New York: India hassystematically failed to uphold its international legal obligations to ensurethe fundamental human rights of Dalits, a New York-based human rights watch grouphas alleged.

Despite laws and policies against caste discrimination, morethan 165 million Dalits in India are condemned to a lifetime of abuse simplybecause of their caste, said a report issued Tuesday by the Centre for HumanRights and Global Justice (CHRGJ).

The 113-page report, "Hidden Apartheid: CasteDiscrimination against India's 'Untouchables', was produced as a"shadow report" ahead of a scheduled review of New Delhi's record bya UN committee in Geneva Feb 23 and 26.

The report was described as a response to India's submission to the UNCommittee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which monitorsimplementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Formsof Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

The report said on Dec 27, 2006 Manmohan Singh became thefirst sitting Indian prime minister to openly acknowledge the parallel betweenthe practice of 'untouchability' and the crime of apartheid.

Singh described 'untouchability' as a 'bloton humanity', adding, even after 60 years of constitutional andlegal protection and state support, there is still social discriminationagainst Dalits in many parts of our country.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rightly compared'untouchability' to apartheid, and he should now turn his words into action toprotect the rights of Dalits," said Smita Narula, the faculty director ofthe CHRGJ at New York University School of Law and co-author of the report.

"The Indian overnment can no longer deny its collusionin maintaining a system of entrenched social and economic segregation,"she said.

Caste-motivated killings, rapes, and other abuses are adaily occurrence in India,the report said. Between 2001 and 2002, close to 58,000 cases were registeredunder the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act- a legislation that criminalises particularly egregious abuses against Dalitsand tribal community members.

A 2005 government report states that a crime is committedagainst a Dalit every 20 minutes. Though staggering, these figures representonly a fraction of actual incidents since many Dalits do not register cases forfear of retaliation by the police and upper-caste individuals.

"Both state and private actors commit these crimes withimpunity. Even on the relatively rare occasions on which a case reaches court,the most likely outcome is acquittal. Indian government reports reveal thatbetween 1999 and 2001, as many as 89 percent of trials involving offencesagainst Dalits resulted in acquittals," the report said.

The report cited a resolution passed by the EuropeanParliament Feb 1, 2007 finding India'sefforts to enforce laws protecting Dalits to be grossly inadequate,and saying that atrocities, untouchability, illiteracy, (and) inequalityof opportunity, continue to blight the lives of India's Dalits

The resolution called on the Indian government to engagewith CERD in its efforts to end caste-based discrimination. Dalit leaderswelcomed the resolution, but Indian officials dismissed it as lacking in 'balance and perspective'.

"International scrutiny is growing and with it thecondemnation of abuses resulting from the caste system and the government'sfailure to protect Dalits," said Brad Adams, Asiadirector at Human Rights Watch.

"Indianeeds to mobilise the entire government and make good on its paper commitmentsto end caste abuses. Otherwise, it risks pariah status for its homegrown brandof apartheid," he said.

Urging CERD to scrutinise the gap between India's human rights commitments andthe daily reality faced by Dalits, Narula said, "International outrageover the treatment of Dalits is matched by growing national discontent".She added, "Indiacan't ignore the voices of 165 million citizens."