More Than 260 Million Affected Worldwide
(Geneva, May 14, 2012) – United Nations member
states should make ending caste-based discrimination a priority when they
review India’s
human rights record at the UN Human Rights Council in late May 2012, Human
Rights Watch and the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) said today.
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of India at the Human Rights Council
is scheduled for May 24.
“United Nations
member states should call for effective implementation of laws and policies to
address caste-related human rights violations in India,”
said Julie de Rivero, Geneva
advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Numerous UN human rights bodies and
civil society groups are demanding that the Indian government move from
promises to action to improve the lives of people who have long endured
horrific discrimination.”
Over 260 million
people worldwide face extreme forms of discrimination, exploitation, and
violence based on caste. According to government statistics, nearly 167 million
Indians, or 16 percent of the population, belonged to so-called Scheduled
Castes, who call themselves Dalits.
Dalits face
widespread discrimination, which imposes enormous obstacles to the full
attainment of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. They are
segregated in housing, schools, and access to public services. They are denied
access to land, forced to work in degrading conditions, and routinely abused by
the police and upper-caste community members who enjoy the state’s protection.
This entrenched discrimination that the government fails to address violates
Dalit rights to education, health, housing, property, freedom of religion, free
choice of employment, and equal treatment before the law.
Dalits also
suffer routine violations of their right to life and security of person through
state-sponsored or sanctioned acts of violence, including torture.
Caste-motivated killings, rapes, and other abuses are a daily occurrence in India.
Human Rights Watch
and IDSN urged UN member states to press the Indian government to take
effective measures to protect the rights of Dalits, address widespread impunity
for crimes committed against them, and ensure access to justice and basic
services.
“It would be a great
injustice to over 160 million Dalits in India
if the UN review of India’s
human rights record does not directly and comprehensively address serious
concerns for the ongoing human rights violations against them,” de Rivero said.
Human Rights Watch and IDSN, whose members and associates include key Dalit organizations, have made a number of recommendations that should be raised at the review, including:
Appropriate reforms to eliminate police abuses against Dalits and other marginalized communities;
Vigorous implementation of laws and government policies to protect Dalits, and Dalit women in particular, from physical and sexual violence;
Eradication of caste-based segregation in residential areas and schools, and in access to public services; and
Effective eradication of exploitative labor arrangements and
effective implementation of rehabilitation schemes for Dalit-bonded and child
laborers, manual scavengers, and Dalit women forced into sex work.
“India
all too often sweeps caste discrimination under the rug,” said Rikke Nöhrlind,
coordinator of IDSN. “The upcoming UN review provides an opportunity for the
Indian government to demonstrate a genuine commitment to address the full
extent of this problem. UN member states have an obligation to demand that the
rights of those discriminated against on the basis of caste not be ignored.”
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on India, please visit:
Caste discrimination in India:
UPR India 2012: Briefing note on key recommendations and questions - Caste discrimination in India
UPR submission - Coalition report by National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
Human Rights Watch UPR submission on India
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/03/india-upr-submission
For more information, please contact:
In Mumbai, for Human Rights Watch, Meenakshi Ganguly (Bengali, Hindi, English): +91-98-2003-6032 (mobile); or gangulm@hrw.org
In Geneva, for Human Rights Watch, Juliette de Rivero (English, French, Spanish): +41-79-640-1649 (mobile); or derivej@hrw.org
In Washington, DC, for Human Rights Watch, John Sifton (English): +1-646-479-2499 (mobile); or siftonj@hrw.org
In Bangkok, for Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams (English): +44-7908-728333 (mobile); or adamsb@hrw.org
In Copenhagen, for the International Dalit Solidarity Network, Rikke Nöhrlind (English): +45-29-70-0630 (mobile); or rn@idsn.org