Indian Dalit rights organisation bags RAFTO Award
|
The RAFTO Prize, an international human rights prize awarded annually to human rights defenders, is this year awarded to the Indian organisation National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR).
The award is an important recognition of NCDHR's work and of the struggle to end discrimination and human rights violations against India’s 167 million Dalits. By the selection of NCDHR for the 2007 award, the RAFTO Foundation is sending a strong message to the international community that it is time for action to bring an end the world’s most serious human rights problems. Worldwide 260 million people suffer caste-based discrimination with daily humiliations, segregation in housing and education, and denial of access to public resources like drinking water. Although caste motivated crimes against Dalits are widespread, the justice system largely fails to hold perpetrators of violence, murder, sexual assault and public humiliations accountable. Rikke Nöhrlind, Coordinator of the International Dalit Solidarity Network, congratulated NCDHR on the award, underlining the importance of their achievements in exposing injustice: “The perpetrators of crimes and discrimination against Dalits continue to enjoy an outrageous degree of impunity, aided and abetted by inaction and discrimination by the criminal justice system and other officials”. “Human rights activists and Dalits in India are asking ‘How much longer?’ This is the question governments, United Nations and the European Union should be asking themselves and especially the governments of caste affected countries”, she added. The National Campaign has since its inception in 1998 managed to bring national and international recognition to caste discrimination as a severe human rights violation. As a collective of human rights organisations, Dalit activists and intellectuals, they initiated the first ever signature campaign for Dalit rights. NCDHR has provided comprehensive and substantive documentation on the human rights violation against Dalits and has engaged leaders in India and internationally in their commitment and efforts to get the Indian government and the international community to wake up to this massive, yet largely ignored human rights problem. With courage and determination, the NCDHR has forcefully pushed a simple message in their own country and internationally: Caste discrimination must end. Previous RAFTO laureates include Aung San Suu Kyi and Kim Dae-Jung, who have subsequently been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The award ceremony takes place in Bergen on 2 - 4 November, 2007. Read the press statement by RAFTO Foundation Source: International Dalit Solidarity Network. |
Printable version
Back to top
