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bodies should be independent and provided with sufficient funding, resources and
staff to adequately fulfil their mandate.
134. Law enforcement officers should receive training to identify and adequately
respond to cases of caste-based discrimination, particularly those involving castebased violence. Rapid-response protocols should be developed and implemented by
police officers to attend to victims and conduct in situ investigations. Criminal
penalties should be established for law enforcement officers who neglect or
intentionally decide not to investigate and/or prosecute complaints filed by individuals
regarded as “low caste”. Recruitment of members of affected communities into law
enforcement agencies should be encouraged, including through the establishment of a
quota system for caste-affected individuals.
135. Human rights education in schools should be a mandatory subject. Language in
school textbooks should be revised to eliminate stereotypical and prejudicial
portrayals of caste-affected communities and contest the social construction of caste
and caste-like systems and related notions, including untouchability and segregation.
136. Specific measures should be developed to tackle discrimination, including on
the grounds of caste, in all development and disaster recovery actions and
programming. Implementation of caste-analysis methodology in the humanitarian
assistance framework to adequately identify affected communities, as well as the
implementation mechanisms to ensure that humanitarian relief is equally distributed,
is fundamental to prevent caste-based discrimination from being replicated in
humanitarian response actions.
137. States should extend invitations to special procedure mandate holders to assess
the situation of caste-affected communities in their respective countries and request
their assistance for technical cooperation.
138. The draft United Nations principles and guidelines for the effective elimination
of discrimination based on work and descent should be promoted by States and
endorsed by the Human Rights Council.
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