Part 1 1. INTRODUCTION More than half of humanity lives in Asia. Among all the peoples of the continent, there is a new awakening, an awakening of people regarding their dignity and their rights. Since most people in Asia are poor, this new awakening of their dignity has far-reaching implications for all aspects of Asia's economies, societies and cultures. The one-time submissiveness among the region's peoples, sometimes described even as a cultural value, is rapidly disappearing. People, particularly the young, claim their dignity and rights as their birthright. All cultural and religious doctrines of inequality by birth is being rejected and strongly resisted. This is so for women, who mostly have suffered inhumane restrictions and deprivations in traditional Asia. Such fierce resistance also exists among the Untouchables, or Dalits, and "low-caste" people who have been subjected to the most wretched forms of discrimination in India in particular and well as other South Asian countries and even Japan. The indigenous peoples and minority groups of many countries of Asia are demanding their equal place as well. Meanwhile, Asia as a whole is also demanding equality of treatment and respect for their rights before the international community. The past and present unfair economic and trade practices that have impoverished the countries of Asia and its people are resented and opposed. Debate on rights relating to development and the elimination of policies and practices that increase poverty and misery are very much part of Asia's discussions on the issue of development. That poverty is not a product of fate, a lack of luck or is self-induced through incapacity or a lack of initiative and is, in fact, a result of injustice, has become a widely accepted premise in the Asian debate on economic, social and cultural rights. This vast awakening among the ordinary people of Asia, however, has not been reflected in the initiatives of Asia's governments relating to human rights, democracy and development. Despite becoming parties to U.N. treaties on human rights, the most blatant forms of violations are regularly occurring within the region with impunity. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) sets out below some of the serious concerns relating to a number of countries in Asia. 2. COMMUNAL VIOLENCE The horrendous violence unleashed in 2002 in the Indian state of Gujarat, which killed more than 2,000 people, remains a sad illustration of the bleak human rights situation in India As a result of the atrocities in Gujarat, India's image as a secular nation has been severely tarnished, and communalism has emerged as an agent that can be manipulated to release massive violence. Although the outpouring of violence was eventually brought under control-only after many people had been killed or injured and a great deal of property damage had been done-the Indian government has failed to convince the nation and the international community that it is willing, or able, to bring communalism under control. AHRC draws the attention of the world community to this underlying, but prevailing, violent atmosphere in India and calls for a more serious approach to be adopted to these massive violations of rights in South Asia's largest country. AHRC furthermore endorses the detailed recommendations of the Concerned Citizens Tribunal-Gujarat 2002 that have been published in Crime against Humanity: An Inquiry into the Carnage in Gujarat. This People's Tribunal was led by such eminent jurists as Justice V. R. Krishner Ayer, Justice P. B. Sawant (both retired Supreme Court judges), Justice Hubert Suresh (retired judge of the Mumbai High Court) and several other eminent Indians. AHRC particularly endorses the call of this People's Tribunal for an international inquiry into the gross human rights violations committed in Gujarat. 3. DISCRIMINATION BASED ON CASTE AND GENDER 3.1 Caste-Based Discrimination India in particular and South Asia in general is also afflicted by caste-based discrimination. Approximately 260 million people in South Asia-a population larger than most countries-are designated as Dalits who suffer from constant discrimination and violence on the basis of work and their descent. Discrimination includes the segregation of housing settlements and cemeteries and other apartheid-like practices that have effectively and systemically sought to destroy the identity, dignity and self-respect of the Dalit people. 3.2 Gender-Based Inequality Dalit women suffer an additional layer of discrimination and violence on the basis of their gender by people of higher castes and within their own community. The extreme vulnerability of Dalit women stems from the precariousness of their economic, social and political positions, which are reflected in a number of socio-economic indicators: literacy rates of only 12 percent and 7 percent for Dalit women in India and Nepal respectively, a low life expectancy of 50 years (some organisations claim it is as low as 42 years), a high infant mortality rate of 90 per 1,000 births, a high fertility rate of 5.19 and generally poor health. In spite of India and Nepal's ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as well as domestic laws to eradicate discrimination against Dalit women, they remain enslaved within a social system that ignores their rights as human beings. The lack of implementation of these U.N. conventions and enforcement of their own laws indicate that the Indian and Nepalese authorities find them to be irrelevant, reflecting serious shortcomings in international human rights mechanisms and the legal systems of these countries. In Bangladesh although the exact number of acid attacks against women is difficult to document because many of the cases go unreported due to the victims fearing reprisals from their attackers, 47 cases were reported in 1996, according to the Bangladeshi Acid Survivor's Foundation, with the figure jumping dramatically to 130 in 1997 and 200 in 1998. Reasons reported for acid-throwing attacks include refusing an offer of marriage, rejecting a man's advances, dowry disputes, domestic fights, disputes over property and even a delayed meal. Although the victims of acid attacks range in age, many of the women are teenagers from poor families. Some of them are as young as 11 years old. Few of the victims or their families can afford the extensive surgery needed to repair the damage. Furthermore, medical care available for victims is extremely limited in Bangladesh. According to the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association and the Bangladeshi Acid Survivor's Foundation, only 10 percent of attackers are ever brought to trial. Sadly, the country's women will continue to suffer until Bangladesh, whose two leading politicians are ironically women-Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and opposition leader Sheikh Hasina-take its international commitments and legal obligations seriously. Another issue afflicting Bangladesh's women as well as its children is imprisonment without being convicted of any crime. While Bangladesh has acceded to the ICCPR and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that forbid arbitrary arrests and detentions, several of Bangladesh's laws contradict these international treaties. Reportedly, 1,000 to 1,200 children below the age of 18 were languishing in 65 jails across the nation last year, and 350 women are in "safe custody" prisons. "Safe custody," however, is a misnomer as women and children endure conditions that are anything but "safe, the women and children put into "safe custody" are not segregated from the general prison population nor are they necessarily separated by sex or by age. (continued) __________________________________________________________ Asian Human Rights Commission | Tel: +(852)-2698-6339 Unit D,7 Floor,16 Argyle Street,| Fax: +(852)-2698-6367 Mongkok Commercial Centre, | E-mail: ahrchk@ahrchk.org Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR | Web: www.ahrchk.net __________________________________________________________