Goodbyes and a tribute to IDSN Director, Rikke Nöhrlind

Many of Rikke Nohrlind’s friends and family – including most of her current and former team – gathered in Copenhagen on Monday 24 October 2016 to celebrate the many achievements of IDSN’s outgoing Executive Director. The Board of IDSN (many of whom were present) were delighted to host a reception to say […]

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A photo exhibition “Dalit: A Quest for Dignity” reflects Nepali Dalits’ history and life

On 27 September, at Patan Museum, Nepal Picture Library and its partners opened a photo exhibition- Dalit: A Quest for Dignity, exploring the various meanings of dignity for Nepali Dalits. The exhibition includes more than 80 historical and contemporary photographs from 20 different contributions, including personal and institutional archives. It emphasises the need to document Dalit experience in […]

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The SR on Minority issues completed her visit to Sri Lanka

The UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, just completed her official 10 days visit in Sri Lanka. In her statement on 20 October, the SR urged the government to take concrete steps to protect Sri Lanka’s minorities. She noted that there were “remaining challenges” within Tamil and Muslim communities, including return of occupied land, missing persons, demilitarization, […]

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A review: US State Department Report on human rights in India 2015

The US State Department published its Report 2015 on human rights practices in India, which provides a comprehensive overview of the human rights situation in the country. The report covers areas of deprivation of life, detention, torture, trial procedures, violence, freedom of speech, assembly and religion, cultural rights, freedom of movement, refugees, political rights, workers’ rights, and discrimination against […]

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Caste at the Human Rights Council’s 33 session

The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) commenced its 33rd session on 13 September. This year the report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences has a thematic focus on debt bondage. The rapporteur notes that “the majority of those in debt bondage are reported to be in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and […]

|Categories: Caste-based slavery, United Nations|Tags: |

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Caste discrimination in the United Kingdom

On 28 August 2016, as a part of the regular review process, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) published its concluding observations to the UK. The Committee expressed its concern that ‘several provisions of the Equality Act 2010 have not yet been brought into legal effect, including Section 9(5)(a) on caste-based discrimination’. Once again the UK […]

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Indian Government under attack for atrocities against Dalits

The Indian government has come under attack for atrocities against Dalits. In a debate on Dalit atrocities in the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) on Thursday, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh  disputed claims of increasing rates of crime against Dalits in India, since Modi’s government took charge. The parliamentary debate was held after a series of violent attacks on […]

|Categories: India, Violence and atrocities|Tags: |

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MEPs make caste appeal to EU foreign policy chief

The European Union should step up its efforts to address caste discrimination at the multilateral level as well as in its direct relations with caste-affected states. It should also integrate the issue into its fight against all forms of discrimination and include caste-specific indicators in its efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals. This is the message from 21 MEPs […]

|Categories: European Union, Human Rights Defenders, United Nations|Tags: |

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Millions of Dalit Muslims face caste discrimination

The caste-related problems of India’s Dalit Muslims are rarely addressed, neither by the government nor their own religious community. Contrary to Dalit Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, they are not classified in the ‘scheduled caste’ category, but the fact remains that they often face similar types of discrimination as fellow Dalits of other religious backgrounds. This has yet again been confirmed […]

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UN expert supports IDSN at Human Rights Council

The obstruction of IDSN’s application for consultative status at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was discussed at the UN Human Rights Council on 17 June when the Special Rapporteur on the freedom of assembly and association, Maina Kiai, presented his thematic report on fundamentalism. “Let me use the example of the International Dalit Solidarity Network which applied for […]

|Categories: Country/region, Human Rights Defenders, India, United Nations|Tags: |

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