Executive Summary
Towards the end of the year, the brutal rape of a woman in New Delhi sparked off public outrage in India and focused the world’s attention on rape cases and violence against women in India. The case of this young woman who sadly died from her injuries, illustrated that violence against women is not only widespread and extreme, but in most cases surrounded by an almost complete lack of effectively functioning justice systems and rule of law. Less well known was the finding that Dalit women were worst affected by sexual violence in India, as highlighted in the ‘Status Report 2012’ of The Working Group on Human Rights in India and the UN (WGHR).
In November, IDSN presented evidence of abhorrent atrocities against Dalits, covering multiple gang rapes in the state of Haryana and the demolition of as many as 400 Dalit houses in Tamil Nadu, to members of the European Parliament (EP). The cases formed the basis for the historically strong Urgency Resolution on caste discrimination in India adopted on 13 December. Sixty MEPs from six political groups co-sponsored the resolution in which the European Parliament expressed its deep concern over the continued human rights violations against Dalits.
Condemning the high number of atrocities, the resolution particularly focused on the non-intervention by state actors in acts of violence against Dalits and the dismal lack of effective justice mechanisms in such cases. The Parliament made timely calls to the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and the High Representative for Human Rights to develop an EU policy on caste discrimination and to EU member states to take action in the UN Human Rights Council for the endorsement of the draft UN Principles and Guidelines for the elimination of discrimination based on work and descent.
While the Dalit movement has legitimate expectations for UN forward-looking leadership on one of the most dehumanising human rights problems in the world, states still hesitate to take a specific initiative on caste discrimination in the Human Rights Council.
In 2012, IDSN continued systematic monitoring of governments’ obligations to tackle caste discrimination, facilitated joint submissions to UN human rights bodies and issued a well-noticed appeal to UN institutions. Caste discrimination figured strongly in a number of thematic reports and country reviews by UN human rights bodies. The UPRs of India, the UK and Pakistan resulted in recommendations on caste discrimination and proved to be effective for enabling dialogue between Dalit civil society and governments in the pre-review process, in particular in India.
Disappointingly, however, the Government of India accepted only two out of ten caste-related recommendations and glossed over issues on deep-seated prejudices and discriminatory attitudes, gross human violations, and implementation of laws and exclusion of Dalits vis-à-vis state responsibility.
In the UPR of the UK, for the first time ever, a recommendation on outlawing caste discrimination in this country was raised, but unfortunately not accepted by the government. The persistence of similar forms of discrimination based on work and descent in Senegal and Yemen was noted by UN treaty bodies, which encouraged governments to adopt specific legislatives measures and national action plans.
In 2012, Special Procedure mandate holders in particular addressed violations against Dalit human rights defenders; the stigma and exclusion of Dalits related to access to water and sanitation, including in emergency relief; and the links between forced marriage and caste discrimination. These issues were also debated at side events by Special Rapporteurs, representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human rights (OHCHR) and Dalit human rights defenders. The efforts of the OHCHR, and some UN agencies, to identify and pursue country and regional approaches to address caste discrimination continued to be an encouragement.
Drawing also on work with UN human rights bodies, IDSN increased its number of submissions in 2012 to EU institutions on thematic issues and country situations. IDSN and DSNs intensified cooperation with Members and Committees of the European Parliament, noting an increased interest by political groups and a corresponding high number of resolution references, recommendations and MEP questions on caste discrimination.
A website designated for MEPs, www.endcaste.com/MEP, was launched in June featuring an online petition for MEPs, briefing papers and an IDSN appeal to EU institutions. Other campaigning initiatives launched in 2012 included a new website, www.endcaste.com, as well as a new facebook page, End Caste Discrimination, providing new means for the public to state their support. Two new IDSN-produced video films on caste discrimination - ‘We are not untouchable – end caste discrimination now!’ and a short film on Dalit women formed an essential part of new IDSN campaigns. Another milestone was the introduction of new websites for a number of Dalit Solidarity Networks (DSNs) in Europe, featuring automatic updates of IDSN news. IDSN’s focus on social media increased further, and a new comprehensive database on caste discrimination was created.
Dalit Solidarity Networks in several countries hosted national public events and quite successfully drew political attention to the need for strategies in development, human rights and CSR policies to address caste discrimination. In late December, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs, Frans Timmermans, made his support clear with the following statement in a parliamentary debate: ‘’The topic of discrimination based on work and descent has – as far as I am concerned – to be put higher on the agenda of the European Union. The European Parliament has recently adopted a very relevant resolution about the position of Dalits and I think that we can also better shape European policy on that basis.”
As in previous years, submissions and debates in the UN, the EU and in European countries were shaped by the input and contributions of IDSN members and associates. In the course of the year, Dalit human rights defenders from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Japan and UK participated in or led presentations in joint interventions at the EU and UN. Thanks to the numerous information sources, campaigning and lobbying activities in 2012, IDSN contributed greatly to an increased level of knowledge about the issue among the general public as well as politicians, officials and the media.
However, as the country sections of this report show, and despite civil society’s gigantic efforts in affected countries, solid progress was not always evident; in Pakistan and India atrocities and violent acts against Dalits were even further aggravated. In Pakistan, ‘scheduled castes’ were the worst affected victims of the worsening law and order situation and deteriorating state of human rights in the country.
In India, important political commitments were made in 2012 for amendments of special legislation for the protection of Dalits, i.e. the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes PoA Act and a prohibiting the employment of manual scavengers. If realised and effectively implemented, these laws have a great potential for improving the lives of millions of Dalits. While nationwide social programmes had a positive impact on the lives of the poorest, including the Dalits, discrimination in all social and economic spheres and diversion of funding budgeted for Dalit development purposes remained a reality.
In spite of the past success of the Dalit movement in Nepal to push for special legislation and policies, implementation was weak. Adequate resourcing and outreach in particular to remote areas remained huge challenges. Further initiatives for securing the rights of Dalits were hampered by the political stalemate in Nepal and the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly in May. The need for improvement in the administration of justice and well-functioning state structures remained key concerns for all human rights defenders in the country.
Perhaps the most promising development took place in Bangladesh. The growing - and increasingly diverse - Dalit movement successfully placed policy demands and the need for anti-discrimination legislation to protect Dalits on the table. This resulted in commitments by key national institutions, such as the Law Commission and the National Human Rights Commission to take work forward.
Dalit voices all over South Asia were thus heard loudly in public life in 2012. Dalit human rights defenders fought with a good measure of success for their rights to become part of political decision-making, drafting of legislation and the creation of policy measures for their inclusion in socioeconomic development.
Politically, however, the issue is well known for its ‘sensitivity’ and notorious ability to disturb diplomatic relations. The potential for efficient change and for the introduction of a UN monitoring mechanism on caste discrimination - sooner rather than later - is undermined by the position held by the Government of India internationally.
It is also increasingly evident that new economic and political power equations have a direct impact on human rights leverage. States previously known for their commitment to raise gross human rights violations irrespective of power and spheres of influence now bend towards powerful states, such as India. This is happening in spite of strengthened human rights policies and the devotion to human rights-based approaches by states. This new scenario has implications for global campaigning to end caste discrimination, but it could also potentially undermine many other global human rights campaigns.
Rikke Nöhrlind
Coordinator