Links: hr_defenders
IDSN’s searchable documentation database
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Unstoppable: Two workers risking lives to fight bonded labour in Sindh
Veeru escaped with her family and after months of fighting for her family and begging the police to protect them, she finally found refuge in a camp inhabited by other former bonded labourers. It was then that she decided to dedicate her life to freeing others like her.
India called out at UN General Assembly for blocking IDSN’s UN consultative status
At the UN General Assembly meeting on the 28th October, The UN Special Rapporteur on the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, criticised India for arbitrarily blocking the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) from obtaining UN consultative status calling it “clearly unacceptable, wrong and unfair.”
UN Special Rapporteur highlights unwarranted deferral of IDSN’s UN ECOSOC accreditation
The Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in the context of multilateral institutions, raises particular concern for the continuous unwarranted defferal of IDSN’s application for ECOSOC status.
Urgent Appeal: Brutal police torture of Dalit human rights defender – perpetrators must be held accountable
A young Dalit human rights defender was abducted from his house by five police officers in Tamil Nadu, and brutally tortured. An urgent appeal has been launched.
EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2013 highlights caste
The report includes key references to caste-based discrimination in the chapters on India, Nepal and Pakistan. References on caste-discrimination in humanitarian aid, caste-based violence, Dalit women, Dalit human rights defenders and Dalit religious minorities are included.
Press Release — Dalit rights activist Manisha Devi receives Ambedkar award for courageous struggle
Henri Tiphagne: Indian Human Rights Defender (ISHR)
Despite the trials faced by People’s Watch in fighting the suspension of its registration under the Foreign Contributions Regulations Act (FCRA) by the Indian government for nearly two years, the Tamil Nadu-based human rights NGO continues to work for the promotion and protection of human rights through the monitoring of human rights violations, strategic advocacy and solidarity with peoples’ struggles. Henri Tiphagne, Executive Director of People’s Watch, speaks to ISHR about the challenges faced by human rights defenders in India. Henri Tiphagne is Executive Director of People’s Watch in India. His work has also extended to national networks such as the All India Network of NGOs and Individuals working with National and State Human Rights Institutions (AiNNI) and the Human Rights Defenders Alert-India (HRDA), the Convenor of the Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN (WGHR) as well as at the regional and global levels as the Chairperson of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and Executive Committee member of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN).
Dalit women fight! (IDSN leaflet on Dalit Women)
The leaflet contains information on Dalit women’s human rights, key issues, cases, quotes from activists, INGOs, the UN and the EU and calls to action.
October 2013 EP Resolution on Caste Discrimination stating that ECOSOC status should not be blocked for organisations working on caste
013 EP Resolution on Caste Discrimination states that, “… to promote an enabling environment for civil society and human rights defenders working with people affected by caste discrimination in order to ensure their security and avoid any impediments to, or stigmatization or restriction of, their work; stresses that such an environment should include access to funding, cooperation with UN human rights bodies and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) accreditation.”
The International Service on Human Rights (ISHR) profile on IDSN in relation to ECOSOC
The International Service on Human Rights (ISHR) stated that “We hope these profiles will help expose the Committee's dysfunction, share the struggles of human rights defenders that are repeatedly blocked from bringing their experiences and insights on critical issues to policy-making at the UN, and ultimately help secure consultative status to the UN for these credible NGOs carrying out important and valuable human rights work.”
IDSN’s fight for UN consultative status – a case of reprisal against a human rights NGO
IDSN’s fight for UN consultative status – a case of reprisal against a human rights NGO For seven years IDSN’s application for UN ECOSOC consultative status has been blocked on spurious grounds. IDSN's application is now the application that has been deferred the longest by the ECOSOC committee.
Interview with Human Rights Defenders Asha Kowta and Henri Tiphagne (in Dutch – Mo Magazine)
By Lien Santermans
260 million ‘untouchables’ seek EU help | neurope.eu
Rape, abuse common for India’s Dalit: 260 million ‘untouchables’ seek EU help. As India, the world’s largest democracy heads to the polls, New Europe spoke with Henri Tiphange and Asha Kowtal, two leading activists for the Dalit, the untouchables.by Andy Carling
Dalit leaders speak at EU Human Rights Defenders Forum
Dalit Human rights defenders and a team from the IDSN secretariat took part in The European Instrument on Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) 2014 Forum on Protecting Those Who Protect. Asha Kowtal, General Secretary of the National Dalit Women’s movement in India, spoke about Dalit women human rights defenders as part of a panel while Henri Tiphagne raised the issue of shrinking space for human rights defenders in India.
Fighting Violence against Women Interview with Manjula Pradeep, Dalit leader
"I have watched Manjula Pradeep grow from a novice, an inexperienced young girl in the early 90's into a confident, assured, gutsy Dalit leader over the last 20 years. In this interview, Manjula traces the history of her struggle for Dalit rights from her early induction into Navsarjan Trust, as a raw, young recruit and her tumultuous journey to her present post as head of Navsarjan, often representing Dalits in the UN and other national and international fora"
Dalit activist’s murder: Police reject ‘dying declaration’, villagers say will fight ‘till the end’ (The Indian Express)
Dalit activist set on fire for challenging the caste hierarcgy and claiming land for Dalits