Discrimination on the grounds of work and descent

9 August 2001

Thank you, Mr Chairperson,

‘Selective perceptions, tepid reactions and token gestures’. This is how a forthcoming briefing by Minority Rights Group International (MRG) characterizes the way the UN has approached the issue of discrimination on the grounds of work and descent.

The list of human rights violations visited upon groups subjected to work- and descent-based caste discrimination is abhorrent and well-documented: bonded labour; debt bondage; derogatory references; abusive language; public stripping; prostitution of the girl child; sexual violence; and generalized discrimination in access to public places, land and water, the provision of public services, health and educational facilities, the judicial system, employment practices, and personal relations...

There is now a wide range of treaty monitoring bodies and special mechanisms covering all of the abuses listed. Furthermore, all of the major human rights conventions prohibit discrimination on a broad list of grounds. The UN, however, has been far from consistent in acknowledging the particular susceptibility to these violations of those at the bottom of the social hierarchy such as: the Dalits or ‘untouchables’ of South Asia, the Buraku of Japan and others across the world.

While some of the treaty bodies and special mechanisms have acknowledged the issue of work- and descent-based discrimination in some countries, they have failed to adopt a consistent approach; they have not denounced the phenomenon wherever it arises nor have they recognized the multiple forms of human rights violations which result from this discrimination, and have failed to formulate recommendations on the global level for tackling the issue. Furthermore, given the disproportional number of low caste manual scavengers and menial workers, as well as more general caste-based restrictions on employment, it is surprising that the International Labour Organization has to date understated caste vulnerability within the purview of its mandate.

Particularly weak areas highlighted in the MRG Briefing are the General Comments of the treaty bodies (so important in defining the scope of interpretation of the instruments they monitor) and the identification of work- and descent-based discrimination in some countries less commonly associated with the phenomenon. The MRG Briefing lists the following countries in which work- and descent-based discrimination exists: Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Guinea, India, Japan, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Micronesia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, and Sri Lanka. Many of these countries have been recently examined by treaty bodies, without the question of work and descent being discussed.

For these reasons MRG welcomes the Working Paper by Mr Rajendra Kalidas Wimala Goonesekere, which draws attention to the global issue of work and descent and has provided an excellent start to the wide-scale acknowledgement within the UN of the estimated 250 million people who have ‘inherited a life without dignity’. Importantly, it clearly states that discrimination on grounds of work and descent is a violation of international human rights law, in particular of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Mr Goonesekere categorically reaffirms, in line with the findings of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, that this form of discrimination constitutes racial discrimination.

As the World Conference against Racism process gathers speed in the run-up to Durban, what better way to flag this issue within the UN. It is imperative that States are urged to include the issue of work-and descent-based discrimination in the Declaration and Programme of Action. Should this opportunity be missed the international community will have turned its back on the voiceless. As pointed out in a report by the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism (A/54/347/para.19.8 1999), for generations, caste-based discrimination has persisted due to under reporting, resistance encountered from ‘individuals who benefited from the caste system’ and the acute disempowerment, disarticulation and social exclusion of those born with historically discredited identities. The inclusion of this pervasive form of racial discrimination within The World Conference against Racism can signal the start of a truly consistent, integrative approach within the UN to tackling this injustice.

Mr Chairperson,

Minority Rights Group International recommends that no effort is spared in ensuring the inclusion of work- and descent-based discrimination in the World Conference final documents and,

That the Sub-Commission continue its study on the work- and descent-based discrimination, and in so doing draws on the important role UN treaty-based and charter-based bodies have in comprehensively addressing this form of discrimination in the execution of their mandates.

Thank you for your attention.

Delivered by: Corinne Lennox