Executive Summary
In 2014, caste discrimination figured prominently in a number of reports and country reviews by UN human rights bodies. More treaty body reviews than ever before highlighted caste discrimination in concluding observations, and eleven thematic and country reports of special procedures mandate-holders made reference to caste discrimination addressing a broad range of themes.
A host of country level and global reports by civil society and UN agencies were published in 2014, providing ample evidence on just how hard forced labour and other forms of slavery hit Dalits; why escalating violence and an outrageous lack of justice are intrinsically linked, and how the mind-set of exclusion governs the lives of hundreds of millions. Throughout the year, IDSN and partners provided multiple inputs and analyses to UN human rights bodies, and in particular strengthened the dialogue with special procedures mandate holders. Outreach to mandate holders in August with a special appeal resulted in a remarkable commitment by mandate holders to pursue joint initiatives on caste discrimination as a key crosscutting issue.
Over the course of the year, IDSN produced a number of thematic, country level or institutionally directed recommendations and promoted them with institutions, expert bodies and states. IDSN also continued its constructive engagement with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, appreciating the further strengthening of the cooperation and the determination of the Office to internalise the issue as a core part of its work on discrimination.
At a Human Rights Council side-event in June, IDSN brought together top UN officials who made calls for a coherent and coordinated approach from the UN in tackling caste-based violence and discrimination. Speaking at the side-event, Ms. Navi Pillay, then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed great concern for the issue of caste-based violence and discrimination, and recommended focused action to support the rights of people of discriminated castes, particularly women and girls.
Other top UN officials addressed the issue in high-level statements and reports suggesting the emergence of a new norm, where caste discrimination is recognized on par with other forms of discrimination leading to gross human rights violations and deprivation, such as race, ethnicity, gender, and beliefs. These efforts were, however, not matched by similar acknowledgement in state led UN processes.
The continuous blocking by one state, namely India, derails legitimate attempts to embrace and include the topic of caste discrimination in UN processes, including at the Human Rights Council, the Beijing +20, the post- 2015 Agenda and the Durban Review mechanism. In 2014, it reached a point where “silencing” and repercussions on civil society, states and institutions taking up caste discrimination has become another new norm, threatening to undermine the work of concerned stakeholders and the pursuit of justice by Dalit human rights defenders in their work at national, regional and international level.
This is also evident in the case of IDSN, as pointed out by the Special Rapporteur on the rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, in the UN General Assembly in October. The Special Rapporteur highlighted IDSN’s seven year long application for ECOSOC accreditation and the continued blocking by India “as unacceptable, wrong and unfair”.
Nevertheless, IDSN continued, in cooperation with international associates, to facilitate representation of Dalit human rights defenders in UN and EU fora, and also as a first, speaking opportunities were secured for Dalit representatives in panels of the UN Minority Forum and the EIDHR Annual Human Rights Forum.
IDSN regularly informed members and staff of the European Parliament as well as officials of the Commission and the European External Action Service about key developments in the UN and in relevant countries on the topic of caste discrimination. It is noted, also as a first, that the EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World published by the EEAS in 2014 includes references to castebased discrimination in the sections on India, Nepal and Pakistan.
In its engagement with EU officials, Dalit leaders and IDSN staff continued to call for caste specific and caste sensitive policies and programming, as also recommended by the European Parliament in its 2013 resolution on caste discrimination, and for the conduct of EU public diplomacy at the highest level on the topic.
The communication part of IDSN’s work took new leaps in 2014. Global use of IDSN communication channels increased considerably as did effective outreach to international media. The IDSN website continues to be the leading global resource on caste discrimination. Furthermore, the foundation was made for a new website with a greatly improved design, security and a documentation links database.
Through the year, communications work focused on IDSN’s core thematic priorities of Dalit women and caste-based slavery, while also promoting and spreading awareness of events and issues arising from the struggle against caste discrimination in caste-affected countries and internationally. Campaign-oriented activities were pursued in conjunction with Dalit women campaigns, as well as targeted information outreach based on caste-related research reports published by Human Rights Watch in 2014. The network also extended its reach to diaspora communities, and Dalit solidarity networks campaigned for public, corporate and political awareness of caste discrimination and for action to end it. The networks also contributed in many ways to IDSN’s international lobby work.
There was also a significant strengthening of cross regional cooperation in South Asia on caste issues in 2014, led by Dalit civil society. Notably, at a meeting of concerned parliamentarians from four affected countries, a call for a regional framework to address caste-based discrimination was made by Mr. Bhattarai, former Prime Minister of Nepal.
For IDSN, the year was also marked by substantive reviews and organisational development, leading to an adjusted governing structure and a new, broadly consulted IDSN strategy for 2015-2018.
In January, an external review lead by the Danish Development Agency, DANIDA, was conducted and followed by an internal review and strategy development process. The reviews confirmed the relevance of IDSN’s mandate, mission and aims, and the effectiveness of our strategic focus and programmatic work. It furthermore provided the basis for the development and adoption of an IDSN strategy for 2015-2018, revised statutes, and an adjusted organisational model in December.
Warm and special thanks go to the members of the IDSN executive group for offering their expertise and engagement in the development tasks, and to the network for their engagement in the processes. Sincere appreciation is extended to the many external stakeholders for their valuable contributions to the external review and to the IDSN team for their hard work throughout the year. Finally, I wish to acknowledge and thank our funders for their generous support to IDSN’s work.
Rikke Nöhrlind
Executive Director