DALIT SOLIDARITY NEWS

. . . . . . "Dalit Solidarity News" is an information project run by the International Dalit Solidarity Network. News stories are extracts from online newsservices. Link to the full story is found at the end of each blog. Visit the International Dalit Solidarity Network at www.idsn.org

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Formed in 2000, the IDSN is a network of international organisations, national solidarity networks and affected country groups, campaigning against caste-based discrimination throughout the world, from the dalits of South Asia to the Osu of Nigeria and the Burakumin of Japan. Visit our website International Dalit Solidarity Network for more information. SUBMIT DALIT NEWS HERE

Tuesday, March 13, 2007
India asked to implement UN recommended steps to end discrimination against Dalits-- rights bodies

Associated Press Pakistan
13 March 2007

The Indian government should take immediate steps to implement the recommendations of a United Nations committee that found persistent violence and discrimination against Dalits -- the "untouchables", a group of international human rights organizations said Monday.

The organizations include Human Rights Watch, the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University School of Law, and the International Dalit Solidarity Network.

On March 9, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) issued its Concluding Observations regarding India's compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Committee's report found that "de facto segregation of Dalits persists" and highlighted systematic abuse against Dalits including torture and extrajudicial killings, an "alarming" extent of sexual violence against Dalit women, and caste discrimination in post-tsunami relief.

The Committee called for effective measures to implement laws on discrimination and affirmative action, and sought proper protection for Dalits and tribal communities against acts of "discrimination and violence." The Committee has given India a year to respond to four of its recommendations, including its recommendations on how India can end widespread impunity for violence against Dalits, and Dalit women in particular.

"The UN Committee's concluding observations confirm that India has failed to properly protect Dalits and tribal communities," Brad Adams, Asia Director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "This is a prime opportunity for India to give its own policies on discrimination some meaning. Laws need to be implemented, and those who violate them must be prosecuted."
The Concluding Observations were issued following two days of hearings in Geneva on February 23 and 26 between Committee members and the Indian delegation. During the hearing, Committee members uniformly took issue with the Indian government’s refusal to acknowledge that caste-based discrimination is covered by the Convention and is an issue of international human rights concern.

In particular, the Committee called on the Indian government to:

Introduce mandatory training on the application of India's Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for police, judges and prosecutors, and take disciplinary measures against those who fail to implement this law.
Ensure the protection of witnesses and victims to caste-based crimes and ensure their immediate access to effective remedies.
Prosecute and punish perpetrators of sexual violence and sexual exploitation of Dalit women, and sanction anyone found preventing or discouraging victims from reporting such incidents, including public officials.
Eradicate the social acceptance of caste-based discrimination through public education and awareness campaigns.
Ensure equal access to healthcare, safe drinking water, and other public services.
Investigate all alleged cases of discrimination against Dalits in post-tsunami relief and compensate or retroactively grant benefits to victims of such discrimination.
Take effective measures to reduce dropout rates and increase enrollment rates among Dalits at all levels of schooling by providing scholarships and by ending classroom segregation.
Ensure proper enforcement of reservations or quotas to counter the under-representation of Dalits and tribal communities in government and public services.
Adopt measures to enhance Dalits' access to the labour market, including by extending the reservation policy to the private sector.
Repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act that, while providing the armed forces with widespread powers to search, arrest and shoot suspects, leading to allegations of human rights abuses, has immunity provisions under which troops cannot be prosecuted unless authorized by the Central Government.

The Concluding Observations reflect the Committee's disappointment with India's presentation before the Committee on February 23 and 26, HRW said. Despite India’s Solicitor General Goolam Vahanvati's claim to the Committee that the government is "deeply conscious and concerned about caste and is fully committed to tackling this at every level," it said, the Indian delegation resorted to a semantic debate on the difference between caste and race to support its erroneous assertion that the Convention only covers race-based discrimination.

In its Concluding Observations, "the Committee reaffirmed that discrimination based on the ground of caste is fully covered by article 1 of the Convention.” It cited its position expressed in General Recommendation No. 29, "that discrimination based on "descent' includes discrimination against members of communities based on forms of social stratification such as caste and analogous systems of inherited status which nullify or impair their equal enjoyment of human rights."

"The Indian delegation's arrogant rejection ofwell-documented abuses against Dalits before UN
experts in Geneva mirrors India's systematic denial of Dalit rights at home," said Professor Smita Narula, faculty director of the Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice. "India once again squandered an opportunity to enlist the support of experts in its efforts to ensure equality in law and practice for its citizens."

Committee members characterized India's position as a "broken record," a "step backwards," and cautioned that India should not "confuse growth with development." Sicilianos reminded the government that "change cannot be achieved by legislation alone." The Committee also highlighted its concern over "abuses at the local level" for which "radical measures" were necessary.

"Instead of sidestepping its responsibilities, India should welcome assistance from the international community to eliminate caste-based discrimination," said Rikke N.hrlind, coordinator of the International Dalit Solidarity Network. "The fact that European Parliament strongly urged its own institutions to address caste discrimination in all EU-India relations reflects growing worldwide concern about India’s 'hidden apartheid'."

More than 165 million people in India continue to be subject to discrimination, exploitation and violence simply because of their caste, the HRW said.

Link to the article

Labels: CERD, India

10:25 AM

Wednesday, February 28, 2007
India Criticized for Discrimination Against Untouchables

Voice of America
26 February 2007

By Lisa Schlein

The plight of untouchables in India is being considered by U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is meeting this month in Geneva. Two non-governmental organizations - Human Rights Watch and the International Dalit Solidarity Network - held a news conference Monday to bring greater attention to the abuse that they say members of the so-called "untouchable" - or Dalits - still face. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA in Geneva.

Representatives of Human Rights Watch and the International Dalit Solidarity Network said India is failing to uphold laws against caste discrimination as they relate to the rights of members of the untouchable caste, who are also known as Dalits.

According to the officials, the country's 165 million Dalits continue to face segregation in housing, schools, and access to public services. They are also, the officials say, forced to work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused by police and upper-caste community members who enjoy the state's protection.

The human rights officials, whose advice was sought by the U.N. committee, said the discrimination is taking place despite the fact that the caste system is abolished in the Indian Constitution.

Smita Narula is a professor of Law at New York University and co-author of a report called Hidden Apartheid: Caste Discrimination against India's "Untouchables." She says the Dalits are the most vulnerable and exploited people in India.

"We are talking about over 167 million people in the country. The majority of whom live in segregation and experience violence, murder, rape and atrocities to the scale of 110,000 registered cases a year according to 2005 statistics," she said. "A majority of those cases end in acquittals if they ever get to trial. The solution is to end impunity and for the state to stop colluding and acting in this capacity and to end hidden apartheid in India. It is not a new solution. It is an end to oppression and discrimination and violence."

Ruth Manorama is president of the National Federation of Dalit Women in India. She told the committee about the prejudice the Dalits face.

"Formerly we have been called untouchables. If somebody touches, they get polluted…They cannot fetch water from the common wells from the common task," she said. "If there is a restaurant in the rural villages, they cannot ordinarily go and have a cup of tea in the same cup others drink. They will have a separate class system. If they have to go and worship in the temples… If they want to go to the temples, they are not allowed. And, anything menial, anything devalued, anything non payment, anything bonded laborers-most of them are from the Dalit communities that has been assigned to Dalits."

In December, Manmohan Singh became the first sitting Indian prime minister to openly acknowledge the parallel between the practice of "untouchability" and the crime of apartheid. Singh described "untouchability" as a "blot on humanity" adding that "even after 60 years of constitutional and legal protection and state support, there is still social discrimination against Dalits in many parts of our country."

After it is finished hearing witnesses, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is expected to issue its conclusions and recommendations in March.

Link to the article

Labels: CERD, India

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