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	Indian activist wins Asia''s Nobel prize for fighting manual disposal of faeces by Anuradha Nagaraj Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, agencies   An Indian activist who helped to set up a human rights group campaigning for the eradication of manual scavenging, a euphemism for disposing of faeces by hand, was awarded Asia''s equivalent of the Nobel prize this week.   The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation named Bezwada Wilson one of six winners this year, citing his "moral energy and prodigious skill in leading a grassroots movement to eradicate the degrading servitude of manual scavenging in India".   Disposing of faeces from dry toilets and open drains by hand to be carried on the head in baskets to disposal sites, has long been an occupation thrust upon members of the Dalit group, traditionally the lowest ranked in India''s caste system.   At least 90 percent of India''s estimated one million manual scavengers are women, a hereditary occupation involving 180,000 Dalit households cleaning the more than 700,000 public and private dry latrines across the country.   Wilson, 50, whose own family had been engaged in manual scavenging for generations, said the award was recognition for women workers who had said no to scavenging.   "The struggle is at the ground level and the challenge is to overthrow a deeply caste ridden attitude," Wilson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.   "The real heroes are the women who organised themselves, questioned the practice and understood that no one is born into such forms of exploitation," he added.   Wilson was spared from manual scavenging to be the first in his family to pursue higher education, the Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said.   He went on to recruit volunteers for what would become Safai Karmachari Andolan, a movement of manual scavengers and their children. Started in 1995, it has since grown into a national movement spread over 25 states of India.   "Nobody gets into a septic tank or sewer line because they want to and knowing that they could die," Wilson said. "But deaths are increasing and that reality cannot be ignored."   India, which banned caste-based discrimination in 1955, has passed several laws to end manual scavenging with government pledges to modernise sanitation and criminalise those who employ manual scavengers. Legislation passed in December further tightened penalties.   "There is a ban but there is no enforcement of it," Wilson said. "Cases need to be filed against people who encourage this practice. If the law is enforced, manual scavenging can be eradicated in a short time."   http://globalvoices.org/2016/05/14/lower-castes-in-india-are-still-clearing-human-waste-with-their-bare-hands-despite-laws-against-it/ Visit the related web page
	Chinese Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo dies in State Custody by UN News, UNHCHR, Amnesty, Human Rights Watch China   Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on the death of Liu Xiaobo.   I would like to express my deep sorrow at the news that China’s iconic peace and democracy figure Liu Xiaobo has died at the age of 61. I send my heartfelt condolences and deepest respects to his wife, Liu Xia, his family and friends, and hope that they will be able to grieve and honour him in accordance with their wishes.   The human rights movement in China and across the world has lost a principled champion who devoted his life to defending and promoting human rights, peacefully and consistently, and who was jailed for standing up for his beliefs.   Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia were a courageous couple and absolutely devoted to one another. I urge the Chinese authorities to guarantee Liu Xia’s freedom of movement, and allow her to travel abroad should she wish so.   Liu Xiaobo was the true embodiment of the democratic, non-violent ideals he so ardently advocated. Despite the imprisonment and separation from the wife he adored that could have fuelled anger and bitterness, Liu Xiaobo declared that he had no hatred for those who pursued and prosecuted him.   Liu Xiaobo was the definition of civic courage and human dignity – a poet and intellectual who wanted, and strove for, a better future for his country. A man who, despite all he suffered, continued to espouse the politics of peace. He was and will continue to be an inspiration and an example for all human rights defenders.   http://bit.ly/2uoOWnU http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2010/xiaobo-facts.html http://www.hrw.org/news/2017/07/13/china-democratic-voice-liu-xiaobo-dies-custody http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/07/liu-xiaobo-spoke-truth-to-power/ http://bit.ly/2tOiLMT http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SRHRDefenders/Pages/Declaration.aspx http://www.theguardian.com/world/liu-xiaobo Visit the related web page
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