Human Rights Watch: Clinton urged to address human rights violations against Dalits on visit to India
In a letter to Hillary Clinton, HRW urged her to raise with India the need to protect the rights of women, Dalits, and other vulnerable groups. HRW mention specific steps to ensure the protection and promotion of Dalit Rights that need to be discussed with the Indian administration.
UN review: UK Government fails to acknowledge the need for outlawing caste discrimination
During a review by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on 23 and 24 August, the UK delegation said that there was "no consensus" on the need for prohibiting caste discrimination in the UK. Furthermore, the Government had “not made a decision” on the findings of a government-commissioned report, which concludes that caste discrimination exists in the UK. "Why are you so afraid?" a CERD Committee member asked during the dialogue.
The ILO and Manual Scavengers in India: Paving the way towards the elimination of caste discrimination
ILO: For millions of people, contemporary India has become a land of opportunities, and the largest democracy in the world has experienced a remarkable economic growth during the last decade. Yet, as India accelerates its pace towards development, many are left behind due to long standing caste-based discrimination in employment. ILO Online reports from Rajasthan, India.
UN Committee urges Nepal to increase political participation of Dalit women
The UN Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) examined Nepal on 20 July, and recommended the Government to take specific measures to increase the “very low” political representation of Dalit and indigenous women at national and local level.
In Memory of Suvash Darnal, founder of the Samata Foundation and co-founder of the Jagaran Media Center
It is with heavy hearts that we bring the news that Suvash Darnal, a key leader in the Dalit movement, has passed away in a traffic accident in the United States.
Dalit homes destroyed by Delhi authorities, no warning given
Imagine sitting in your home, it’s ten o´clock in the morning, and you suddenly see a bulldozer, with its jaws wide open, drive up to your front door. You are told that you have thirty minutes to collect your belongings and get out of the family home you have lived in for decades, before it is completely destroyed, reduced to a worthless pile of rubble.
Conference on Dalit Rights & the UN
The Conference on Decade of Dalit Rights UN, 2011-20: Decisive Decade against Discrimination based on Work and Descent was held in Geneva on June 24-25, 2011.
India’s Prime Minister pledges to eliminate manual scavenging from every corner of India in 6 months
In a bold speech on the 17 June at the Conference of the State Welfare and Social Justice Ministers in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged ministers to be more vigilant and do everything in their power to implement the SC/ST act that is meant to protect the human rights of Dalits and Adivasis. The PM paid particular attention to the on-going issue of manual scavenging which he called, “One of the darkest blots on our development process” saying,
Urgent need to protect human rights of POSCO affected villagers
The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) and the Housing and Land Rights Network in India have sent out a press release calling for the state and central government to act on an imminent threat of force and violence directed towards Dalit villagers. The villagers have been peacefully protesting the take over of their land by the Korean based POSCO steel production company, threatening their livelihoods. Despite protests being non-violent, the police have been terrorising the villagers and threatening them and the press release describes a tense situation where it is feared that the Dalit villagers may face brute force and false charges from the police.
UN: Better protection against discrimination for Roma and victims of caste systems
In a report stressing the need for better protection against discrimination for Roma and victims of caste systems, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, Mr. Githu Muigai, warns that the rights of an estimated 250 million people across the globe are at risk because they are subjected to discrimination on the basis of caste or other social systems based on inherited status.