In June 2024, Chandra Ingram (JD 2025) wrote a civil society parallel report for India’s 4th periodic review under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The report was prepared in collaboration with the IHRC, the Tamil Nadu non-profit Cross Global, and several other NGOs and non-profits throughout India. The report focuses on debt bondage and the caste system, issues that come under the purview of the Covenant (Articles 2, 8, and 26). Debt bondage, also known as bonded labor, wherein business owners use debts, threats, and violence to trap vulnerable people and force them to work in inhumane conditions, is prevalent in India. Although India outlawed bonded labor in 1976 for infringing on human rights, it is failing to take necessary steps to eliminate it. In India, bonded labor takes various forms, particularly in rural areas, often targeting men, women, and children from communities that are marginalized by the country’s perduring caste system. The report also recommends increasing awareness and training at all levels of the government about their role in identifying, releasing, and rehabilitating bonded laborers.
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