NEWS RELEASE
From the office of the Green MEPs


4 December, 2003

LONDON MEP BRINGS 'DALIT DISCRIMINATION' TO BRUSSELS

160M FACE DAILY HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN INDIA'S 'HIDDEN APARTHEID'

MORE than 160 million members of India's 'Dalit' caste - formerly known as 'untouchables' - suffer daily discrimination and human rights abuses in India's 'Hidden Apartheid', MEPs heard today.

"Systematic caste-based discrimination in India is the shocking reality faced by millions. As India becomes a 'world player' it faces a responsibility to end caste-based human rights abuses -just as EU members have a responsibility to help India achieve this by using its leverage in foreign policy and international trade wherever possible," said Jean Lambert, London's Green MEP.

"As India's economic and political role in the world increases, its trading and political partners have an increasing duty to ensure human rights abuses inherent in the caste system become a sorry historical note rather than a continued daily reality."

Her comments came as she hosted a screening of 'Amazons in Saris' for MEPs in Brussels today. The film, which was produced and directed by Nathalie Rani Khanna, depicts the horror of daily life for India's 160 million Dalits. The 45-minute documentary follows the film-maker on her search for a group of Dalit women in the Indian state of Bihar who have adopted an armed struggle against the discrimination they face.

"This apartheid is being swept under the carpet and tolerated by other Governments - including the UK and the EU," said Mrs Lambert.

"The EU must support UN calls for a special rapporteur on caste discrimination, must include such discrimination in its own human rights reporting and take concrete measures to end such discrimination in
development and trade co-operation with the Indian government."

ENDS

For more information please contact Ben Duncan on 020 7407 6280, 07973 823358 or at press@greenmeps.org.uk