Executive Summary
“All it takes is commitment and courage”
On 10 March, IDSN celebrated its tenth anniversary as a network. At the Annual IDSN Council meeting held on the same day in Geneva, many of those present were part of the group that had initiated IDSN a decade earlier. On this occasion it was noted that IDSN through its collective efforts has succeeded fairly well in “linking grass root voices and priorities to international decision making” and, in this way, has contributed to the everyday struggle of Dalit communities, activists and human rights defenders on the ground.
In 2010, this struggle was characterised by some very interesting trends. First and foremost, Dalits in affected countries made remarkable progress in demanding protection by law; secondly, many high level political leaders from different countries voiced their concerns about caste discrimination for the first time; thirdly, while discussions were continued and intensified in the corridors of multilateral fora, there was a notable lack of formal decisions by the international community on how to address caste discrimination.
In India, implementation of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act was scrutinised at the initiative of Dalit civil society and proposed amendments to the act presented to parliamentarians; in Nepal, a draft antidiscrimination and untouchability bill was subjected to critical analysis and debate with input from civil society, national institutions and the OHCHR-Nepal. The broadening Dalit movement in Bangladesh gained further political momentum in its demands for constitutional and legal protection. Following a study on caste discrimination in the diaspora community in the UK, the Government took steps towards extending anti-discrimination legislation to cover caste.
The struggle against caste discrimination did not go unnoticed by the international community. In fact, in 2010, a record number of statements of concern by political leaders at the highest level were made. Dutch Foreign Minister Verhagen raised concern in the Human Rights Council March session that discrimination based on work and descent was not covered by the Council’s agenda. In his address to the Indian Parliament in November, President Obama paid homage to Dalit leader, Dr. Ambedkar, and on several occasions throughout the year, Foreign Affairs or Development Ministers, including those from Denmark and the UK, raised the topic of caste discrimination in bilateral dialogues with their counterparts in affected states. For the first time, and prompted by reports of Dalits being denied access to aid during the flood relief operations in Pakistan, President Zardari spoke out against caste discrimination.
Collective in-country efforts and solidarity action have played a role in such developments. In IDSN we are encouraged by this new level of leadership calling for an end to caste discrimination. We hope this engagement translates into creative diplomacy and policy decisions that can lead to the endorsement of the draft United Nations Principles and Guidelines for the Effective Elimination of Discrimination based on Work and Descent.
Throughout the year, IDSN continued its efforts to promote broad support for a Human Rights Council resolution on these guidelines. Unfortunately for the many millions of victims of caste discrimination, the negative attitude of one particular caste-affected country remains a major stumbling block to this process, and progress towards endorsement of the draft UN Principles and Guidelines has been slow. On the positive side, a series of statements and joint input to the UN Human Rights mechanisms ensured high visibility on the topic. In 2010, UN Special Rapporteurs on racism, education, health, adequate housing, and slavery as well as Independent Experts on minorities, extreme poverty and water and sanitation referred to caste discrimination in their reports and communications. Three such reports were based on country visits, depicting the wide-ranging human rights violations and irreversible impact this form of discrimination has on individuals and communities, not only in Asia but also in Africa.
In 2010, IDSN continued its engagement with the institutions of the European Union and presented its recommendations for a comprehensive EU Policy Framework to address caste discrimination at a Council Working Group hearing on caste discrimination in May. IDSN called for EU action at three levels; in its engagement with caste-affected countries, through its action in multilateral fora such as the United Nations and through its development policies and instruments. This call for a high profile and official EU stand reflecting that caste-based discrimination is unacceptable, was also presented to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, in an open letter.
Whereas a strong, unified position of the EU is still in the making, it is notable that some EU delegations and member states have stepped up their efforts to support Dalits in their quest for justice and social inclusion in affected countries. However, there is clearly a need for an EU policy to ensure systematic and coherent action. At the EU-India human rights dialogue held in March, the largest human rights issue, caste discrimination, affecting 200 million people in this country, was not discussed.
Towards the end of the year, members of the European Parliament took steps to secure a joint Committee hearing on caste discrimination in South Asia to be held in early 2011. Whilst the EU-India Summit in December avoided the issue, negotiations on the EU-India Free Trade Agreement did not escape parliamentary scrutiny into the caste dimension.
Awareness of the need to incorporate considerations of caste in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies among the business community in Europe and India continued to grow, albeit slowly. An important milestone for CSR recognition was reached when the ISO 26000 standard on social responsibility, adopted in 2010, specifically mentioned people discriminated on the basis of caste.
For IDSN, 2010 was another busy year. In March, the secretariat moved offices and intensive efforts were made throughout the year to fend off funding insecurity. In spite of reduced staff for more than six months, a full programme of activities was carried out involving members, associates, allies and other stakeholders.
Dalit Solidarity Networks (DSNs), international associates of IDSN and also international organisations belonging to DSNs played important roles in many ways with their support to the Dalit movement, promotion of policy demands and awareness raising.
In the course of the year, Dalit representatives from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal took part in IDSN meetings with government delegations and officials, parliamentarians in Europe, UN offices, the public and the media. In South Asia interaction, visits and solidarity action between Dalit organisations increased – in some cases these were facilitated by IDSN.
The IDSN newsletter and website continued to develop as important sources of information and their readership expanded. IDSN statements, briefing papers and articles were widely distributed, linking up to debates in caste-affected countries.
IDSN’s 10th Anniversary was also an opportunity to welcome new allies in the struggle against caste discrimination and express our sincere gratitude to long term and new funding partners of IDSN, as well as to governments, institutions, organisations, and individuals, who contribute their resources, political will, skills and insights to fight caste discrimination.
“All it takes is commitment and courage,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in a press statement on Human Rights Day 2010 – encouraging everyone to become a human rights defender. We hope that the international community will extend such commitment and courage to the 260 million Dalits in South Asia and affected people elsewhere, who need international support in their struggle and may otherwise remain condemned to a lifetime of abuse simply because of the caste into which they are born.
Please join as an ambassador for Dalit human rights.
Rikke Nöhrlind
Coordinator