[WCAR] Groundswell of International Support for Dalits

AHRC Media Release

Asian Human Rights Commission
September 5, 2001

In an overwhelming display of support, international human rights leaders
and governments attending the World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) have publicly
declared their support for the inclusion of discrimination affecting Dalits.

The U.N. secretary-general, Kofi Annan, and the U.N. high commissioner for
human rights, Mary Robinson, were among the first to assert during the NGO
Forum held at the Kingsmead Cricket Stadium in Durban, South Africa, the
right of the Dalit community to demand that the discrimination they face on
the basis of work and descent be addressed at the WCAR.

These views were quickly supported by government representatives from the
Netherlands, Cuba, Canada, Brazil, Namibia, the Holy See, Latvia, Chile,
Argentina, Norway and Syria. Even the parliamentary secretary for foreign
affairs of Japan and the ambassador of Nepal have declared in the plenary
that caste discrimination on the basis of work and descent remains a
serious problem in their countries.

Amid this explosion of support for those suffering caste-based
discrimination, the Indian government has become increasingly isolated in
its hardline stance against the inclusion of this form of discrimination.
Only the People's Republic of China declared that this form of
discrimination should not be discussed at the WCAR.

India's stance now conflicts with even that of its own National Human
Rights Commission, which issued a statement at the WCAR arguing that "this
conference provides a singular opportunity to the international community
to deal openly and courageously with the vexed issues of discrimination and
inequality as they exist all over the world, in all of their variety,
including the forms of discrimination that persist in India."

They continued, stating that "the commission has thus accorded the highest
priority to ending discrimination against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes and in seeking to eradicate, in particular, two pernicious practices
which largely affect members of these communities: these relate to manual
scavenging and bonded labour."

The chair of the working group on the draft Programme of Action has decided
to put Paragraph 73 in brackets despite a point-of-order protest on this
ruling. The chair also decided to leave India in charge of negotiations on
the paragraph. Thus, India has a monopoly on the discussion and
consequences of the paragraph as a result of the chair's action. This goes
against common procedures in which an interested party should not be in
charge of consultations on a paragraph that affects them. Meanwhile, the
countries that have spoken in favour of the paragraph are not willing to
negotiate on a paragraph that is already as diluted as possible.

Despite the support expressed by many countries, other issues, such as
reparations for slavery and the controversy over Zionism, have led the
developed countries to give less proactive support for the caste issue.

The draft declaration working group has been requested to include caste
discrimination and discrimination on the basis of descent and work, but the
working group has decided to make a generic list. This means that Paragraph
73 is the only paragraph remaining that mentions discrimination on the
basis of work and descent, i.e., caste discrimination.

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