Executive Summary
“Walking the talk”
It is often only in retrospect that we see the success of interventions. This is true for Dalit movements and organisations struggling at the local or national level as well as for joint efforts of Dalit human rights defenders at the international level.
The year 2011 has been marked by outstanding developments and progress.The highlight of the year was the enactment of the Castebased Discrimination and Untouchability Act in Nepal, which is also the first act in the world specifically prohibiting caste discrimination in both public and private spheres. With this act, the on-going work in the Constitutional Assembly to guarantee Dalit rights in the new constitution and other initiatives, Nepal has taken on a leading role among casteaffected countries in addressing caste discrimination.
This is also reflected at the international level where the Government of Nepal continues to voice support for the draft UN principles and Guidelines for the Effective Elimination of Discrimination Based on Work and Descent. In the context of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Nepal, the Government accepted a series of recommendations on caste discrimination, which were preceded by constructive engagement with civil society and national human rights institutions.
UN initiatives to address caste discrimination deserve special mentioning here; the UN ‘walked the talk’ and delivered on commitments to accompany Dalits in their struggle against caste discrimination. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal) provided support to a number of important initiatives and launched an unprecedented 100 day Campaign Against Caste Discrimination and Untouchability, in October, together with the National Dalit Commission. In December, the office released a report Opening the Doors to Equality: Access to Justice for Dalits in Nepal, recognizing the progress made but also identifying the obstacles preventing victims from accessing the justice system.
The OHCHR furthermore organised a regional symposium on access to justice for victims of caste-based discrimination, with participants from other South Asian nations as well. This event was followed by a Regional Consultation with UN Country Teams on caste-based discrimination.
The year was marked by multiple initiatives bringing together larger numbers of Dalit human rights defenders from the IDSN network and beyond. In June a Decade of Dalit Rights UN Conference initiated by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights – India (NCDHR), and the International Movement against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) was held in Geneva to review past interventions and set out future strategies. Likewise in June, UN and independent experts met in Geneva to discuss strategies to eliminate caste-based discrimination.
In 2011, eight UN Special Procedure mandate holders expressed concern about the human rights situations of Dalits in their reports and communications and caste-based discrimination was furthermore specifically addressed in several treaty body and UPR reviews and the IDSN compilation of UN references to caste-based discrimination, published in May, was welcomed as a useful tool for civil society, governments and UN agencies.
As in past years IDSN activities were carried out involving members, associates, allies and other stakeholders, although temporarily IDSN had to reduce the level of activities due to an unexpected funding deficit. Dalit human rights defenders from affected countries took part in or lead meetings with government delegations and officials, UN offices, and parliamentarians in Europe. Dalit Solidarity Networks in Europe continued to raise caste related country and thematic issues with their Government and IDSN supported activities to enhance their communication outreach.
In February, a hearing in the European Parliament on Caste Discrimination in South Asia was organised jointly by the Subcommittee on Human Rights, the Committee on Development, the Delegation for relations with India and the Delegation for relations with South Asia. On this occasion, parliamentarians called for a more robust stand of the EU with respect to caste discrimination, and expressed concerns that “this human rights issue is one of those cases in EU external policies when good relations with economic powers get a priority over human rights.”IDSN continued to engage with EU institutions on actions to eliminate caste discrimination and lobbied for inclusion of this human rights problem in the EU human rights country strategies, which were developed over the course of 2011.
On 29 November – 1 December an International Consultation on Good Practices and Strategies to Eliminate Caste-Based Discrimination was organized by IDSN in cooperation with the Feminist Dalit Organization, the Dalit NGO Federation and the Nepal National Dalit Social Welfare Organization. More than 110 participants attended the consultation and preparations were a major undertaking of IDSN in the second part of 2011.
Representatives from affected communities and human rights defenders from eight affected countries discussed good practices and strategies, as well as critical gaps, with members of international organizations, national human rights institutions, NGOs, Solidarity Networks and researchers. Representatives of Government ministries, diplomatic missions and EU institutions also contributed to assessing progress measured against international human rights standards and good practices derived from local, national and international institutions, and various specific country situations.
A Joint Declaration and Global Call for Action to Eliminate Caste-Based Discrimination were issued along with Recommendations on Good Practices and Strategies. Key recommendations include the adoption of National Action Plans on human rights with targeted interventions to eliminate caste discrimination and UN Development Assistance Framework strategies for eliminating caste discrimination.
The lack of protection and enforcement of legislation was a key concern for Dalit movements and human rights defenders and a key topic at the International Consultation. Participants agreed that access to justice for Dalits must be seen in the context of largely dysfunctional systems of justice in most affected countries, which underlines the need for institutional reforms at all levels, including the police.
The UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, Githu Muigai, highlighted the lack of access to justice for Dalits in his report to the Human Rights Council in June. Devoting an entire section in his report to castebased discrimination, the Special Rapporteur recommends that legal measures be taken hand-in-hand with awareness raising of the judiciary, the police and civil service.
IDSN strives to give visibility to country developments at the IDSN website and in the monthly newsletter, which continued to increase their outreach. In 2011, IDSN also enhanced its social media profile with the launch of an IDSN YouTube video channel, featuring a collection of videos about caste discrimination ordered in thematic and country playlists; and increased engagement on the IDSN Facebook page and twitter channel. A new introductory video on caste discrimination was produced by IDSN with footage from five caste affected countries.
A survey commissioned by IDSN in seven European countries showed considerable country differences in the public’s knowledge about caste discrimination and its consequences. However, the survey showed significant public support to international action to eliminate caste discrimination: 74 % of the respondents believed this is a task for the UN and are also in agreement that it is the responsibility of companies working in caste-affected countries to take measures to eliminate caste discrimination in their own company and their supply chain, and 67% of respondents believe that the issue should be dealt with by the European Union and EU member states.
These results underpin the Global Call for Action to eliminate caste discrimination, issued at the International Consultation, stating that action must be promoted by politicians, and decision makers should add value to the call for “leadership, cooperation and constructive engagement at the local, national, regional and international levels to achieve a caste free world.”
A logical next step would be a World Conference on Caste-Based Discrimination, which could pave the way for a UN Convention on Caste-Based Discrimination. The Dalit movement legitimately make their claims to the international community for initiatives and mechanisms similar to those set up in support of the Indigenous People’s Movement. Their struggle is no less important.
Rikke Nöhrlind
Co-ordinator