15th, 2018|European Union, Human Rights Defenders, United Nations|
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