We received the following Appeal from the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights. Dalits (meaning ‘oppressed’) are the group of some 160 million people in
India formerly known as ‘Untouchables’, who STILL suffer extreme discrimination, exploitation and violence simply because they were born into an ‘outcaste’ family.
The UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discriminatino, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) will be held in South Africa in August, and now
that Slavery and Apartheid have been destroyed, it is time the world turned its attention to the terrible discrimination faced by Dalits.
The Dalits are holding a Global Conference on Racism and Caste-based Discrimination in the lead-up to the WCAR, and are asking for this conference to be
officially recognised by the UN as a ‘Satellite Conference’ for the WCAR. However, the UN face a lot of pressure from powerful groups such as the Indian
government, who want to silence this issue affecting so many millions of its citizens and others in places like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Japan.
Please read the following appeal, and write to the UN as requested, to ensure that the Dalit people – who have been oppressed and forgotten for so long – are finally
allowed to have a voice. Our experience is that a letter from you can have a big impact, and can help the UN to be true to its mandate to end major forms of
discrimination.
AHRC Urgent Appeals Desk
[If you feel you know enough about this issue, scroll down to the SUGGESTED ACTION section.]
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Urgent Action: Write letter to OHCHR urging them to grant Satellite Status to Global Conference on Racism and Caste-based Discrimination
3 February 2001
Dear Friends and Supporters in Solidarity:
After having a talk with officials at the WCAR Secretariat it appears as if the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights will not grant Satellite
Conference Status to the upcoming Global Conference on Racism & Caste-based Discrimination being organised by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
with the support of many others like you in March 1-4, Delhi. There is no official communication as of yet, but such a decision is likely to happen unless there is a
strong appeal made by all of us.
The reason that was given that the OHCHR has taken a decision not to give satellite status for any more conferences, whether ours or anybody else’s! As a
concession, it seems, the OHCHR might be willing to request a UN expert and/or another senior official to the Global Conference. Satellite status is important for
two reasons: 1) The proceedings of the Global Conference would be fed into the WCAR preparations 2) Foreign participants will find it much easier to obtain visas
for their travel to India.
That the OHCHR is seriously considering not granting satellite status to the Global Conference is unsatisfactory and strongly indicates an attitude of indifference to
the cause of all who suffer from and struggle against descent and occupation-based discrimination in South Asia and in various other countries. This is an
unsatisfactory decision when considering that this kind of discrimination is on par with racism and apartheid and, yet, has only just begun to receive some of the
serious attention that merits by the United Nations and international community.
Looking towards the WCAR, the Global Conference will be a historic opportunity for victims of this kind of discrimination to raise their voices and be represented at
an international level. It is the first such international conference of its kind in Asia and is being jointly sponsored by a number of reputable international human rights
groups and NGOs, including the following:
– Antenna International, Geneva
– Asia Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong
– Asia Pacific International Women s Rights Action Watch (IWRAW), Malaysia
– Buraku Liberation League, Japan
– Center for Dignity and Rights (CEDAR), Netherlands
– Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, India
– Dalit Solidarity Network, UK
– Dalit Solidarity Forum, USA
– Dalit Solidarity Peoples, India
– Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Germany
– Human Rights Watch, USA
– Hurights, Osaka
– ICMICA
– International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN), Geneva
– International Human Rights Law Group (IHRLG), USA
– International Movement Against Discrimination and Racism, Japan
– National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, India
– Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation, USA
– South Asian Forum for Human Rights, Nepal
– Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Programme, USA
– World Council of Churches, Geneva
The Global Conference is not an isolated event, but one with direct bearing and impact on the WCAR. In the run-up to the WCAR, it is a crucial and historic effort
to address a major theme proposed for the WCAR main agenda. The OHCHR s likely decision to not grant satellite status, then, is unsatisfactory when considering
the positive impact the Global Conference would have as a WCAR Satellite Conference on the efforts of descent and occupation-based discriminated communities
to be represented and heard at the WCAR. For these reasons, a decision to not grant Satellite Status to the Global Conference would be a decision against the
victims of descent and occupation-based discrimination.
This likely decision also contradicts the indications we received from the OHCHR up until recently that it would support just such a conference. As many of you
know, the Sub-Commission on the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights passed a resolution (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2000/L.13) in August 2000 to propose that
descent-based discrimination be put on the agenda of the WCAR. It also commissioned Expert Member Mr. Rajendere Goonesekere to prepare a working paper
on discrimination based on occupation and descent. Immediately following this session of the Sub Commission, NCDHR along with various human rights
organisations met with Mr. Bertrand Ramcharan, Deputy High Commissioner in the OHCHR, and discussed a proposal for a Satellite Conference on descent and
occupation-based discrimination. He supported such a proposal and encouraged us to carry through on this idea. We also discussed the proposal with Ms. Laurie
Wiseberg and she also felt it would be appropriate.
After the meeting in August, we have brought this proposal to the attention of many credible human rights organizations and NGOs who expressed enthusiasm for a
Global Conference on this issue and committed to supporting and participating in it. With all these strong indications, we decided to go ahead and apply for Satellite
Status and sent the application in more than one month ago, only to have it denied for what seem like arbitrary reasons.
The likely decision of the OHCHR to not grant the Global Conference satellite status looks arbitrary in the light of High Commissioner Mary Robinson’s statement
that the WCAR is for the victims of discrimination to raise their voices and be heard. Plainly speaking, this likely decision does not bespeak a sincere and serious
commitment on the part of the OHCHR to making such a statement a reality.
It also appears arbitrary when you consider the fact that many other conferences organised by academics and human rights groups in other countries have received
just such a status.
SUGGESTED ACTION
For these reasons, we urge you all to write a letter impressing upon OHCHR the importance of the Global Conference vis-?vis the WCAR and strongly urging them
to do the following:
1. To grant Satellite Status to the Global Conference
2. To send a senior officer to be present at the Global Conference
3. To give serious attention and consideration to the findings and recommendations of the Global Conference in its preparations for the WCAR.
Friends, we all have worked so hard in our various capacities in recent years to raise this issue and bring it out of the shadows where it remained for so many years.
Together we have made some major breakthroughs during the last year, but there is still a long way to go. The WCAR is a major window of opportunity to wake up
our own governments and other governments of the world as well as their respective societies to take urgent action to eradicate this major, global form of
discrimination. The Global Conference is a giant step on our way to the WCAR, but the lack of satellite status for this conference would limits its impact on the
WCAR.
We urge you to express your solidarity at this crucial time.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS TO:
Ms. Mary Robinson
High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Fax: +41 22 917 9012
e-mail: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch
*** Please send a copy of your letter to AHRC Urgent Appeals:
Email:
Fax: +(852) 26986367
Please contact the Urgent Appeals coordinator if you require more
information or wish to report human rights violations.
===========================================================
AHRC Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
Unit D, 7th Floor, Mongkok Commercial Centre,
16 – 16B Argyle Street, Kowloon, HONGKONG
Tel: +(852) – 2698 6339
Fax: +(852) – 2698 6367
E-mail: ua@ahrchk.org
Please contact the AHRC Urgent Appeals Coordinator if you require
further information or to make requests for further appeals.
___________________________________________________________________
AHRC has an Urgent Appeal Programme which operates around the clock.
AHRC issues urgent appeals on behalf of persons or groups of persons
whose human rights have been violated. All urgent appeals released
by the AHRC since late 1997 can be accessed at our website:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua_index.html
