EU FOR DALITS

European Parliament Resolution on the human rights situation of the Dalits in India


[RESPONSE BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION]

1. Resolution tabled pursuant to Rule 91 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure by the Committee on Development

2. EP reference number: B6-0021/2007 / P6-TA-PROV(2007)0016

3. Date of adoption of the Resolution: 1 February 2007

4. Subject: To focus attention on the abuse of human rights suffered by India’s Dalit caste

5. Brief analysis/assessment of the Resolution and requests made in it:

The Resolution describes India’s laws protecting Dalits as “grossly inadequate” and highlights abuses Dalits face such as child labour, illiteracy, violence, landlessness and employment discrimination. The Resolution expresses concern that abusers are not prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that very few are convicted. The Resolution urges the Indian government to take appropriate legal measures against the crimes of violence perpetrated against Dalits and asks the authorities to heed Dalit complaints and to take special steps to protect Dalit women.

The Parliament calls on the European Commission and the European Council to:

• Raise the issue of caste discrimination during EU-India Summits and in other dialogues between EU and India, including on human rights and trade;

• Include specific measures in EU development cooperation with India in order to close the wide gap between Dalits and the rest of the population regarding the attainment of the millennium development goals;

• Give priority to the promotion of equal opportunities for Dalits in private EU based companies and encourage companies to implement the Ambedkar Principles (see http://www.idsn.org/Documents/pdf/AmbedkarPrincip.pdf) against caste discrimination in employment.

The Resolution originated after a public hearing on the human rights situation of the Dalits held by the DEVE Committee on 18 December 2006 (see http://www.europarl.europa.eu/comparl/deve/meetings_hr/20061218/summary.pdf).

6. Response to requests and overview of action taken, or intended to be taken, by the Commission:

The Commission is committed to fighting all forms of discrimination worldwide and is following the situation of Dalits in India closely. The EU has already raised the issue of human rights in general at the 2006 EU-India Summit and intends to raise this issue in the 2007 EU-India Summit as well. Other more focused discussions on minority discrimination were held in December 2006 and a Seminar with selected experts from the EU and India was held on 17 March 2007 to discuss the discrimination faced by various minority groups in both the EU and India. These are also important fora to address caste discrimination in India.

The Commission already supports Dalit projects financially through the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights. As part of the Commission's support for Indian efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals, the Commission plans to focus its development assistance from 2007 to 2013 on improving healthcare and education for the hardest to reach in Indian society, which clearly includes Dalits. The Commission is convinced that this will make an important contribution to closing the gap between Dalits and the rest of the Indian population.

As far as the activities of EU companies based in India are concerned, they must obviously comply with domestic India legislation.