When Pakistan was reviewed by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism on 30 October, many states expressed concern about the human rights situation of religious minorities, including scheduled castes.
Press Release (23 October 2012). The Government of Pakistan has failed to honour the commitments it made at the UN review of its human rights record four years ago. International NGOs are urging states to recommend it to ensure full protection of minorities, including Dalits and other marginalised groups.
The recent wave of kidnappings and forced marriages of Dalit girls has spread fear in Pakistan’s Dalit community, which is already extremely marginalised.
The Pakistan Dalit Network demands the arrest of the killers of the Mirpurkhas Christian worker, who was brutally killed. This serious case demonstrates the physical abuse and social discrimination, which Pakistan’s Christian and Hindus scheduled castes population is subject to because of their religious beliefs and "low caste" status.
Pakistan will be reviewed for the second time by the UPR Working Group at the 14th UPR session on 30 October 2012. On this occassion, Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network (PDSN) and IDSN have prepared and submitted a stakeholders' report to the OHCHR on 23 April 2012 concerning discrimination against Dalits in Pakistan.
Desperately needed shelter and relief items are not reaching hundreds of thousands of Dalits who are left homeless after the severe flooding in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Dalits are being discriminated against because their caste relegates them to the bottom of the social order in Pakistan and ‘untouchability practices’ exclude them from sharing the same shelters as other members of society.
Urgent appeal from the Asian Human Rights Commission:
IDSN have launched a YouTube Channel on www.youtube.com/IDSNVideo
The President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, has said that relief work in his country should not be influenced by considerations of caste, creed or ethnicity. IDSN is urging the international community to incorporate measures against caste discrimination in disaster relief operations.
Thousands of Dalit families in Pakistan’s Sindh province are thought to be affected by flooding and now face discrimination during relief efforts.
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery
Gallery