UN says India's Caste-System is a human rights abuse

[ambidex]

Recommendations
Amnesty International calls upon the Chinese government to:

•enact laws that prohibits discrimination on all grounds referred to in article 1 of the UN Convention against Racism;

•respect and protect the rights of Tibetans and Uighurs to freedom of expression, association and assembly and religion as well as respect for the distinct culture, language and traditions;

•immediately and unconditionally release all those detained solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of religion, or for peacefully exercising their human rights;

•ensure that all detainees have prompt access to lawyers, members of their family and any medical treatment they may require;

•allow access to UN human rights experts and other independent observers to investigate the human rights situation in the TAR and in Tibetan-populated areas in neighbouring provinces;

•conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into the allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of Tibetan, Uighur and other ethnic minority detainees, with a view to bringing those responsible to justice;

•immediately abolish the practice of "hashar", a form of forced labour.
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Please follow the link for References

I was trying to avoid this but for discussion sake i thought overwhelmingly one sided argument is not good.

This is the inevitable consequence of the fact that war/argument(edit) is a two party affair, so imposing the need that while hitting one must guard.Regards.

 

[grey boy 2]

India: Open Letter to the Home Minister, Ministry of Home Affairs

Ref: ASA 20/013/2009

P. Chidambaram

Home Minister

Ministry of Home Affairs

Government of India

104 North Block

New Delhi 110 001

India

26 June 2009

Dear Minister,

Time to end torture: open letter to Indian Authority

I am writing to express Amnesty International's concern that torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are still inflicted widely throughout India. Twelve years after signing the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention), India has yet to ratify it. Also, despite repeated requests since 1992, India has not extended an invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Amnesty International continues to receive reports of torture and other ill-treatment of individuals in custody from states where stringent security legislation is currently in force (such as Jammu & Kashmir, Chattisgarh and some north-eastern states), but also from several other states.

In last decade, several orders from India's Supreme Court, guidelines enunciated by the National and State Human Rights Commissions and official sanctions have not deterred police personnel and paramilitary forces from inflicting torture on individuals on the basis of their caste, religion, socio-economic status and sexual identity. Reports of torture for the purpose of extortion of money and torture of those belonging to the minorities and marginalised communities including dalits, adivasis and women are commonplace.

India currently has no legislation in force to criminalise torture specifically. Amnesty International understands that, over the last year, draft legislation to prevent torture is under the consideration of the government and parliament. However, the draft legislation in its current form, falls short of international standards and would need to be thoroughly revised to be in line with the Convention against Torture.

For instance, the current draft deploys a limiting definition of torture with an emphasis on the effects of "grievous hurt" and "danger". The draft states: "[W]hoever, being a public servant or being abetted by a public servant, or with the consent or acquiescence of a public servant, intentionally, does any act which causes (i) grievous hurt to any person; or (ii) danger to life or health (whether mental or physical) of any person is said to inflict torture".

This definition deviates from that presented in the Convention, which defines torture, in Article 1(1) as "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity." [Italics added.]

The current draft legislation seeks to replace the clear international legal concept of "severe pain or suffering, whether mental or physical" with "grievous hurt" which only partly overlaps it and does not, for instance, cover mental pain or suffering.

In addition, the current draft legislation does not establish specific avenues or procedures for victims, relatives or others to complain about torture and other ill treatment; on the other hand, it sets, from the date of occurrence of torture, a six-month deadline for complaints to take effect. The current draft legislation is also silent about the processes of impartial investigation of law enforcement personnel and of their prosecution and has no specific clause to support victims of torture or protect witnesses.

On the occasion of 26 June, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Indian human rights and civil society groups have called on the Government to initiate serious and wide-ranging consultations with them to ensure that it is in conformity with the UN Convention against Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Amnesty International calls on the Government of India to

•take immediate steps to end all torture and other ill-treatment, as outlined by Amnesty International's 12-Point Programme for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by Agents of the State;

•immediately ratify the UN Convention Against Torture and its Optional Protocol;

•initiate wide-ranging consultations with human rights and civil society organizations in India, as well as with international NGOs and experts, in order to bring the draft legislation into line with the UN Convention Against Torture.;

•extend an invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture without any further delay

We are attaching Amnesty International's 12-point Point Programme for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by Agents of the State.

Thank you for your consideration for the above recommendations, and we look forward to your response at the earliest. Please contact me should you have any comments or questions.

Sincerely

Sam Zarifi

Program Director

Asia Pacific Program


Cc: Mr. Veerappa Moily

Minister of Law and Justice

Room 403, A Wing

Shastri Bhavan

New Delhi 110 001

India

Fax: 0091 11 23015223, 23384241


Justice Rajendra Babu

Chairperson

National Human Rights Commission Faridkot House Copernicus Marg Delhi 110001 India

Fax: 0091 11 23384863

E-mail: covdnhrc@nic.in

 

[grey boy 2]

My recommendation; Indians should fix this inhuman situation;

India tops world hunger chart - India - The Times of India

India tops world hunger chart
Kounteya Sinha, TNN 27 February 2009, 02:29am IST
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NEW DELHI: India is failing its rural poor with 230 million people being undernourished — the highest for any country in the world. Malnutrition
accounts for nearly 50% of child deaths in India as every third adult (aged 15-49 years) is reported to be thin (BMI less than 18.5).

According to the latest report on the state of food insecurity in rural India, more than 1.5 million children are at risk of becoming malnourished because of rising global food prices.

The report said that while general inflation declined from a 13-year high exceeding 12% in July 2008 to less than 5% by the end of January 2009, the inflation for food articles doubled from 5% to over 11% during the same period.

Foodgrain harvest during 2008-09 is estimated to be a record 228 million tonnes. However, the requirement for the national population would exceed 250 million tonnes by 2015.

India ranks 94th in the Global Hunger Index of 119 countries, the report said.

Brought out by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the report points to some staggering figures. More than 27% of the world's undernourished population lives in India while 43% of children (under 5 years) in the country are underweight. The figure is among the highest in the world and is much higher than the global average of 25% and also higher than sub-Saharan Africa's figure of 28%.

More than 70% of children (under-5) suffer from anaemia and 80% of them don't get vitamin supplements. According to the report, the proportion of anaemic children has actually increased by 6% in the past six years with 11 out of 19 states having more than 80% of its children suffering from anaemia.

Percentage of women with chronic energy deficiency is stagnant at 40% over six years with the proportion in fact increasing in Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana during the same period.

The report said that the ambitious Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) was failing. "Apart from failing to serve the intended goal of reduction of food subsidies, the TPDS also led to greater food insecurity for large sections of the poor and the near-poor. These targeting errors arise due to imperfect information, inexact measurement of household characteristics, corruption and inefficiency," the report said.

It added, "Another problem of the TPDS was the issue of quantity of grain that a household would be entitled to. The TPDS initially restricted the allotments to BPL households to 10 kg per month. For a family of five, this amounts to 2 kg per capita. Using the ICMR recommended norm of 330 grams per day, the requirement per person per month would be 11 kg and that for a family of five would be 55 kg."

The Union Budget of 2001 increased the allotment to 20 kg per month and raised it further to 35 kg in April 2002.

The report also questioned the government's definitions of hunger and poverty. "The fact that calorie deprivation is increasing during a period when the proportion of rural population below the poverty line is claimed to be declining rapidly, highlights the increasing disconnect between official poverty estimates and calorie deprivation," it said.

"Nutrition security involving physical, economic and social access to balanced diet, clean drinking water, sanitation and primary healthcare for every child, woman and man is fundamental to providing all our citizens an opportunity for a healthy and productive life," said Prof M S Swaminathan.

Almost 80% of rural households do not have access to toilets within their premises. The figure exceeds 90% in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and MP.

The proportion of stunted children (under-5) at 48% is again among the highest in the world. Every second child in the country is stunted, according to the health ministry's figures.

Around 30% of babies in India are born underweight.

 

[ambidex]

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA17/016/2009/en/a3bf6018-2f38-414f-8724-41b5575cf11c/asa170162009en.pdf

China: Open letter: Amnesty International comments on the draft revision of the Law on the Protection of State Secrets

Another one, One year back

Open letter to China’s President Hu Jintao
8 July 2008, 11:05AM


Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan has written an open letter to China's President Hu Jintao.

8 July 2008
Your Excellency

With one month remaining until the much-anticipated start of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, I ask you to take five steps toward the "development of human rights" pledged by the Beijing Olympics Bid Committee in 2001. Over the last year Amnesty International has collected hundreds of thousands of voices from around the world echoing this call. I join them in urging you to take this historic opportunity to act.

Amnesty International recognises the Chinese Government's efforts to address some longstanding human rights concerns. I am particularly encouraged by the apparent progress made in reducing the use of the death penalty through the Supreme Peoples Court review process. I also appreciate recent statements by a number of Chinese officials, including Chief Justice Xiao Yang, that China is following the global trend towards abolishing the death penalty. Amnesty International also welcomes the news that 1,157 people held in connection with the protests in Tibetan-populated areas of China last March have been released. The official commitment to "full media freedom" and regulations for foreign journalists represents another step towards realising greater freedom of expression for journalists.

These developments notwithstanding, the preparation for the Olympics has actually had a negative impact in some areas of human rights. Official persecution of human rights activists continues, particularly those making connections between ongoing human rights violations and China's hosting of the Olympics, including Ye Guozhu, Hu Jia and Yang Chunlin who are serving prison sentences solely for having expressed their views peacefully. The "clean-up" of Beijing through the extended use of Re-education Through Labour is a worrying development, particularly as it ignores domestic calls for reform of this arbitrary system of detention.

Amnesty International calls on you to grasp the opportunity of the Olympic Games to implement the following five recommendations - supported by many inside and outside China - before the Games begin:

•Release all prisoners of conscience - including Ye Guozhu, Hu Jia, Yang Chunlin and any others detained in connection with the hosting of the Olympics solely for expressing their views peacefully;
•Prevent the police from arbitrarily detaining petitioners, human rights activists and others as part of a pre-Olympics "clean-up";
•Publish full national statistics on the death penalty, commit to a reduction in the number of capital crimes - especially those for non-violent offences - and introduce a moratorium on executions in line with UN General Assembly resolution 62/149 adopted on 18 December 2007;
•Allow full access and freedom of reporting for both Chinese and international journalists in all parts of China in line with promises of "complete media freedom" in the run-up to the Games;
•Account for all those killed or detained in the wake of the March 2008 protests in Tibet, particularly 116 people officially acknowledged to still be in custody, and ensure that those detained for their involvement in peaceful protests are released and that others receive a fair trial.
I believe that delivering on these five points will go a long way towards the Games being remembered not only for positive achievements on the sports field but in the field of human rights as well.

Yours sincerely
Irene Khan
Secretary General

 

[grey boy 2]

India ranks 171 out of 175 in public health spending, says WHO study - India - The Times of India

Another inhuman situation India government need to fix;

India ranks 171 out of 175 in public health spending, says WHO study
Nirmala M Nagaraj, TNN 11 August 2009, 03:04am IST
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BANGALORE: While the public health Bill amendment is still pending with the cabinet and there is panic among the public on H1N1 flu — sample this:
India ranks 171 out of the 175 countries in the world in public health spending.

This is less than some of the sub-Saharan African countries, a World Health Organization (WHO) study of 2007-08 has revealed. This being the status, can we tackle the existing epidemics and new entries like H1N1 flu?

For a country of one billion, India spends 5.2% of the GDP on healthcare. While 4.3% is spent by the private sector, the government continues to spend only 0.9% on public health. When the economic growth index is moving forward, the wellness index is dipping.

‘‘Public health spending as a percentage of GDP is minuscule. Due to this India is being overly dependent on private sector. With lowest insurance penetration people are forced to spend out of their resources. In fact, neighbouring China ranks among the leading developing countries in public health spending, almost 6% of the GDP,’’ said Vishal Bali, CEO, Wockhardt hospitals.

While India ranks among the top 10 countries for communicable disease, it is today, world leader of chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery disease.

Said Dr H Sudarshan who was part of WHO Commission on Macro Economics and Health: ‘‘There has been marginal increase in public health spending with National Rural Health Mission, but there is need for increasing health budget and also simultaneously build the capacity of the state to use the allocated budget efficiently in public health.’’

India’s National Rural Health Mission is undeniably a brand that has put public heathcare upfront. But where does it stand in the face of poor national health indicators?

One of the key findings of the commission was that by improving the health condition, the economy of the country will improve. But it has been reverse in India, he said.

Dr N Devadasan, Director of Institute of Public Health, Bangalore, said: ‘‘There is growth in GDP
but there has been no increase in healthcare spending. This inadequate public health spending has forced the public to depend on private sector.’’

India’s health scenario currently presents a contrasting picture. While health tourism and private healthcare are being promoted, a large section of Indian population still reels under the risk of curable diseases that do not receive ample attention of policymakers.

 

[ambidex]

Disease Engulfs China
By He Qinglian

While China's economy has been rapidly expanding, the country's social welfare is declining fast. Two important factors contributing to this downfall are the noticeable spread of disease among Chinese people, combined with a neglect of public health concerns.

The latest issue of the British medical journal The Lancet features a report focusing on the spread of syphilis throughout China. A joint effort between Professor Myron Cohen, director of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Center for Infectious Diseases, and the China National AIDS/STD Prevention and Control Center, the report explored the epidemic situation of sexually transmitted diseases among Chinese people from 1989 to 2005. Results revealed that in 1993 the reported total rate of cases of syphilis in China was 0.2 cases per 100,000 people, but by 2005 this number jumped to 5.7 cases. Chinese virology experts suggest that these figures may even be considerably underestimated.

Furthermore, from 1991 to 2005 incidence of congenital syphilis had grown at a very rapid rate with an average yearly increase of 71.9 percent, and more syphilis cases were found in urban areas such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong, Hainan and Zhejiang. Professor Cohen concludes that the actual situation is quite possibly much worse than his findings indicate.

But it isn't just the spread of syphilis that is worrisome. A variety of diseases are seeing an alarming increase throughout China in recent years. The following health statistics come directly from China's Ministry of Health and other institutional agencies.

Recent figures find that approximately 840,000 people are infected with HIV in China. According to the United Nation agencies within the country, the number of HIV infected individuals is expected to rise to 10 million by 2010 unless aggressive prevention measures are soon implemented.

China ranks second in the world in TB infections, with 80 percent of these cases coming from rural areas of China. Over 400 million people have been infected with the TB bacillus, five million TB patients, and two million infectious lung TB patients. The number of annual TB deaths reach up to 150,000.

In China, 30 million persons are chronically infected with Hepatitis B and another 120 million are found to be carriers for the virus.

Over the past five years, the number of Chinese with chronic bilharziasis—a deadly parasitic flatworm—have steadily remained above 800,000. The infection rate of people and livestock with this disease can be as high as 68 percent in some areas.

In addition, 200 million individuals throughout China suffer from occupational diseases—perhaps not a surprising statistic in a country where more than 1,600 businesses are found to be involved in producing poisonous products. Be it coal, chemical, metallurgical, power, building materials, electronics, lighting industry and other areas with high-risk for occupational disease, a whopping 134,244 workers are found to have been suffering from occupational ailments. And this is based only on data collected from the 54 percent of individuals employed in these hazardous fields who had participated in a physical examination.

According to the China Institute of Environmental Sciences, among the country's 1.3 billion people, more than 400,000 die from air pollution related diseases every year.

The spread of these diseases is not merely a case of developmental strategy, but because public health remains a low priority throughout the country. In many areas, work places that expose employees to poisonous and harmful substances were built primarily to foster economic development, not with concern for labor protection. These enterprises are often fittingly referred to as the country's "Blood GDP." China's large sex industry—said to have as much as six million workers—is not the only factor to blame on the country's rampant increase of AIDS. Local government has also played a significant role in the spread of the disease. One prime example has been the " plasma economy" promoted in Henan Province. This debacle saw large numbers of rural Chinese selling their blood for profit but in less than sanitary conditions. The result was a contaminated blood supply that spread through transfusions throughout the country.

High incidents of schistosomiasis (parasites found primarily in developing countries) is a prime example of such diseases that stem from a government that puts little interest into matters of public health. In some parts of China's Hunan province, the system in place for controlling schistosomiasis had collapsed as far back as the mid-80s, prompting the parasite to re-emerge. Those who die due to diseases related to air pollution fall victim to the severe damage that China's environmental health has endured. Some mention that the loss of social justice is the price that China's poor has had to pay for the country's economic development, but this development has also cost the health and well-being of all its citizens.

As the Chinese communist regime continues to put a remarkably low priority on public health, diseases flourish throughout the country. According to data published by the WHO, nearly half of the Chinese population cannot afford their medical expenses. Chinese researchers also point that the percentage of public health expenditure in the GDP has seen a consistent decrease since 1990. WHO statistics find that China's total health expenditure is strongly moving in the direction of privatization, while a severe lack of governmental aid has put the country's public health system in crisis. It wasn't until the spread of SARS in 2003 that Chinese people began to realize just how frail their public anti-epidemic system truly was.

Just how healthy is the current Chinese population? One of the main reasons for the decline of the ancient Babylon Kingdom was the spread of syphilis. Due to the illness, they remained unable to draft enough military strength to resist an intruding foreign enemy. Recently China has been discussing the rise of great nations. But if one considers China's current social situation, perhaps the decline of great nations is a more relevant topic. For a nation's populace deteriorating quickly in both physical and mental health, one must question what denotes a true aspiration toward greatness.

Originally published by Huaxia Electronic Newspaper volume 179

 

[Srinivas]

First thing we need to understand is in India, money gets the least priority unlike other countries. Based on money divide people is just a worst idea (To give benefit to poor ,first step is to divide them) . Its worse than caste based discrimination.Trying to do this just going to add one more problem to our society.

Think like this, Dalits were brainwashed to convert to Christianity and Islam to avoid this caste based discrimination. After conversion now we got Christian Dalits etc., Trying to group people by their financial status just going to add one more poor Christian Dalits etc.,

More over if you are financially good nobody going to be worried about caste .

Buddy your last sentence infers that you don't care about caste if the financial position is improved then, only thing GOI has to do is to improve the living standard of the people.
India is a secular country so a person has the religious freedom, he can follow any religion.
"christian dalits" or what ever you call is the term used to play vote bank politics. Politicians play this caste or religion card just to get political advantage and to get their priorities right, nothing more than that.
You can divide the people based on the living standard it is possible based on the yearly income that family is getting.

 

[spsk]

Buddy your last sentence infers that you don't care about caste if the financial position is improved then, only thing GOI has to do is to improve the living standard of the people.
India is a secular country so a person has the religious freedom, he can follow any religion.
"christian dalits" or what ever you call is the term used to play vote bank politics. Politicians play this caste or religion card just to get political advantage and to get their priorities right, nothing more than that.
You can divide the people based on the living standard it is possible based on the yearly income that family is getting.

you know what, I can get a income certificate from GOI that I earn 1000 Rs per year !!! Hey I am serious Many people do get this.

 

[rajeev]

I think the only way to stop castism issues is for the government stop allowing any government form, any school admission, any education certificate to have a column for "surname".

In addition to that, disallow the concept of reservation to be based on "caste", rather to base it on "parent's income".

 

[Srinivas]

you know what, I can get a income certificate from GOI that I earn 1000 Rs per year !!! Hey I am serious Many people do get this.

Buddy you cannot stop the fraud which will be always there to some extent what ever steps you take. Most important thing is that u have to look whether majority of poor are getting help.

 

[Asian.Century]

INDIA’S CASTE SYSTEM IS GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE: UN INDICTS INDIA FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST THE DALITS – NEWS REPORT

The UN’s Human Rights Council, meeting in Geneva, is expected to ratify draft principles which recognises the scale of persecution suffered by 65 million ‘untouchables’ or ‘Dalits’ who carry out the most menial and degrading work.

Many of them work as lavatory and sewer cleaners and in remote villages as “night-soil carriers”.

They are considered unclean by many higher-caste ‘Brahmins’ who regard their presence, and sometimes even their shadow as ‘polluting’.

Many Dalits have been badly beaten or killed for ‘polluting’ Brahmin wells by drinking from them.

The UN draft, which has been opposed by India, pledges to work for the “effective elimination of discrimination based on work and descent”.

The Indian government had lobbied heavily for the Human Rights Council to remove the word ‘caste’ from a draft earlier this year.

India’s opposition was undermined however by Nepal, the former Hindu Kingdom, which has supported the move. Its foreign minister Jeet Bahadur Darjee Gautam said Nepal welcomes UN and international support for its attempts to tackle caste discrimination.

The UN has now called on India to follow Nepal’s example, but New Delhi remains opposed to international interference on the issue.