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Facebook: UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing ^[2] // Twitter: @adequatehousing ^[3]

Human Rights Council Appoints 19 Human Rights Experts to Report on Wide Range of Themes and Country Situations

Geneva, 8 May 2014 – The Human Rights Council today appointed 19 human rights experts ^[4] to serve as United Nations Special Procedure mandate holders tasked with reporting on a wide range of human rights themes and country situations.

At an organizational meeting of the Council held today, Council President Ambassador Baudelaire Ndong Ella (Gabon) announced his decision to appoint the following individuals to serve in these posts recently left vacant by previous mandate holders, with the exception of the newly created mandate on older persons authorized at the Council’s September session:

Individual thematic mandates –  Mr. Juan Bohoslavsky (Argentina) as Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt; Ms. Rosa Kornfeld-Matte (Chile) as Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons; Ms. Leilani Farha (Canada) as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing; Ms. Urmila Bhoola (South Africa) as Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery; Mr. Philip Alston (Australia) as Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; Ms. Hilal Elver (Turkey) as Special Rapporteur on the right to food; Ms. Victoria Lucia Tauli-Corpuz (Philippines) as Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples; Ms. Maud De Boer-Buquicchio (the Netherlands) as Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; and Mr. Michel Forst (France) as Special Rapporteur on the situation on human rights defenders.

Thematic mandate working group members – Mr. Edtami Mansayagan (Philippines) as member from Asia-Pacific States to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Mr. Wilton Littlechild (Canada) as member from Western European and Other States to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Mr. Sètondji Roland Jean-Baptiste Adjovi (Benin) as member from African States to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; Mr. José Guevara (Mexico) as  member from Latin American and Caribbean States to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; Ms. Houria Es Slami (Morocco) as member from African States to the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances; Ms. Alda Facio (Costa Rica) as member from Latin American and Caribbean States to the Working Group on Discrimination Against Women in Law and in Practice; and Mr. Saeed Mokbil (Yemen) as member from Asia-Pacific to the Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries.

Country-specific mandates – Mr. Bahame Nyanduga (Tanzania) as Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia; Ms. Yanhee Lee (Republic of Korea) as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar; and Mr. Makarim Wibisono (Indonesia) as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.

These appointments by the President of the Human Rights Council are based on proposals put forth to him by members of the Council’s Consultative Group and in compliance with the Council’s institution-building package ^[5].  The 19 new experts join the ranks of the 51 Special Procedures mandates which periodically report to the Human Rights Council on wide-ranging human rights issues around the globe.

The new mandate holders will assume their responsibilities during the first week of June.

At the onset of today’s meeting the Council observed a minute of silence for the memory of Mr. Marc Pallemaerts, the Special Rapporteur on toxic waste, who recently passed away.

The Human Rights Council will hold its next session, the twenty-sixth regular session, from 10 to 27 June 2014.

Background

The special procedures are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective. The system of Special Procedures is a central element of the United Nations human rights machinery and covers all human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political, and social. As of 1 October 2013 there are 37 thematic and 14 country mandates.

With the support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), special procedures undertake country visits; act on individual cases and concerns of a broader, structural nature by sending communications to States and others in which they bring alleged violations or abuses to their attention; conduct thematic studies and convene expert consultations, contribute to the development of international human rights standards, engage in advocacy, raise public awareness, and provide advice for technical cooperation. Special procedures report annually to the Human Rights Council; the majority of the mandates also reports to the General Assembly. Their tasks are defined in the resolutions creating or extending their mandates.

For more information about the Special Procedures, please visit the Special Procedures webpage ^[6].

For more information about the Human Rights Council, please visit the HRC website ^[7].

Media contacts: Rolando Gómez, Public Information Officer, OHCHR, + 41(0)22 917 9711, rgomez@ohchr.org ^[8] and Cédric Sapey, Public Information Officer, OHCHR, + 41(0)22 917 9695, csapey@ohchr.org ^[9]

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After two years of work, we concluded the Security of Tenure Project with the publication of the “Guiding Principles on Security of Tenure for the Urban Poor” , as a leaflet and as a guide.

The leaflet presents the guiding principles on security of tenure included in the thematic report presented in March to the UN Human Rights Council. It is available on our website in five languages – Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, and Arabic. Click here ^[11] to read it.

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The guide contains the full thematic report as well as the resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council, which addresses a number of issues related to security of tenure and includes references to the rapporteur’s guiding principles on the theme. This material is also available in our website, in English and Spanish. Click here ^[13] to read it.

To know more about the Security of Tenure Project, click here. ^[14]

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This newsletter is a project of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing and it does not contain official information. Rapporteur (from May 2008): Raquel Rolnik
To receive our newsletter, access our website and subscribe ^[16].
If you prefer, contact us by email: contact@righttohousing.org
Twitter: @adequatehousing ^[17] / Facebook: www.facebook.com/righttohousing ^[18]

The UN Human Rights Council adopted, in its 25th session, a resolution on adequate housing, including references to security of tenure, the topic of the Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik’s final thematic report, presented on March 10-11. At the time, she also presented the reports on the missions to Indonesia and United Kingdom conducted in 2013. Many countries, regional groups, human rights institutions and civil society organizations welcomed such reports. At the end of the session, the Council decided to postpone the decision on the new rapporteurs to the end of April.

www.righttohousing.org ^[19]

* Resolution
The resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur and addresses a number of issues related to security of tenure, based on the Rapporteur’s guiding principles on security of tenure for the urban poor, presented in her last thematic report. It also renews the housing mandate for another three-year period. Read here ^[20] the text of the resolution (as orally revised and adopted by consensus).

* Statements
During the interactive dialogue at the Council, many country delegations and regional groups, as well as National Human Rights Institutions, civil society organization and networks read statements welcoming the reports of the Rapporteur, and the thematic focus on security of tenure. Click here ^[21] to read all the 40 statements.

* New Rapporteurs
At the request of Peruvian Delegation, the Council has decided to postpone the appointment of the nineteen special procedures mandate holders that were supposed to be appointed at the end of this session. The objective is to finalise the process in the course of April.

The UN Human Rights Council adopted, in its 25^th session, a resolution on adequate housing, including references to security of tenure, the topic of the Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik’s final thematic report, presented on March 10-11.

The resolution adopted by the Council welcomes the work of the Special Rapporteur and addresses a number of issues related to security of tenure, based on the Rapporteur’s guiding principles on security of tenure for the urban poor, presented in her last thematic report. It also renews the housing mandate for another three-year period.

Click here to read the text of the resolution ^[23] (as orally revised and adopted by consensus).

The resolution was sponsored by 48 countries, and other 9 have subsequently declared their support. The full list of countries sponsoring the resolution will only be closed 14 days after the Council’s session. In this period, new countries may join as co-sponsors. See the list below.

Original co-sponsors (on L.18/Rev.1):

Austria, Belgium,* Benin, Bolivia (Plurinational State of),* Bosnia and Herzegovina,* Chile, Colombia,* Costa Rica, Croatia,* Cyprus,* Denmark,* Ecuador,* El Salvador,* Estonia, Finland,* France, Georgia,* Germany, Greece,* Guatemala,* Honduras,* Hungary,* Iceland,* Ireland, Italy, Latvia,* Lithuania,* Luxembourg,* Maldives, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands,* Norway,* Panama,* Paraguay,* Peru, Poland,* Portugal,* Romania, Senegal,* Serbia,* Slovakia,* Slovenia,* Spain,* Sweden,* Switzerland,* the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Uruguay,* Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Additional co-sponsors – as of now:

Brazil, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Andorra, Djibouti*, Haiti*, Republic of Moldova*, Saint Kitts and Nevis*, Thailand*, Tunisia*, Turkey*, Ukraine*.

*Non-member State of the Human Rights Council.

GENEVA (26 March 2014) – A group of United Nations independent human rights experts on Wednesday called on the Vietnamese Government to intervene urgently in a case of forced eviction of the last remaining residents of Con Dau, a small village located on the outskirts of Da Nang city in central Viet Nam.

“This appears to be a clear case of land grabbing for the benefit of private entrepreneurs and at the expense of local communities,” the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, Raquel Rolnik, said.

In 2007, the local government of Da Nang city decided to expropriate the land of Con Dau village, used for housing and agriculture. Residents were opposed to the project and were offered inadequate compensation and housing alternatives in a distant location. The land was leased to the private company Sun Land to build an eco-resort.

In 2013, hundreds of residents moved out after facing pressure and threats, with some even seeing their homes demolished. Land use rights are reportedly now being sold by lots to private individuals.  On 7 March 2014, the local Da Nang government gave the remaining hundred or so households a deadline of 15 April 2014 to give up their land and move out. Meanwhile however, the compulsory demolition of homes is continuing, and it is feared that even before the deadline elapse, all houses will have been destroyed.

“Since about one hundred families are still struggling to keep their homes, we are making this urgent call to the Central Government of Viet Nam to step in firmly,” Ms. Rolnik added.

UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights Farida Shaheed, who recently visited Viet Nam, noted that the village was home to a small Catholic community.

“Con Dau was built by the work of many generations of residents, who shaped their culture through cultivating rice and church activities,” she said.  “The parish cemetery, a national culture heritage site, has been demolished and removed to a remote area. Such acts are seriously disrupting the cultural and religious life of the community, and should immediately be ceased.”

UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Heiner Bielefeldt and UN Independent Expert on minority issues Rita Izsák have joined an urgent appeal that was sent to the Viet Nam Government earlier last week.

The United Nations human rights experts are part of what it is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights, is the general name of the independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms of the Human Rights Council that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world.

They are charged by the Human Rights Council to monitor, report and advise on human rights issues. Currently, there are 37 thematic mandates and 14 mandates related to countries and territories, with 72 mandate holders. In March 2014, three new mandates will be added. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

Learn more, visit:
Housing: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/HousingIndex.aspx ^[24]
Cultural rights: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/CulturalRights/Pages/SRCulturalRightsIndex.aspx ^[25]
Religion: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomReligion/Pages/FreedomReligionIndex.aspx ^[26]
Minorities: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Minorities/IExpert/Pages/IEminorityissuesIndex.aspx ^[27]

UN Human Rights, country page – Viet Nam: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/VNIndex.aspx ^[28]

For more information and media requests, please contact Mylène Bidault (+ 41 22 917 92 54 / mbidault@ohchr.org ^[29]) or write to srculturalrights@ohchr.org ^[30]

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org ^[31])

UN Human Rights, follow us on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unitednationshumanrights ^[32]
Twitter: http://twitter.com/UNrightswire ^[33]
Google+ gplus.to/unitednationshumanrights 
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/UNOHCHR ^[34]
Storify: http://storify.com/UNrightswire ^[35]

On March 10 and 11, Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik presented to the UN Human Rights Council her thematic report on security of tenure ^[36] and the reports on her missions to Indonesia ^[37] and the United Kingdom ^[38].

Watch the complete presentation here ^[39].

After the presentation, she participated in an interactive dialogue with many country delegations and regional groups, as well as National Human Rights Institutions, civil society organization and networks. 28 countries, 4 regional groups and 7 organizations/institutions/networks addressed the reports.

The document with all the statements is available for reading and download: just click on the green button below. The statements are in their original language.

Download the file ^[40]

During the UN Human Rights Council 25th session, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, and the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, presented their last reports.

On March 10, Ms. Rolnik presented the thematic report on security of tenure ^[36] and the reports on her missions to Indonesia ^[41] and the United Kingdom ^[42] in 2013. On the following day, the dialogue between countries and the rapporteurs continued, when the first ones made their statements.

You can read her complete statement here ^[43]. The presentation was live streamed at the UN WebTv ^[44] and it’s available below:

First part (Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik starts her presentation at 19′)

Second part

Statement by Raquel Rolnik

SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON ADEQUATE HOUSING AS A COMPONENT OF THE RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING, AND ON THE RIGHT TO NON-DISCRIMINATION IN THIS CONTEXT

25th session of the Human Rights Council

10 March 2014, Geneva

Mr. President,

Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

I am honoured to address the Human Rights Council in my capacity as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context.

In this occasion, I am very pleased to present my final thematic report, with practical guidance for states and other stakeholders on security of tenure for the urban poor. I also present my reports on the official visits carried out in 2013, to Indonesia and to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

1. Thematic report: Guiding Principles on Security of tenure for the urban poor

A year ago, in this room, I underscored the importance of security of tenure. I called it the cornerstone of the right to adequate housing, and noted that its absence is one of the most acute vulnerabilities faced by the urban poor around the world. Often, I said, tenure insecurity leads to a range of human rights violations, affecting not only the right to adequate housing but several other related rights, like education, freedom of assembly, health or social security.

My work of the past year has reinforced my conviction. Globally, tenure insecurity is responsible for many millions of people living under a daily threat of eviction, lack of access to services, or in an ambiguous situation where their tenure status becomes the basis for discrimination, or is used in their detriment by public and private actors.

The crisis manifests itself in many forms and contexts, and disproportionately impacts on the urban poor. Forced evictions may be its most visible sign. However, displacement resulting from development, gentrification, mega-events, natural disasters, among others, is persistent and on rise. I receive communications on such situations daily, affecting hundreds of people.

No one is fully protected from tenure insecurity. As the recent mortgage and financial crises showed, even those families that trusted freehold was a safer option, were impacted by foreclosures, and, as a result, are now facing homelessness.

It is evident that the poorest bear the brunt of tenure insecurity. This is often the case in self-made, unplanned and subserviced urban settlements, including for tenants within these settlements. But it is equally the case for unprotected tenants elsewhere, and for people facing foreclosures with no affordable housing alternatives in their horizon. Among them, some marginalized groups such as refugees, internally displaced persons, migrants, minorities, and women are often faced with cumulative discrimination.

Hence, in my view, any legislation, policy and practice on security of tenure must acknowledge that individuals and communities occupying land or property to fulfil their right to adequate housing, and who have no other adequate option, have legitimate tenure rights that should be secured and protected. The concept of legitimate tenure rights extends beyond mainstream notions of private ownership and includes multiple tenure forms deriving from a variety of tenure systems.

Mr. President, distinguished delegates,

The good news is that a lot has been done around the world to increase security of tenure for the urban poor. There are concrete policies and practices addressing security of tenure and they offer an array of examples and lessons to enhance housing and urban development policies in the years to come.

During the last two years, I have analyzed many of those practices from various countries. Working closely with more than a hundred housing public policy and human rights experts, I have developed a set of ten short Guiding Principles, which aims at distilling the essential contents of legislation, policies and practices to be applied in different contexts and situations.  I take this opportunity to thank your Governments for all contributions to this process, via questionnaires or the participation of officials in some consultations.

In line with my mandate, as outlined in the Council’s resolution 15/8, paragraph 2 (c) and (e), I have given emphasis to practical solutions with regard to the implementation of the right to adequate housing, while at the same time paying special attention to the needs of persons in vulnerable situations, like those living in poverty.

The Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor are not an academic exercise divorced from the constraints of public policy design and implementation, or the specificities of diverse societies and housing systems. Nor are they intended as a recipe to be followed everywhere from one to ten. Rather, the Guiding Principles are meant as a toolbox to be applied according to specific country context: some principles may be more effective or necessary in one situation, while others may be central in another.

Mr President, distinguished delegates,

These principles define security of tenure as a set of relationships with respect to housing and land, established through statutory or customary law or informal or hybrid arrangements, that enables one to live in one’s home in security, peace and dignity. It is an integral part of the right to adequate housing and a necessary ingredient for the enjoyment of many other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.

As the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in reference to article 11 of the Covenant, has insisted for over twenty years, all persons should possess a degree of security of tenure that guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats.

Why a focus on the urban poor?

Mr President,

The rapid pace of urbanization around the world is unquestionable. There is no turning back to the rural past of humanity. Already in 2007, more than half of the world population lived in cities, a figure that is expected to rise to 60 per cent by 2030, and fifteen years from now.

The plight of the urban poor is pressing, not the least because millions of people are moving into urban and peri-urban settlements as we speak. Frequently these settlements fall short of the human rights standards of adequate housing, starting with tenure insecurity. Many other millions of urban poor are also living in unaffordable, substandard housing, or are threatened by eviction from their life-long homes because of urban renewal plans or because they cannot afford to compete with international real estate investors.

The ten Guiding Principles

Let me briefly outline the ten guiding principles for your consideration:

The first principle set the foundation of this approach: Strengthening diverse tenure forms. A variety of tenure forms should be promoted, strengthened and protected, including those deriving from statutory, customary, religious and hybrid tenure systems. All relevant laws, policies and programmes should be developed on the basis of human rights impact assessments, which identify and prioritize the tenure arrangements of the most marginalized. Despite the prevalence of a variety of tenure arrangements worldwide, in the past few decades, most models of urban planning, land management, development and legal regimes have been centered around one particular form: individual freehold, as a “one size fits all solution”. This common fixation further excludes the most marginalized individuals.

In my view, principles two and three are closely linked with the need to address existing realities and enhance them, in consonance with the need for progressive steps towards the full realization of the rights.  Principle two refers to improving security of tenure by putting in place essential measures, especially for vulnerable and marginalized persons and groups living in urban poor settlements. These can include a number of public policy actions involving various parts of the governments, from identifying insecure settlements and population groups, including the homeless; or facilitating participatory settlement mapping, enumerations and tenure registration; to allocating sufficient funds to ministries, and local governments for their implementation, to name a few examples.

Principle three, prioritizing in situ solutions, emphasizes that unless there are exceptional circumstances justifying eviction, and that those circumstances are consistent with the strict standards established under international human rights law, in situ solutions must prevail.  There are legitimate circumstances in which resettlement may be appropriate to protect the health and safety of inhabitants exposed to natural disasters or environmental hazards, or to preserve critical environmental resources. However, the misuse of regulations aimed at protecting public health and safety or the environment to justify eviction of poor households in the absence of genuine risk is contrary to international human rights law.

But we must also anticipate future realities and prevent further deterioration of housing conditions. Principle four underlines that property has a vital social function in designing and implementing housing and other relevant policies. The inability of the poor to access secure and well located urban housing is often a consequence of policies that promote the commodification of land and housing to the detriment of their social function. We need to promote access to secure, affordable and well-located housing for the urban poor through measures such as: citywide audits of vacant and underutilized land, housing and buildings; allocation of available public land for the provision of low-income housing or regulation and stimulation of low-income rental market and collective forms of tenure.

The following two principles, five and six, shed light on a core principle of human rights, central to my mandate as Rapporteur, non-discrimination in relation to the right to adequate housing. Discrimination on the basis of tenure, in law or practice, occurs all too often. It happens when a person tries to access basic services, like water or electricity, when entire communities are not included in official data collection, including census, and hence public policies are not responsive to their presence and needs; or in the face of police procedures, including excessive use of force. It has been brought to my attention repeatedly that displaced people due to disasters or conflict may at times be discriminated in accessing humanitarian assistance, including shelter, due to their pre-conflict or pre-disaster tenure status. Intimately related, is principle six, on the situation of women, whose security of tenure should be protected regardless of age, marital, civil or social status, and independent of their relationships with male household or community members.

Tenure security of the urban poor is affected by the activities of a diverse range of actors, not only States. I have addressed the responsibilities of business enterprises as well as those of multilateral and bilateral development agencies in principles seven and eight. While States must protect all individuals against violations of human rights, business actors (for example, construction companies, real-estate agencies, landlords, mega-event organizers and banks, among others) also have human rights responsibilities. The principles call these actors to ensure that their activities do not cause adverse impacts on security of tenure; that if any adverse impacts have been caused by their activities, there are accountability mechanisms, effective responses and access to remedies; and that they adopt appropriate safeguards.

Global experience shows that the realization of the right to adequate housing depends as much upon the mobilization and advocacy of social movements as the efforts of States. Hence, principle nine: Empowering the urban poor and holding States accountable, puts the urban poor at the center of this approach. The poor are essential actors rather than mere recipients in strengthening tenure security efforts.  Empowering them is a matter of human rights implementation and also of genuine governance. Access to information, full participation, transparency in decision-making, freedom of association, are by nature a progressive process that warrants accountability. In other words, States must demonstrate that they are taking deliberate, concrete and targeted steps as expeditiously and effectively as possible, including through a plan of action for strengthening multiple tenure forms.

Last but not least, principle ten stresses a core human rights principle: there is no real protection without ensuring that the poor can access justice. States should take all measures to remove barriers to accessing effective remedies through a range of judicial and administrative mechanisms. States should also ensure there are alternatives to the courts, like land dispute and grievance mechanisms that are inexpensive, accessible, socially legitimate and rule-bound.

Concluding remarks on security of tenure

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen,

Security of tenure guarantees that people access and enjoy their home without fear of forced evictions. It enables them to improve their housing and living conditions. It provides a foundation for the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing and other human rights.

Multiple tenure arrangements can and must be protected and promoted. States have an obligation to ensure that all persons possess a degree of security of tenure that guarantees legal protection against all threats. They also have an obligation to take progressive measures to strengthen security of tenure for all persons currently using land or housing for their basic housing needs, and who lack such security.

I am confident that these principles will assist States and other actors in opening a pathway to a dignified tenure situation for the urban poor.

2. Mission to Indonesia

At the invitation of the Government, I undertook an official visit to Indonesia from 31 May to 11 June 2013. I visited Jakarta, Makassar, Surabaya and Yogyakarta, and met with representatives of national and local Governments, non-governmental organizations and communities in urban and rural areas. I am thankful for their valuable cooperation before, during and after the mission.

Indonesia is the world’s third most populous country with the fastest rate of growth of urban population in Asia. In parallel, in the last decade, it has enjoyed steady economic growth and poverty decline. Still, about 28.6 million people or more than 10 per cent of all households live below the poverty line. Urbanization is taking place at an accelerated pace, with projections of 70 per cent of the population living in urban centres by 2030.  The urban poor are concentrated in densely populated Java, accounting for over two thirds of the country’s low-income population.

In this context, the coming years offer a window of opportunity to proactively ensure that rapid urbanization goes hand in hand with inclusive growth and poverty reduction. Legislation, policies and programmes should encourage efficient urban spatial structures for all, sustainable planning of land use, investments in critical infrastructure, strengthened tenure security and the provision of basic services. Enhancing the housing and living conditions in kampungs must be at the heart of public policy without delay.

I recommend the Government of Indonesia to bring its national and municipal legislation and regulations regarding forced evictions, land acquisition and land concessions in line with international human rights law and standards.  A key policy instrument for this purpose could be a National Housing Strategy based on updated and disaggregated data on the current housing situation and needs. Such a strategy can be essential to clarify the responsibility of and coordination between various Government institutions and other stakeholders.

In terms of land management and administration, I recommend enhanced protection for low-income households, indigenous communities and communities occupying land based on customary (adat) law.  For this purpose, urban spatial plans and land use regulations should ensure an inclusionary and diversified urban environment. I recommend formally recognizing the kampong for what it has been: an essential part of Indonesian urban fabric

Indonesia has suffered several devastating natural disasters. Reconstruction poses an enormous challenge in human, technical and budgetary terms. In this context, I welcome the design and implementation of the Rekompak Programme, which can serve as an example to other parts of the world.  In my view, it is responsive, cost-effective, community-driven, and appears to provide durable and sustainable solutions. The rehabilitation alternatives are tailored with the participation of the communities, in accordance wits regional characteristics and culture. Even with some difficulties in implementation, it appears to offer needed flexibility to the complexities of the situation.

In closing, I would like to note that the promotion of equality and non-discrimination in access to housing continues to require swift and well-defined action from the Government at all levels. Laws, policies and practices that perpetuate discrimination in access to adequate housing of marginalized groups (such as women, LGBT people, internal migrants and religious minorities) should be reviewed and repealed.

3. Mission to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

At the invitation of the central Government, I undertook on official visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 29 August to 11 September 2013. I am grateful to the central Government and the devolved administrations in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales for the cooperation and hospitality extended. I visited London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast and Manchester, and in all places I met with officials, representatives of the national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, and housing and human rights experts. I thank all, especially all the individuals for the testimonies heard during the visit and for the high level of contributions and letters received in preparing the report that I am presenting today.

I recognize the complexity of the central and devolved administrations in relation to housing: various housing and planning functions are devolved, while there are also central legislative powers, such as those related to welfare and budgetary decisions. The report noted these differences and specificities.

I commend the United Kingdom for its history of ensuring that low- and middle-income households have access to adequate housing and have been protected from insecure tenure forms or poor housing standards. More than in any other of my official visits, I found that people in the United Kingdom clearly understood what the right to housing means and why affordability, good location and accessibility are so critical to a life in dignity.

This notion took hold thanks to a combination of housing, land and planning policies designed to provide adequate housing and to address backlogs or poor quality of existing housing stock; plus a welfare system that included housing benefits.

In line with binding international human rights standards, the United Kingdom is required to examine its legislation and policies overtime, including in times of austerity, and to take every step to ensure that available resources are distributed fairly, consistently and in a manner that protects the most vulnerable. In my report, I regret that some policies and practices, which had previously contributed to the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing, are being eroded in recent years I note with concern that the structural shape of the housing sector has changed to the detriment of the most vulnerable, and is rendering specific population groups more fragile. Among them, I underscore the situation of low-income people, the homeless, persons with disabilities and young people.

In my view, it is essential to assess and evaluate the impact the welfare reform has had on the right to adequate housing of these and other individuals and groups. In light of existing data and evidence, the Government should consider whether particular measures are having a disproportionate impact on specific groups; assess whether the overall costs of the implementation of some reforms might outweigh the savings intended, thereby violating the State’s obligation to use the maximum of available resources; and consider alternative avenues to achieve similar objectives without affecting the poorest or most vulnerable. In this context, I recommend the suspension of the removal of the spare-room subsidy and a careful evaluation of its negative impacts on the right to adequate housing and general well-being of many vulnerable individuals and households.

As I have noted in my report, the United Kingdom faces a critical situation in terms of availability, but also in terms of affordability of housing. There is no doubt in my mind that the Government has made efforts and devoted resources to address the overall gap between the housing needs and the actual supply of new houses, especially in some cities. Despite the many figures provided, I remain concerned that the new completions are indeed targeting the low-income sector of society, and whether the policy priority is placed on the most marginalized.

Consequently, I suggest expanding grants and subsidies to local councils and housing associations, or ensuring that they benefit from the ongoing plans to release public land, above other housing sector players, as these have been essential in responding to the housing need of the most vulnerable.  I suggested the inclusion in planning and land management systems of strict conditions for immediate development of land with planning permits and “build-or-lose” safeguards, and I welcome the Government’s response acknowledging this is important feature in the planning system, and recognizing this is the right time to reinstate it.

More regulation is needed as well as enhanced information and accountability in relation to the private rented sector, which continues to grow and is now the most common form of tenure for the young, such as the adoption of regulatory tenancy protections.

I recognize the efforts that have been undertaken by the central Government to create better conditions for adequate provision of sites for the Gypsy and Traveller communities. I also take note of the localist approach to the issue. However, the obligations of the State under international human rights law remain whether carried out by the central Government or local authorities. Hence, I call for stronger and targeted efforts to address stigma and discrimination for the Gypsy and Traveller communities in relation to the wider spectrum of rights, starting with the recognition that cultural adequacy in housing is a pillar for inclusion.

Finally, in my view, housing remains a central issue in Northern Ireland. I recommend sustained efforts to address challenges to overcome persistent inequalities in housing in North Belfast. For this purpose, active, free and meaningful participation of all in decisions made about housing should be promoted, including in relation to the collection of official data, which should be disaggregated, open and accessible to all.

4. Concluding remarks

Mr President, distinguished delegates,

This is my last intervention before the Human Rights Council and I wish to thank you for the privilege you granted me with my appointment as Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing. I am grateful for welcoming me in your countries for official or working visits; for the many opportunities to discuss right to housing issues, whether during sessions, side-events or in bilateral meetings; and for your contributions to my questionnaires. And I want to express my gratitude in particular to Germany and Finland, who have co-sponsored this mandate and supported my work throughout the years.

I am most grateful to have had the opportunity of exercising the mandate of Rapporteur with independence and impartiality.

I came to this job with years of practice in planning and housing policies, and in academia. But, as Rapporteur, I have been confronted every day, during the past six years, with the views of the vulnerable, with the voices of the voiceless. And, in turn, I have been faced with the immense challenge of finding channels of communication between them and the decision makers in order to ensure that their voices were heard and taken into account. Modestly, I have tried to build those bridges by echoing the voices of those whose housing rights were under threat, while trying to come up with recommendations for feasible and realistic policy responses. I am most thankful to all the individuals and communities, to all civil society organisations and housing experts that have supported this work. Even though all the reports and documents produced are my own responsibility, it must be said that they are the result of collective efforts.

I would like to end my remarks by pointing out that the housing crisis that we are currently experiencing in the world is an opportunity to reassess existing and hegemonic paradigms around housing. It is a chance to seek and apply human rights-based responses in the housing and land domains. We are already facing the impacts of climate change, of unplanned urbanization, of the unharnessed power of real estate financial complex, among other accelerating phenomena. These, combined with population growth and the reality of human mobility, cannot be addressed if we refuse to acknowledge that every single individual and community must have a place to live; that this place must be safe, secure and dignified; that each and every woman, man and child must have a home from which to reach out and enjoy the economic, technological and cultural opportunities we have all created in our world.

Many issues related to the right to adequate housing remain daunting and acute. They continue to require a robust and independent human rights mechanism to monitor them, and to assist you in finding responses.  I call on you to renew your support to this essential mandate and to cooperate with my successor in these endeavours.

**END**

^[45]

Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will present to the UN Human Rights Council, on March 10th, her thematic report on security of tenure for the urban poor and the reports on her missions to Indonesia and the United Kingdom in 2013. On March 11th, the Permanent Missions of Finland and Germany will promote a side event to the HRC session in order to deepen the discussion on security of tenure. These will be the last reports presented by Ms. Rolnik, whose mandate as UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing will end in April 2014. The list of pre-selected candidates to become Special Rapporteur was already published.

www.righttohousing.org ^[46]

* Reports
On March 10th, the Special Rapporteur will present to the 25th session of the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva, the thematic report on security of tenure ^[47] and the reports on her missions to Indonesia ^[48] and the United Kingdom ^[49] in 2013. The presentation is scheduled to take place from 12:00 to 3:00 pm and will be streamed through the UN WebTV ^[50].

* Security of tenure: side event
On March 11th, at 10-12am, at the Palais des Nations, in Geneva, the Permanent Missions of Germany and Finland invite to the event “Experiences in Strengthening Security of Tenure for the Urban Poor around the World”. Click here ^[51] for more information.

* Security of tenure: booklet
Check out the illustrated booklet elaborated by the Rapporteur, containing the guiding principles on security of tenure for the urban poor, as presented at the Special Rapporteur thematic report. The material is available online and can be freely reproduced as long as the source is cited. Click here ^[52] for more information.

* The Next Rapporteur
The list of three pre-selected candidates to the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing was already published. The candidates were chosen from a larger list of 14 people, after a series of interviews and résumés analysis. The Human Rights Council will appoint the new mandate-holder by the end of its 25th session (March 2014). The new period starts on May 1st. Click here ^[53] for more information.

On March 11th, at 10-12am, at the Palais des Nations, in Geneva, the Permanent Missions of Germany and Finland will hold the event “Experiences in Strengthening Security of Tenure for the Urban Poor around the World”.

The event will focus on examples of policies and practices addressing security of tenure around the world, as one of the crucial elements of the right to adequate housing. In doing so, the event also seeks to offer an opportunity to spell out and discuss the particular situation and concerns of women in relation to tenure security.

^[57]

To read the complete concept note, click here ^[58].

February 17, 2014

A group of United Nations human rights experts today urged Kenya to repeal sections of the Marriage and Property Act which effectively deny women the right to marital property upon divorce or death of their spouse, unless they can prove they made a contribution to the acquisition of the property during their marriage.

“It is expected that very few women will be able to demonstrate such a contribution under the new provisions, since few Kenyan women have land title deeds in their own names and even less hold deeds jointly with men,” warned independent expert Frances Raday, who currently heads the UN Working Group on discrimination against women in law and practice.

“Such provisions are serious retrogressive steps in the protection of women’s equal access to land and property, and are in violation of Kenya’s international and regional human rights obligations,” Ms. Raday stressed. “They clearly discriminate against Kenyan women and are squarely at odds with equality provisions enshrined in the Kenyan Constitution.”
The Act, which came into force on 16 January 2014, could result in many Kenyan women losing access to the lands where they live and farm. Many rural households in Kenya are headed by women, who rely on the land not only to produce food, but also on the income generated by it to access health care services and educational opportunities for themselves and their families.

“Women will effectively have no security of tenure, or place to live with their children if their husband leaves them or dies, which will also increase their risk of experiencing violence,” the expert added. “The passage of the Act will have a detrimental impact on the right to food, the right to adequate housing and the right to an adequate standard of living for Kenyan women, children and communities.”

Ms. Raday’ appeal has also been endorsed by the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda; the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter; the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its causes and consequences, Rashida Manjoo, and the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik.

“We regret the promulgation of this legislation in its current form and urge the Government of Kenya to repeal discriminatory sections of this Act, and to continue with the country’s advances towards full equality between men and women as established in the Kenyan Constitution,” the group of experts stated.

The Special Rapporteurs have engaged with the Kenyan Government concerning the provisions in question of the Marriage and Property Act, and expressed their readiness to assist the authorities in reviewing and bringing the Act into line with international human rights standards.

ENDS

The United Nations human rights experts are part of what it is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights, is the general name of the independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms of the Human Rights Council that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world.

They are charged by the Human Rights Council to monitor, report and advise on human rights issues. Currently, there are 37 thematic mandates and 14 mandates related to countries and territories, with 72 mandate holders. In March 2014, three new mandates will be added. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

Learn more: Discrimination against women ^[59]; Extreme poverty ^[60]; Food ^[61]; Housing ^[24]; Violence against women ^[62]

For further information and media inquiries, please contact Caroline Meenagh (+41 22 917 9202 ^[63] /cmeenagh@ohchr.org ^[64]) or write to wgdiscriminationwomen@ohchr.org ^[65]

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 ^[66] / xcelaya@ohchr.org ^[31])

Source: OHCHR ^[67]

Read below the short-list of candidates compilled by the Consultative Group to the President for the mandate of Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing. This list will be sent to the UN Human Rights Council and one of these candidates will be selected to be the new mandate holder during its 25th regular session.

Candidates proposed by the Consultative Group to the President for Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context

The Consultative Group was impressed by the calibre of applicants for the mandate. Five shortlisted candidates were interviewed and while each of them performed well during the interview, the Consultative Group recommend the following three individuals as best qualified to fulfil the mandate, ranking them in the order of preference.

1. Mr. Fernando MURILLO (Argentina)
2. Ms. Leilani FARHA (Canada)
3. Mr. Balakrishnan RAJAGOPAL (United States of America)

Mr. Murillo is an architect, urban planner and academic with more than 15 years of experience working as a consultant on housing issues and urban planning for Governments, local communities and various United Nations agencies including UNHABITAT, UNHCR, UNDP, UNRWA and UNICEF. Through his varied experience in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, he has worked on several topics related to the work of the mandate including habitat development in post-conflict situations, quality of housing, informal settlements and eviction issues. The Consultative Group believes that Mr. Murillo’s operational and policy experience, and his emphasis during the interview on sharing of good practices across regions, and on encouraging participatory approaches to planning and local level rights make him well suited for the Special Rapporteur role.

Ms. Farha is a lawyer and currently Executive Director of Canada Without Poverty, a civil society organisation dedicated to the elimination of poverty and to the protection of economic and social rights. Her previous work experience includes working with nongovernmental organisations focused on housing rights, United Nations agencies, including UN-HABITAT and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. She has worked extensively on the issues of poverty, social marginalisation, and gender equality. The Consultative Group was impressed by Ms. Farha’s passion for ensuring the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing and her pragmatic approach, including an emphasis on operational implementation of existing standards, multistakeholder engagement and inclusivity in policy design.

Mr. Rajagopal is Associate Professor of Law and Development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Director of the MIT Program on Human Rights and Justice. He has taught and written extensively on international law, human rights, and development issues. He has field experience in Cambodia with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Transitional Authority. The Consultative Group took note of Mr. Rajagopal’s thoughtful vision for the mandate, including his emphasis on leveraging United Nations capacity locally to advance Special Rapporteur recommendations, the importance of engaging private developers in planning and policy dialogue, and the advantage of fostering links with other mechanisms such as special rapporteurs on extreme poverty, food and indigenous peoples, the universal periodic reviews and treaty bodies.

To read the full document containing all the information about all the new mandate holders selection, click on the green button below.

Source: OHCHR ^[4]

Download the file ^[68]

GENEVA (6 February 2014) – A group of United Nations independent experts* on the human rights to food, health, housing, water and sanitation, and on summary executions and torture, today urged all parties to the Syrian conflict to stop the use of civilian suffering as a method of war.

“As reports are piling up of indiscriminate shelling of civilians, enforced disappearances and executions, another horror of the war in Syria is becoming apparent: the deprivation of basic necessities of life and the denial of humanitarian relief as a method of war,” they warned.

“Depriving people of their access to food and water, impeding their access to health services and wantonly destroying their housing constitute clear violations of the human rights to food, to water, to sanitation, to housing, to health, and to freedom from inhumane treatment, protected under international human rights treaties,” the experts said.

“The acts being committed amount to crimes against humanity, carried out as a deliberate and systematic effort to cause civilian suffering,” the rights experts stressed. “They also constitute war crimes and serious violations of customary international humanitarian law which binds all parties.”

The experts underscored that targeting medical units and medical personnel, making civilians the object of attack, subjecting them to inhumane treatment, obstructing humanitarian relief, attacking objects crucial for the survival of civilians, and using starvation as a method of warfare is explicitly banned.

The UN estimates that 9.3 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Some 6.5 million people live as internally displaced within the country, having fled their homes and left behind their sources of livelihood. More than 6 million are in critical need of sustained food assistance.

“Numerous cases show that government and pro-government forces as well as armed opposition groups are impeding humanitarian relief to populations facing extreme deprivation, including children, women, older persons, persons with disabilities, the chronically sick, and civilians and persons hors combat held in detention,” the group of experts said.

The situation is most critical for the quarter of a million people living in communities under siege, such as Nubul and Al-Zahraa in rural Aleppo, Eastern Ghouta, Darayya and Moadamiyah in rural Damascus, the Old City in Homs; and the Yarmouk Camp in Damascus.

The UN estimates that over 100,000 people trapped in and around Yarmouk Camp are now in severe risk of starvation. From other besieged areas, reports are emerging of chronic child malnutrition and health problems caused by a lack of access to vital nutrients and safe drinking water.

“Apart from obstructing humanitarian access through sieges and tight check-points, attacks have been carried out to destroy harvests, kill livestock, and cut off water supplies, with the apparent aim of starving out the targeted populations,” the experts noted. “At the same time, entire neighborhoods and residences are being razed, aggravating the dire housing situation, causing further displacement.”

“We also express alarm at consistent reports of deliberate destruction of hospitals and medical units, and of arrests, ill-treatment, torture and killings of doctors, nurses, medical volunteers and ambulance drivers.”

“These acts are morally abhorrent, and present a major obstacle to building peace,” they stated. “We are outraged by the extreme human suffering caused by the apparent blatant disregard for human rights and humanitarian law.”

“We urge all parties to the conflict to ensure immediate humanitarian relief to the large parts of the population experiencing extreme deprivation. The use of civilian suffering as a method of war must stop,” the group of experts concluded.

(*) The experts: The Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter; the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover; the  Special Rapporteur on adequatehousing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, Raquel Rolnik; the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns; the Special Rapporteur ontorture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez; and the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque.

ENDS

The United Nations human rights experts are part of what it is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights, is the general name of the independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms of the Human Rights Council that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world.

They are charged by the Human Rights Council to monitor, report and advise on human rights issues. Currently, there are 37 thematic mandates and 14 mandates related to countries and territories, with 72 mandate holders. In March 2014, three new mandates will be added. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

Learn more, visit: Food ^[61];  Health ^[69]; Housing ^[24]; Torture ^[70]; Water & sanitation ^[71]

For further information and media inquiries, please contact Ulrik Halsteen (+41 22 917 9323 ^[72] / srfood@ohchr.org ^[73]).

^[74]

On March 10th, during the 25th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva, the Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will present her reports on the 2013 missions to Indonesia and United Kingdom, as well as the thematic report on Security of Tenure. This last report is the result of two years of research, with contributions from the civil society, governments and institutions throughout the world, and it also includes a set of guiding principles on the subject. On March 11th, a side-event will further discuss security of tenure.

www.righttohousing.org ^[75]

^[75]
* Security of Teneure: Report
After two years of dedication to the Security of Tenure Project, Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik presents on March 10th her final report on the subject to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Click here to read the report ^[76]. Visit our website to get all the information about the Security of Tenure Project ^[77].

* Security of Tenure: Side-Event
An event parallel to the 25th Session will take place on March 11th, from 10am to 12am, at the Palais des Nations, in Geneva, to discuss the guiding principles enclosed in the report on Security of Tenure. More information on the event will be available soon.

* Mission Reports
Also on March 10th, the Rapporteur will present her reports on the missions conducted in 2013. She visited Indonesia between May 30th and June 11th, and the United Kingdom between August 29th and September 11th. Check out the reports in our website: Indonesia ^[78]; United Kingdom ^[79].

* Live Session
To watch presentations and debates of the UN Human Rights Council session, please access the UN Web TV ^[80].

The Human Rights Council requested the Special Rapporteur to emphasize practical solutions for the implementation of the right to adequate housing. In her first report on this subject ^[85], the Special Rapporteur identified the global tenure insecurity crisis as a challenge deserving specific attention. In the present report, she offers some guiding principles to address urban tenure insecurity. These principles are informed by several responses from States to questionnaires, as well as thematic and regional consultations with various stakeholders, and comments and input from civil society organizations.

They give guidance on existing human rights standards as they pertain to housing and land tenure. Nothing in these principles should be read as limiting or undermining the existing human rights obligations of States or other actors. Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur wishes to suggest that the Council adopts these guiding principles on security of tenure for the urban poor. Moreover, the Report also has a section dedicated to commentaries, which explain the principles and include examples of their practical implementation.

This is the Special Rapporteur’s final thematic report, and will be presented on March 2014. It’s also the last report for the Security of Tenure Project ^[86].

To download the report, click on the green button below.

Download the file ^[87]

^[88]

In 2013, the Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik presented four reports to the UN Human Rights Council, and one to the General Assembly. She also conducted official missions to two countries, Indonesia and United Kingdom, and worked all along the year on the Security of Tenure Project. Furthermore, the Rapporteur sent official communications to 19 countries, and participated in several events on adequate housing. Check it out below.

www.righttohousing.org ^[89]

* Reports Presented
In March 2013, the Rapporteur presented to the UN Human Rights Council the final reports of 2012 missions to Rwanda ^[90] and to Israel and Palestine ^[91]. She also presented the report on the World Bank ^[92], and her first report on Security of Tenure. ^[93] In October, she presented at UN General Assembly her thematic report on rental policies and collective and cooperative arrangements ^[94].

* Missions Accomplished
Between May 30th and June 11th, the Rapporteur went on an official mission to Indonesia. Click here ^[95] to read her preliminary findings, presented at the end of the visit. On the second semester, between August 29th and September 11th, she visited the United Kingdom. Read her preliminary findings ^[96]. The full reports on these missions will be presented in March 10th to the UN Human Rights Council.

* Sent and Received Communications
In 2013, the Rapporteur sent official communications to the governments of 12 countries, and received replies from 11. Click here ^[97] to read the 1st semester report. Click here ^[98] to read the 2nd semester report.

* Security of Tenure
This was the theme developed by the Rapporteur in 2013. Along the year, many live consultations about the theme were organized, and several contributions came in through the internet. Moreover, a questionnaire was sent to governments, resulting in 31 replies. Initiated in 2012, the Security of Tenure Project will be concluded in 2014 with the presentation of the final report to the Human Rights Council in March 10th. Such report will also include guiding principles on the subject. For more information, please access the project page ^[99].

* Events
In April, the rapporteur Raquel Rolnik attended the Civil Society Policy Forum ^[100] in Washington, DC, an event of the World Bank Spring Meeting. In June, she attended a colloquium promoted by the European Federation of Public, Cooperative & Social Housing (Cecodhas), in Leuven, and a debate promoted by the European Economic and Social Comittee about social housing in the European Union, in Brussels. Know more ^[101]. The rapporteur also met representatives of the European Investment Bank ^[102], which is reviewing its social safeguard policies. Furthermore, throughout the year, the rapporteur attended several activities discussing the impact of the preparation of Brazil to the 2014 World Cup in the right to housing.

* Note: The list of candidates to the next mandate as UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Adequate Housing is already available at the site of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights ^[103].

December 20, 2013

The UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, today urged the Brazilian authorities at federal, state and local levels to give further priority to the poorest and most marginalized, “to ensure that inequalities in the country are progressively eliminated and all receive access to sanitation and water.”

“Nobody must be left behind,” Ms. de Albuquerque said at the end of her first official mission* to Brazil to evaluate the improvements and challenges the country still faces in realizing the human rights to water and sanitation.

The expert welcomed Brazil’s significant progress regarding the realization of the right to water and sanitation. “PlanSab – the recently adopted National Water and Sanitation Plan – is an excellent document that will guide nation-wide action in the coming 20 years,” she said. “Moreover, the financial commitments to the sector, with 300 billion reais (150 billion USD) being allocated from the federal budget to the sector in the coming 20 years also very positively impressed me.”

“But Brazil is a country of contrasts,” the Special Rapporteur said. “I was shocked by the misery I saw and by the lack of access to sanitation and water by significant portions of the population. These are fundamentally people living in favelas or in rural areas.”

“The situation of people in favelas or informal settlements cannot be forgotten. And even though I acknowledge progress in this regard, the truth is that still millions of Brasilians live in deplorable conditions where access to sanitation and water is still only a distant dream.”

“Despite the positive examples of social participation in some social programmes, and government institutions, I was especially touched by my interaction with many Brasilians, who repeatedly – in the different regions I visited – told me that they still felt invisible and forgotten by public powers.

Ms. de Albuquerque documented deep inequalities in access to water and sanitation among different regions in the country, where the Northern region is the most affected. While in Sorocaba (São Paulo) the rate of sewerage treatment is of 93.6%, in Macapá (Amapá) is just 5.5%.”

In the area of sanitation, the expert explained, “the low coverage does not match the advances of modern Brazil, where 52% of the Brazilian population still doesn’t have sewage collection, and only 38% of the sewage generated is treated.”

“The fact that Brazil still has almost 8 million people defecating daily in the open is unacceptable and an affront to human dignity,” Ms. de Albuquerque stressed. This lack of access to sanitation is particularly serious in the North, where less than 10% of the population has sewage collection.

During her fact-finding mission, the Special Rapporteur received numerous complains of people suffering from diarrhea and other water and sanitation born diseases due the bad quality of water.

“Another concern of many people is the high value of the water and sanitation tariffs, especially in places where these services have been delegated to companies that are making significant profits,” she said. “People told me they felt suffocated by the high bills they have to pay.”

“I end my mission to Brazil with a sweet and sour feeling,” Ms. de Albuquerque noted. “Sweet, because of the progresses made, the vision the government has for the sector and public commitment to support the most vulnerable. Sour, because I remember the voices and faces of the many Brazilians I met and talked with over the past 10 days and for whom the human right to water and sanitation still is a distant reality and who still live in the shadows of a rapidly advancing society.”

“I believe however, that Brazil is well positioned do make even more progress in realising the human right to water and sanitation, while giving priority to the most vulnerable, poor and marginalized populations,” the expert highlighted.

From 9 to 19 December, the independent expert visited Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Fortaleza and Belém do Pará, where she met with federal and local authorities, civil society organizations and service providers. She also visited several rural areas and informal settlements, to get first-hand information regarding the outstanding challenges in the realization of this human right.

The Special Rapporteur will present a comprehensive report to a forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council, which will include her final findings and recommendations to the Government of Brazil.

(*) Read the full end-of-mission statement here. ^[108]

Catarina de Albuquerque is the first UN Special Rapporteur on the right to safe drinking water and sanitation. She was appointed by the Human Rights Council in 2008. Ms. de Albuquerque is a Professor at the Law Faculties of the Universities of Braga, Coimbra and of the American University’s Washington College of Law. She is a senior legal advisor at the Prosecutor General’s Office. Learn more here ^[71].

UN Human Rights, country page – Brazil ^[109].

For more information and press inquiries, please contact:
In Brasilia: Denise Hauser (+55 61 8188 0422 / dhauser@ohchr.org ^[110])
In Geneva: Madoka Saji (+41 79 201 0124 / msaji@ohchr.org ^[111]) or write to srwatsan@ohchr.org ^[112]

Fonte: OHCHR ^[113]

Geneva, 10 December 2013

On the occasion of Human Rights Day, the UN special procedures call on all stakeholders, in particular States, to cooperate with them fully.

The first special procedures mechanism was established in 1965. Today, almost fifty years later, the system of special procedures comprises 51 mandates. Through our country and thematic mandates, we address all rights; civil, cultural, economic, political and social. We have endeavoured to contribute a wealth of expertise on a wide range of issues including combating all forms of discrimination; fighting impunity; establishing the rule of law; promoting the recognition of and consolidating support for human rights; and enhancing economic and social development.

Special procedures have enjoyed fruitful cooperation with many States and other stakeholders. Over the years more than 160 States have been visited by at least one special procedures mandate holder. One hundred and six States have extended a standing invitation to special procedures. These are encouraging signs of cooperation that we warmly welcome.

However, around 30 States have not yet accepted any visit by a mandate holder. Some do not react to repeated written requests for visits. Others have given access to only a select few. It is unfortunately a reality that a standing invitation does not necessarily guarantee that a visit will actually take place. Often special procedures’ recommendations go unheeded. In extreme cases, mandate holders have been the subject of derogatory remarks and personal attacks in the course of their work. Disagreement can always be expressed, even in a robust manner; however dignity and respect should always prevail.

Accepting a visit is only the first step in a longer process towards guaranteeing human rights.  This process includes effective planning and dialogue. It also entails continued cooperation after the mission with a real commitment from the States to take into account the recommendations and views expressed by mandate holders and inform them of the steps taken towards implementation.

Cooperation is mutually beneficial. Special procedures have assisted States to revise legislation, facilitated national debate on human rights issues and helped States to respond to the expectations of victims of human rights violations. They have also drawn States’ attention to issues and signalled potential violations or gaps in human rights protection. This has led to crucial legislative and policy changes for the benefit of millions of people.  Continued dialogue allows all views to be taken into account which leads to stronger policies and more effective remedies.

The work we do relies on our interaction with civil society, national human rights institutions, human rights defenders, individuals working on the ground, and victims of human rights violations. It is of serious concern that some of those with whom we engage become victims of intimidation and reprisals. The protection of these vital partners is of utmost importance. We must all respond firmly against any act which threatens them and seeks to obstruct human rights work.

Reprisals are a critical challenge facing the UN system and its human rights mechanisms. The designation of a focal point on this issue is currently under discussion at the General Assembly. We look forward to the designation of the focal point as soon as possible.

As we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and the establishment of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, we urge all States to cooperate with us and ensure that all other stakeholders can do so without fear of intimidation or reprisals.

As the whole world is gathering today in South Africa to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela and his constant faith in humanity, let us remember what he told the General Assembly in 1998: “I will continue to entertain the hope that there has emerged a cadre of leaders in my own country and region, on my continent and in the world, which will not allow that any should be denied their freedom as we were, that any should be turned into refugees as we were; that any should be condemned to go hungry as we were, that any should be stripped of their human dignity as we were”.

It is up to all of us to ensure that Nelson Mandela’s hopes will translate into what Mandela called a realisable dream.

November 12, 2013

With aid trickling in to survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, we’re receiving reports from our government partners and others of growing tension and trauma on the ground, especially among vulnerable women and children.

UNHCR is co-leading the Protection Cluster with the Department of Social Welfare and Development under the inter-agency emergency response. Our staff have been communicating with local authorities and other protection partners in the nine affected regions to assess survivors’ physical safety, access to basic services and humanitarian assistance. We have also been looking at protection of women, children and other vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the disabled and minority groups.

As of today it is estimated that the typhoon has displaced over 800,000 people. Those whose homes were located along the coast have been at risk of further flooding from the new storm that made landfall today. Some displaced people prefer to stay in their partially damaged homes rather than in the over 1,400 evacuation centres. Others have set up makeshift tents close to their homes.

The survivors urgently need food, clean water, medicines, clothing and plastic sheets. But damaged roads, bridges and uncleared debris are hampering humanitarian access especially to remote areas. This is contributing to a breakdown in law and order as some desperate people loot shops for food and water. There are unconfirmed reports of people destroying bank teller machines and robbing relief supplies.

To help safe and fair distribution, aid delivery will need to be coordinated with the national government– which is leading coordination in managing this crisis – and through aid agencies. Traumatized survivors will need psychosocial counselling. More community outreach should be done to provide accurate information on protection issues. This will help to improve the monitoring of incidents, and establish a survivor-centered system for gender-based violence.

The current situation is putting people already vulnerable at particular risk. Women and children are begging on the streets for donations, exposing themselves to risk of abuse and exploitation. With power lines still down, the lack of lighting has made women and children at home and in evacuation centres more vulnerable, especially at night.

UNHCR is looking at distributing solar lanterns to mitigate the risks of gender-based violence and enhance the protection of displaced families. We have also mobilized our in-country stocks of plastic sheets, blankets, clothing and other relief items for 1,400 families. These will be supplemented by airlifts of tents and aid supplies for 16,000 families in the coming days.

As the Protection Cluster co-lead, UNHCR’s main goal is to assist the Department of Social Welfare and Development and other relevant authorities, such as the Human Rights Commission, to establish a Protection Cluster mechanism in the typhoon-affected areas.

Our staff are providing expertise and technical support to address protection issues, and will also assist the government to ensure that a system is in place for displaced populations to have access to civil documentation and essential services.

The first UNHCR airlift is scheduled for tomorrow from Dubai to Cebu. We have also deployed an emergency team to the Philippines including protection specialists. We are expecting further aid flights to be underway later this week.

For further information on this topic, please contact:

• In Manila, Marie Michelle Liquigan on mobile +639189208765
• In Bangkok, Vivian Tan on mobile +66 818 270 280
• In Geneva, Adrian Edwards on mobile +41 79 5579106
• Babar Baloch on mobile +41 79 557 9106

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 12 November 2013, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Source: UNHCR ^[114]

^[115]

On October 25, the Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik presented her annual thematic report to the UN General Assembly, in New York. The presentation was streamed live through UN WebTV. Note as well that the deadline to send applications for the selections of new independent experts of the UN Human Rights Council was postponed to November 14. Also, the report containing the communications sent to countries by special rapporteurs, as well as the answers received, between March 1st and July 31, 2013, is already available on our site. Moreover, the Rapporteur will continue to welcome contributions to the Security of Tenure report, which contains recommendations on the subject and will be presented to the Human Rights Council on March 2014.

www.righttohousing.org ^[116]

* New Rapporteurs
November 14 is the new deadline to send applications for the selection of new independent experts of the Human Rights Council. To find out more information, click here. ^[117]

* Thematic Report
The thematic report ^[118] on renting policies and collective and cooperative arrangements was presented to the UN General Assembly in New York on October 25th. Click here ^[119] to watch the presentation video.

* Communications Report
Communications concerning 2013 first semester are already available on our website. In that period, Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik sent communications to the governments of Hungary, Bangladesh, and Portugal, and received answers from Hungary, Portugal, Panama and Nigeria. Read the complete report ^[120].

^[121]

This newsletter is a project of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing and it does not contain official information. Rapporteur (from May 2008): Raquel Rolnik
To receive our newsletter, access our website and subscribe ^[22].
If you prefer, contact us by email: contact@righttohousing.org ^[122]
Twitter: @adequatehousing ^[3] / Facebook: www.facebook.com/righttohousing ^[2]

October 23rd, 2013

States that have ratified the UN Women’s Rights Convention are obliged to uphold women’s rights before, during and after conflict when they are directly involved in fighting, are providing peacekeeping troops or donor assistance for conflict prevention, humanitarian aid or post-conflict reconstruction, a key UN women’s rights committee has said in a landmark document.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) also said that ratifying States should exercise due diligence in ensuring that non-State actors, such as armed groups and private security contractors, be held accountable for crimes against women.

CEDAW’s position is set out in General Recommendation No 30*, a document that gives authoritative guidance to countries that have ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women on measures they need to take to ensure women’s rights are protected in conflict prevention, conflict and post conflict situations.

“This document is comprehensive. It includes recognition of women’s central role in preventing conflict and in rebuilding devastated countries,” said CEDAW Chair Nicole Ameline.

“Women’s experiences are regularly dismissed as irrelevant for predicting conflict, and women’s participation in conflict prevention has historically been low,” Ms. Ameline said. “But in reality, there is for example a strong correlation between an increase in gender-based violence and the outbreak of conflict.”

The General Recommendation, the drafting of which was led over a three-year period  by Committee Vice-Chair Pramila Patten of Mauritius, spells out States’ obligations under the Convention, including due diligence obligations to prevent, investigate, punish and ensure redress for crimes against women by non-State actors.

“No longer is it enough to say that such acts are outside the scope of state responsibility of the Convention,” Ms Ameline stressed.

CEDAW adopted its General Recommendation on 18 October, the same day as the UN Security Council Resolution 2122, which stresses the importance of women’s involvement in conflict prevention, resolution and peace-building.

The General Recommendation highlights the need for a concerted and integrated approach that places the Security Council agenda into the broader framework of the implementation of the UN Women’s Rights Convention.

ENDS

* Full text of General recommendation No 30 available here ^[123].

Read the Convention ^[124] on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. To find out more about CEDAW, click here ^[125].

To arrange an interview with a Committee member, please contact Jakob Schneider:  +41 22 917 9301 ^[126]/jschneider@ohchr.org ^[127]

For more information and media requests please contact: Liz Throssell, Media Officer: +41 (0) 22 917 9434/ethrossell@ohchr.org ^[128]

Source: OHCHR ^[129]

On the last Human Rights Council session, the report containing all communications sent by the Special Rapporteurs between March 1st and May 31st was publicized. The document also includes the responses sent by the countries between May 1st and July 31st.

The Rapporteur on adequate housing sent individual communications to three countries: Hungary, Bangladesh and Portugal; and she received responses from four countries: Hungary ^[130], Portugal ^[131], Panama ^[132] and Nigeria ^[133].

The communications are available in French, Spanish and English. Click on the green button below to read the complete report.

Download the file ^[134]

On October 25, the Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will present her annual thematic report during the 68th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. To watch the presentation, click here ^[119] (it starts at 2h and 25 minutes of the video).

In this report, the Rapporteur builds on the findings of her previous report regarding housing finance ^[135], and analyses two alternative housing policies — rental and collective housing — that can play a key role in the promotion of the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing for those living in poverty. She calls for a paradigm shift from the financialization of housing to a human rights based approach and recommends that States promote various forms of tenure, including private and public rental, and collective tenure.

To read the complete report in English, click on the green button below. To read the report in other UN official languages, click here ^[136].

Download the file ^[118]

The first version of the final report on tenure security, containing recommendations on this subject, is already available for public consultation. To read the report, click on the green button below.

The report is part of the ongoing Security of Tenure Project ^[86] that the Rapporteur is conducting since 2012 and it will be presented at the UN Human Rights Council on March 2014.

To read only the recommendations part, click here ^[137].

Send your comments and contributions until November 17th to the email: tenureproject@ohchr.org ^[138].

Download the file ^[139]

^[140]

The first version of the final report on tenure security, containing recommendations on this subject, is already available for public coonsultation. The report will be presented in March 2014 to the UN Human Rights Council. You will also find here information about the official visit to the United Kingdom in August and September, including the rapporteur’s preliminary findings. In other news, the Human Rights Council has set the deadline for applications for new special rapporteurs to be appointed in March 2014. Finally, at the end of October the Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will present her annual thematic report to the UN General Assembly in New York.

Right to Adequate Housing ^[141]

* Security of Tenure
The first version of the final security of tenure report, including recommendations on the subject, is available for open public consultation here. ^[142] The report is part of the ongoing Security of Tenure Project ^[143] of the Rapporteur since 2012. Send your comments and contributions by 24 October to the email: tenureproject@ohchr.org ^[138].

* UK Mission
From 29 August to 11 September, the Special Rapporteur officially visited the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to assess the situation of the right to adequate housing in the country. Information about the mission, including press releases and the rapporteur’s preliminary findings, can be found here. ^[144]

* Rapporteur at General Assembly
On October 25, the Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will present her annual report to the UN General Assembly in New York. The report addresses housing renting policies, and collective and cooperative arrangements. Read it here. ^[145]

* New Rapporteurs
October 31 is the deadline to send applications for the selection of new independent experts of the Human Rights Council. Seventeen new rapporteurs will be elected in March 2014. To find out more information on the selection process and the application form, click here ^[146].

October 1st, 2013

Construction of a mega-steel plant in Odisha in Eastern India should be halted immediately, United Nations independent human rights experts* have urged, citing serious human rights concerns. The project reportedly threatens to displace over 22,000 people in the Jagatsinghpur District, and disrupt the livelihoods of many thousands more in the surrounding area.

“The construction of a massive steel plant and port in Odisha by multinational steel corporation POSCO must not proceed as planned without ensuring adequate safeguards and guaranteeing that the rights of the thousands of people are respected,” the group of eight experts stressed.

While India has the primary duty to protect the rights of those whose homes and livelihoods are threatened by the project, the experts underlined that “POSCO also has a responsibility to respect human rights, and the Republic of Korea, where POSCO is based, should also take measures to ensure that businesses based in its territory do not adversely impact human rights when operating abroad.”

The UN independent experts brought their concerns to the attention of both Governments and the corporation involved following allegations of human rights abuses and potential negative human rights impacts linked to the project.

“Forced evictions constitute gross violations of human rights,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, “and may only be carried out in exceptional circumstances and in a manner consistent with human rights law, including after a genuine consultation, without leaving people homeless or vulnerable to further human rights violations.”

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, warned that the forcible removal of people from their lands could be tantamount to depriving them of their means of subsistence. “People who would be evicted for the POSCO project have relied on their lands for generations in order to obtain adequate food and sustain themselves and their families,” he said.

“People should not be impoverished in the name of development; their rights must take precedence over potential profits,” stressed the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda. “Projects such as these, with such a large potential impact on the rights of people living in poverty, must not go ahead without the meaningful participation, consent and involvement of the community affected.”

The Special Rapporteur on water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, pointed out that “nearby Indian residents’ access to safe drinking water and sanitation must be guaranteed and prioritized ahead of the water required for large-scale investment projects.” The POSCO steel project would withdraw every day an estimated 38 million litres (10 million gallons) of water from the water sources that supply the nearby cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

According to the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Maina Kiai, “people in the project-affected area have reportedly been subjected to violence, harassment and intimidation, as well as arbitrary detentions and false charges, as a result of their activities to assemble peacefully and collectively defend their human rights.”

“Respect for human rights requires transparent and accountable institutions and governance as well as the effective participation of all individuals and civil society, who are an essential part of realizing social and people-centred sustainable development,” the UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Alfred de Zayas, noted.

“People who live in villages around the plant and derive their livelihood from the surrounding forest land have repeatedly expressed their concerns regarding damage to the forest area,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Anand Grover. “People’s right to live in a healthy environment, an integral part of the right to health, may also be at stake due to the plant, but their protest against it has been disregarded.”

States have primary obligations to ensure the enjoyment of human rights within their territories. This includes the duty to protect against human rights abuse by third parties, including business enterprises. “We call on the government of India to live up to its ‘duty to protect’ and suspend the POSCO project while the alleged human rights concerns are being examined and addressed,” the experts said.

They also urged POSCO to exercise human rights due diligence throughout all stages of their activities, to ensure meaningful consultations with potentially affected stakeholders, to carry out a human rights impact assessment and to act on and incorporate its findings into the project operations in order to avoid, mitigate and ensure remedy for any potential or actual human rights impacts, as required by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

“We are encouraged by our initial dialogue with the Government of the Republic of Korea regarding this issue, and we urge the Government of India to respond to our concerns to ensure that the human rights of the affected people are fully respected and protected,” they said.

“In entering into investment agreements and promoting business activities, States must respect their duties under international human rights law,” the UN independent experts stressed. “Unless full compliance with international human rights standards is ensured, the project should not proceed as planned.”

(*) The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and extreme poverty, Magdalena Sepúlveda; the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik; the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter; the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque; the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai; the UN Independent Expert on the promotion of an equitable and democratic international order, Alfred de Zayas; the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Anand Grover; Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, Pavel Sulyandziga (Chair).

ENDS

Adequate housing ^[24]
Right to food ^[148]
Extreme poverty ^[149]
Water and sanitation ^[150]
Freedoms of association and assembly ^[151]
International order ^[152]
Right to health ^[153]
Business and Human rights ^[154]

Check the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights ^[155]. Also check the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty ^[156].

UN Human Rights Country Page – India ^[157].
UN Human Rights Country Page – Republic of Korea ^[158].

Source: OHCHR ^[159]

Vacancies to be filled during 2014

The Human Rights Council (HRC) “Special Procedures ^[6]” are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective. Their functions are defined in the HRC resolutions creating or extending the mandate.

Mandates can either be exercised by a “special rapporteur”, an “independent expert” or a “working group”, composed of five members, one from each of the five UN regional groups (Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Caribbean, and Western Europe and Others). Where working groups are concerned, only candidates who are nationals of one of the countries of the regional group for which the vacancy is advertised may apply for such vacancies, i.e. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention – African Group, only nationals of African countries may apply. See below the underlined vacancies and list of UN member States by regional group.

The position of special procedures mandate-holder involves substantial time commitment, approximately three months per year, and includes examining, monitoring, advising and publicly reporting on either specific country situations (country mandates ^[160]), or on thematic issues in all parts of the world (thematic mandates ^[161]). Activities of special procedures also include: undertaking country visits, acting on individual cases and concerns of a broader, structural nature, conducting studies, and engaging in general advocacy activities. All special procedures report annually to the HRC, and the majority of the mandates also report to the General Assembly. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights provides support to special procedures mandate-holders.

Further information on the deadline for receipt of applications and about the specific application form available here ^[117]. The deadline for applications is October 31st!

Find out more:

• UN regional groups ^[162]
• Special procedures ^[6]
• Selection process ^[117]
• Human Rights Council (HRC) ^[7]
• HRC on social media: Facebook ^[163] and Twitter ^[164]
• Email: hrcspecialprocedures@ohchr.org ^[165]
• Subscribe here ^[166] for email updates about the HRC from OHCHR’s Civil Society Section.

HRC appointments at the March session (3-28 March 2014)

1. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP)* [HRC res. 6/36] – Asia-Pacific Group
2. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP)* [HRC res. 6/36]  – Western European and Others Group
3. Independent expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights [HRC res. 16/14]
4. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights [HRC res. 17/13]
5. Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia [HRC res. 20/21]
6. Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to non-discrimination in that context [HRC res. 15/8]
7. Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences [HRC res. 15/2]
8. Special Rapporteur on the right to food [HRC res. 22/9]
9. Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography [HRC res. 16/12]
10. Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples [HRC res. 15/14]
11. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar [HRC res. 22/14]
12. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 [Commission on Human Rights res. 1993/2 A]
13. Special Rapporteur on the situation on human rights defenders [HRC res. 16/5]
14. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [HRC res. 15/18] – African Group
15. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [HRC res. 15/18] – Latin American and Caribbean Group
16. WG Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances [HRC res. 16/16] – African Group

(*) EMRIP experts are appointed in the same way as special procedures mandate holders.

HRC appointments at the June session (2-20 June 2014)

1. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression [HRC res. 16/4]
2. Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health [HRC res. 15/22]
3. Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children [HRC res. 17/1]
4. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [HRC res. 15/18] – Asia-Pacific Group
5. Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent [HRC res. 18/28] – African Group

HRC appointments at the September session (8-26 September 2014)

1. Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation [HRC res. 16/2]
2. Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances [HRC res. 16/16] – Western European and Others Group
3. Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent [HRC res. 18/28] – Asia-Pacific Group
4. Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent [HRC res. 18/28] – Eastern Europe Group

Source: OHCHR ^[117]

Press Statement by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living and to non-discrimination in this context, Ms. Raquel Rolnik

Mission to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – 29 August to 11 September 2013

London, 11 September 2013

Introduction

From 29 August to 11 September 2013, I undertook an official visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the invitation of the Government. My visit included various cities in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I also had the opportunity to meet Government office from Wales in London.

The main objective of my visit was to assess the country’s achievements and challenges in guaranteeing the right to adequate housing and non-discrimination in this context, in accordance with existing international human rights standards. The assessment includes legislation and policy frameworks as well as the consideration of concrete outcomes from those policies, examining how they respond to the housing needs of women, men and children, with a particular focus on those most vulnerable and disenfranchised.

I wish to start this statement by expressing my gratitude to the various Government Departments, for the cooperation and hospitality extended to us during the organization and throughout the development of this fact-finding visit.  I have had the opportunity to meet with numerous Government officials, including some Ministers. In England I met with the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Work and Pensions, the Homes and Communities Agency, the Department for International Development and the Manchester City Council. I also met with officials from the Department of Housing and Regeneration from the Welsh Government. In Scotland, I met with the Scottish Government, including the Housing Services and Regeneration, the Housing Supply, the Homelessness and Equality Policy Departments; and with the Scottish National Housing authorities and Planning and Architecture Division. In Northern Ireland, I had the opportunity to meet with the Department for Social Development, and with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

I am also grateful for the opportunity to meet with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, including a representative from Wales, the Scottish Human Rights Commission, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and with a wide range of civil society organizations, including housing charities, human rights organizations, housing federations, housing associations, campaigners, researchers, litigators and academics.

Lastly, but most importantly, I am thankful for the opportunity to visit housing estates, local areas, Gypsy/Traveler sites and homeless centers, which took place in London, Basildon, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast and Great Manchester. I was able to hear first-hand testimonies and insights from residents of all ages, and witness living conditions. I wish to thank all those who took the time to meet with me, to travel to join meetings and hearings, and to offer their personal experiences to help me better understand the situation. Without their involvement, support and cooperation this mission would not have been possible.

Preliminary remarks

As I have said throughout my visit, the United Kingdom has much to be proud of in the provision of affordable housing. It has had a history of ensuring that low-income households are not obliged to cope with insecure tenure and poor housing conditions, and can be well-housed. Some of the policies and practices that have played a role in providing social housing include the construction and further regeneration of a large social housing stock as well as a welfare system which covers housing as part of a social safety net. These can serve as an inspiration to other parts of the world.  There are also specific efforts to prevent and address homelessness, and the Scottish Homelessness Act abolishing a priority needs test deserves mentioning. These, and others, must be commended and recognized as good human rights practices to be sustained for present and future generations, both by the Central Government as well as the devolved Governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

At the same time, I wish to suggest that the United Kingdom’s Government revisits some policy decisions with direct and indirect impacts on housing as a human right. I will limit myself to a few preliminary and provisional remarks on some of the issues of special concern. These along with other topics will be explored in more detail in my official report to the United Nations Human Rights Council at its 25^th session in March 2014.

In carrying out my assessment, I am guided by relevant international human rights law, in particular by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, articles 2 and 11. The United Kingdom ratified this binding instrument on 20 May 1976 without reservations. According to it, the United Kingdom has obligations to take steps to ensure and sustain the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing, making use of the maximum of its available resources. Progressive realization represents a strong presumption against retrogressive measures in the protection and promotion of human rights. State parties cannot move backward without offering a strict, evidence-based justification of the need to take such measures and without having weighted various alternatives.  Most importantly, Governments must put in place effective safeguards to protect the most vulnerable sectors of society if such decisions are made.

Some of my main preliminary findings indicate signs of retrogression in the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing. It is not clear that every effort has been made to protect the most vulnerable from the impacts of retrogression, indeed much of the testimony I heard suggests they are bearing the brunt. Housing deprivation is worsening in the United Kingdom. Increasingly, people appear to be facing difficulties to accessing adequate, affordable, well located and secure housing. The numbers of people on waiting lists for social housing have risen, with reports indicating waits of several years to obtain a suitable house.

This situation seems to be the result of a combination of structural measures taken during the last decades, such as the reduction in funding for subsidized schemes to provide new social housing. Interestingly, the state of the social housing stock in England has been significantly improved thanks to a Government programme known as “Decent Homes”. However, the pressing need for new and more social housing is not being met, and the social housing stock that was transferred to residents through the Right to Buy scheme appears not to have been proportionally replaced.

The trend has been to give priority to home ownership in detriment of other forms of tenure and to encourage a private renting sector with flexible tenure arrangements. Today, in England, approximately 17.4% of the population is renting in the private market and social housing renters provides for 17.3%. Figures of social renters are slightly higher in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but considerably lower than two decades ago everywhere in the UK. Furthermore, private tenancies can be as short-lived as six months and significantly more expensive than the social rental sector.

Home ownership has provided housing for more than one generation and it is deemed a common aspiration for many. However, the takeover of the housing sector by the financial sector has exposed many households to a highly volatile market, with skyrocketing prices during the boom years and, since 2008, a credit crunch that has essentially paralyzed access to credit. Various stakeholders have warned of potential risks once the interest rate on mortgages starts to claim back. In Northern Ireland, repossessions due to mortgage default continue to be one of the issues of concern.

In England the Government and most stakeholders report that there is a clear shortage of housing due to a mismatch between supply and demand.  For example, estimations range around 221,000 new homes needed in England per year, with less than 50% of this need actually being met (approximately 110,000). In view of the Government, this shortage is due to two main factors: the lack of available financing for the housing sector and planning constraints which lead to lack of available land for housing development.

In order to respond to this critical situation, the current Government has launched several initiatives contained in its 2012 Housing Strategy in England, and has created various schemes for investment such as “Help to buy equity loan” and the “Build to Rent” to support private house buyers and developers. A smaller funding allocation is provided for grants for affordable housing under this same package of initiatives. In devolved Governments, various schemes have also been created. For example, in Wales, the “Houses to Homes” initiative aims at bringing long term empty homes back into use.

A second element of this strategy is a significant reform to the planning system which, among other aspects, aims at reducing long and cumbersome administrative processes, by eliminating the regional level planning and pre-defined benchmarks for local councils to provide housing. In turn, this means that local authorities have more responsibilities as well as more direct and autonomous decision-making power. In Scotland, regional level planning has been retained in the four largest cities.  A third aspect of the strategy involves the unlocking and selling of public land for housing development, through auctions in the private market without any conditionality.

Simultaneously, the Government has also taken fiscal austerity measures in the context of the economic downturn in efforts to curve spending. The Welfare Reform Act of 2012 which applies UK-wide, includes some measures that have particular impact on the housing benefits, including the housing benefit cap, reductions in legal aid, and in council tax benefit.

Especially worrisome in this package is the so-called “bedroom tax”, or the spare bedroom under occupancy penalty. It came into force on 1 April 2013, without having been previously piloted. It essentially means a reduction in the amount of benefit paid to claimants if the property they are renting from the social housing sector is considered under occupied. The Government has argued that this policy reduces dependency and will make available a stock of under occupied homes.

Fiscal austerity measures include budget cuts in local Government expenditure, as well as significant reduction on the grants available for housing associations to provide social and affordable homes. This implies that social landlords will be required to reach out to the private financial markets in order to fund their building activities. As a consequence they will be pressured to increase their profit-making activities, potentially being forced to increase rent and reduce the stock made available to social renters.

Let me briefly examine how these measures are in line with the right to adequate housing and their impact on the lives of individual people. Allow me to explain.

It is true and I fully share the view of many stakeholders that house building is essential for the economy and for creating much needed jobs. I also fully share the view that there is a shortage on the supply side of the equation, especially in some high demand areas like London or other main cities. However the right to adequate housing compels Governments to look beyond aggregated general figures of supply and demand in order to place housing needs – and not housing markets – at the center of the decision-making.

The right to housing is not about a roof anywhere, at any cost, without any social ties. It is not about reshuffling people according to a snapshot of the number of bedrooms at a given night. It is about enabling environments for people to maintain their family and community bonds, their local schools, work places and health services allowing them to exercise all other rights, like education, work, food or health.

Some researchers argue that the “Help to Buy” scheme can intensify the pressure on prices, which are already high in a number of places. Also, according to recent trends in the housing market and taking into account the high prices of land, market builders have moved towards the higher end of the market. This will not increase the supply for the ones who are struggling to pay their rents or who linger for years in the social housing waiting lists.

Historically, access to affordable housing has been sustained by two main policies, namely, development of social housing with public funding and a needs-tested welfare system including housing benefits and other services that have been directly or indirectly been linked to housing for low income households.

I would like to refer now to the package of welfare reform and its impact on a number of human rights, but especially on the right to adequate housing, such as for those seeking to live independent and dignified lives with physical and mental disabilities. The so-called bedroom tax is possibly the most visible of the measures. In only a few months of its implementation the serious impacts on very vulnerable people have already been felt and the fear of future impacts are a source of great stress and anxiety.

Of the many testimonies I have heard, let me say that I have been deeply touched by persons with physical and mental disabilities who have felt targeted instead of protected; of the grandmothers who are carers of their children and grandchildren but are now feeling they are forced to move away from their life-long homes due to a spare bedroom or to run the risk of facing arrears; of the single parents who will not have space for their children when they come to visit; of the many people who are increasingly having to choose between food and paying the penalty. Those who are impacted by this policy were not necessarily the most vulnerable a few months ago, but they were on the margins, facing fragility and housing stress, with little extra income to respond to this situation and already barely coping with their expenses.

Another aspect that deserves some comments is the reform of planning policies in England, gives local level authorities expanded responsibilities. The power dynamics of a particular local council may not allow for a forceful negotiation with developers, to speed up delivery, and this situation may last for years despite the urgent need for additional housing stock. In fact, several documents and assessments acknowledge that land with permits has increasingly become the asset in itself, rather than an asset for the social well-being of the community. Similarly, it is also of concern that there is no property tax on land, including dormant or vacant land for years. Land value, including in the financial circuits, has escalated in the last decades, yet it is still mostly regarded as a private matter, hence for-profit. I would recommend that the Government sets a regulatory framework to avoid this kind of speculation.

Similarly, on the land and planning strategies let me say that selling public land to private developers for the best price can mean that a valuable public resource is not being used as a means to increase the availability of housing for those who need it, in times of housing stress. A significant part of the existing social housing stock in UK was built on local council and other public land. In times of pressure on affordable housing, the mobilization of public land can be an important tool, so I recommend that the Government releases public sector land only for social and affordable housing to be built.

Planning systems reforms are also being considered in Northern Ireland, devolving powers to Local Councils, which will also be territorially redefined. In this context, I want to express my concern at the potential that this decentralization may have for increased sectarianism and discrimination.

In closing, let me also mention that during my visit I have also received multiple testimonies on the shortage of sufficient, adequate and safe sites for Gypsy and Traveller communities across the United Kingdom, many of whom feel this is part of the stigma and discrimination they regularly face from Governments and society as a whole. Despite multiple efforts and policies put in place to address this situation, it is fair to say that leaving local authorities to make their own decisions with no accountability and national process to reconcile the Gypsy and Traveller communities with settled communities remains a source of concern.  Gypsy and Traveller communities too should engage more in the political debate and make efforts to ensure that their situation effectively changes.

Other population groups, highlighted by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2009, which continue to face inadequate access to affordable housing are Catholics in Northern Ireland, specifically in North Belfast.  The current allocation scheme was created to be fair and open, and to allocate accommodation on the basis of meeting the housing need of people. Despite the efforts of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, I remain concerned that full equality has not been achieved yet.

I also received information and testimonies about discrimination in access to housing by EU citizens, migrant workers and their families, refugees and asylum seekers. I am especially concerned with the policy which places the responsibility (backed by the threat of a fine) on landlords to check residence status of tenants, which I have heard often pushes undocumented people into the most insecure, worst quality and poorest located housing.

Summary of recommendation

As a brief summary of my preliminary remarks, I would like to highlight three recommendations:

First, and foremost, I would suggest that the so-called bedroom tax be suspended immediately and be fully re-evaluated in light of the evidence of its impacts on the right to adequate housing and general well-being of many vulnerable individuals.

Secondly, I would recommend that the Government puts in place a system of regulation for the private rent sector, including clear criteria about affordability, access to information and security of tenure.

Thirdly, I would encourage a renewal of the Government’s commitment to significantly increasing the social housing stock and a more balanced public funding for the stimulation of supply of social and affordable housing which responds to the needs.

I hope that my visit and subsequent report will be able to assist the Governments in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in these efforts and I look forward to continuing the constructive dialogue established during my visit.

I thank you for your attention and I look forward to your questions.

ENDS

LONDON / GENEVA (11 September 2013) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on housing, Raquel Rolnik, today expressed serious concern about a deterioration in the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing in the United Kingdom. She warned against the combined impact of various official measures, recent and past, that “have eroded and continue to erode one of the world’s finest systems of affordable housing.”

“The UK has had a long history of providing affordable and good quality housing, and it should take pride in having placed this human right at the centre of its policy priorities,” Ms. Rolnik noted at the end of the first visit to the country by an independent expert designated by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and promote the realization of the right to adequate housing and the right to non-discrimination in this context worldwide.

“For generations, being poor in the UK didn’t necessarily equate to being homeless, or to living badly housed and in permanent threat of eviction,” the human rights expert said.

Unfortunately, Ms. Rolnik remarked, “the system has been weakened by a series of measures over the years, notably by having privileged homeownership over other forms of tenure.” Most recently several reforms to the welfare system topped with cuts in grants for housing provision “appear to compromise the realisation of the right to adequate housing and other related human rights,” she said.

“The so-called bedroom tax has already had impacts on some of the most vulnerable members of society,” the UN Special Rapporteur stressed. “During these days of my visit, the dramatic testimonies of people with disabilities, grand-mothers who are carers for their families, and others affected by this policy, clearly point to a measure that appears to have been taken without the human component in mind.”

The human rights expert acknowledged that times of economic crisis allow for difficult policy decisions to be made, but warned that “international human rights standards on the right to adequate housing clearly call on governments to avoid jeopardizing the protection of the most vulnerable in the face of fiscal pressures.”

“I am also concerned about the conditions of private renters, as the reduction in the social housing stock and the credit downturn, has forced a higher percentage of the population, notably young people, to the private sector, with substantial impact on affordability, location and tenure security,” she said.

“Although there are significant differences between the situation and policy decision-making in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, to which I will refer in my final report in more detail, my perception is that some trends are common and deserve further scrutiny from a human rights perspective”, she said. The report will be presented to the Human Rights Council in March 2014.

During her two-week mission, the Special Rapporteur visited London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast and Manchester, where she met with government officials working on housing issues, various human rights commissions, academics and civil society. Ms. Rolnik also carried out site visits, where she heard first-hand testimonies and discussed with individuals, campaigners and local community organizations.

(*) Check the full end-of-mission statement by the Special Rapporteur here ^[167].

ENDS

Ms. Raquel Rolnik was appointed in 2008 as the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living and on the right to non-discrimination in this context. Ms. Rolnik is an architect and an urban planner, with over 30 years of experience in planning and urban land management. Based in Sao Paulo, she is a professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Sao Paulo and is the author of several books and articles on the urban issue. In her career, she has held various government positions and has also worked with international and civil society organizations. She has advised national and local governments on policy reform as well as on planning and management of housing and local development programs. Learn more, log on here ^[24].

Find out more about the mission here ^[42].

UN Human Rights – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ^[168].

For more information about the visit, please contact Juana Sotomayor (mobile: +41 79 444 3993/+41 78 77 60 371/sotomayor@ohchr.org ^[169]). For media requests, please contact Karen Davies (mobile: +32 473 262 255 /+32 2788 8473/davies@unric.org ^[170])

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The Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will be on official mission to the United Kingdom up to September 11, visiting cities and meeting authorities, academics and representatives from civil society organizations. Meanwhile, the first version of her report on security of tenure is being finalized and will be available at the Rapporteur’s website by the end of the month. Also in September, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights will publish on its website all the information related to the process of selecting new special rapporteurs. Furthermore, in October, the Rapporteur will present to the UN General Assembly in New York a report focused on the analysis of alternative policies to individual homeownership.

www.righttohousing.org ^[172]

* United Kingdom Mission
Raquel Rolnik is officially visiting the United Kingdom between August 28 and September 11 to assess the situation of housing rights in the region. Click here ^[173] to read the press release.

* Security of Tenure
The Rapporteur is now finalizing the first version of the report that will be presented in March 2014 to the Human Rights Council. It will present guiding principles to assure security of tenure as an essential element of the right to adequate housing. By the end of September, the document will be already available on thethematic page in our website ^[174], including all related documents, such as the consultations’ reports ^[175] and thequestionnaires answered by States ^[176].

* New Rapporteurs
In September, the site of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights will publish all information regarding the selection process for new special rapporteurs, which will take place in 2014. Click here ^[177] for more information.

August 26, 2013

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on housing, Raquel Rolnik, will visit the United Kingdom from 29 August to 11 September 2013 to assess policies and programmes put in place to address issues of social housing, affordability, discrimination and other questions related to the right to adequate housing.

“The UK has voiced its commitment to human rights on repeated occasions, and this mission will give me an opportunity to assess in-depth to what extend adequate housing, as one central aspect of the right to an adequate standard of living, is at the core of this commitment,” Ms. Rolnik said.

This will be the first information-gathering visit to the country by an independent expert designated by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and promote the realization of the right to adequate housing and the right to non-discrimination in this context worldwide.

“The UK faces a unique moment, when the challenge to promote and protect the right to adequate housing for all is on the agenda,” the rights expert said. “In doing so, special attention would need to be given to responding to the specific situations of various population groups, in particular low-income households and other marginalized individuals and groups.”

The Special Rapporteur, who visits the country at the invitation of the Government, will visit London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast and Manchester where she will meet with government officials working on housing issues, various human rights commissions, academics and civil society. She will also have the opportunity to do site visits to hear first-hand testimonies and discuss with individuals, campaigners and local community organizations.

The United Kingdom has ratified a number of international treaties which protect the right to adequate housing and non-discrimination in this context, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Ms. Rolnik will share her preliminary findings and recommendations at a press conference to be held on Wednesday 11 September, at the premises of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Strand Bridge House, 138-142 Strand, 1st Floor London, WC2R 1HH), from 10:00 am to 11:30 pm.

A final report on the official visit will be presented in Geneva by the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council in March 2014.

Ms. Raquel Rolnik was appointed in 2008 as the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living and on the right to non-discrimination in this context. Ms. Rolnik is an architect and an urban planner, with over 30 years of experience in planning and urban land management. Based in Sao Paulo, she is a professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of Sao Paulo and is the author of several books and articles on the urban issue. In her career, she has held various government positions and has also worked with international and civil society organizations. She has advised national and local governments on policy reform as well as on planning and management of housing and local development programs. Learn more, log on here ^[24].

UN Human Rights – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Page ^[168].

For more information about the visit, please contact Juana Sotomayor (mobile: +41 79 444 3993/ +41 78 77 60 371/ jsotomayor@ohchr.org ^[169])

Source: OHCHR ^[182]

August 12, 2013

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It is estimated that close to 9,000 residents of Badia East lost their homes or livelihoods. Photo: Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC)

New evidence from satellite images reveals the true extent of a forced eviction in Badia East, Lagos – one of Africa’s two megacities. The pictures, taken before and after demolitions carried out by the Lagos state government on 23 February 2013, clearly show that a densely populated area containing concrete houses and other structures was razed to the ground.

It is estimated that close to 9,000 residents of Badia East lost their homes or livelihoods. However senior officials in the Lagos state government had claimed that the area was a rubbish dump.

“The effects of February’s forced eviction have been devastating for the Badia East community where dozens are still sleeping out in the open or under a nearby bridge exposed to rain, mosquitos and at risk of physical attack,” said Oluwatosin Popoola, Amnesty International’s Nigeria researcher.

A new report by Amnesty International and the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC) ^[184] looks at the impact of the demolitions and documents the failings of the Lagos state government.

The organisations call for an immediate end to mass evictions in Lagos state until safeguards have been put in place to protect people from forced eviction.

The report highlights the devastating impacts of the forced evictions on the residents’ lives. Many women whose small businesses were demolished on 23 February described how they are now dependent on family and friends for basic necessities. Some said that they are suffering from malaria or typhoid after living in the open but can no longer afford to pay for medicines and treatment.

“The government must immediately provide effective remedies for the violations it has committed and provide all those affected with adequate alternative housing and compensation,” said Felix Morka, executive director of SERAC.

The government has stated that the 23 February eviction was the first phase of its plans to clear out the whole of Badia East in order to ”redevelop” the area. If these plans proceed as described, tens of thousands will be at risk of forced eviction and face possible destitution.

Bimbo Omowole Osobe is a resident of Badia East whose home and shops were demolished. She now lives under a mosquito net and has had to send her children away to stay with family members. They have had to stop their schooling as Bimbo does not have money for fees anymore.

She told Amnesty International: “Shelter comes first in everything in life, when there is shelter whatever you have you can live with; but when there is no shelter how do you survive?”

Residents of Badia East say they were given no notice about the eviction – which was carried out with bulldozers and armed police. The community had no time to salvage any belongings from their homes before the demolitions began.

The Lagos state government has given completely contradictory accounts of the eviction.

While the Lagos state Attorney-General acknowledged that people had been evicted when the area had been cleared, the Lagos state Commissioner for Housing told Amnesty International in a meeting that the area cleared during the demolition contained no houses and was just a rubbish dump.

Amnesty International has commissioned satellite imagery that clearly exposes this as a fabrication. A photograph taken before the demolition on 8 February 2013 very clearly shows  high density structures which contrasts markedly with a later image, taken on 8 April 2013, which shows that the structures have been razed to the ground.

A survey carried out by community members with the support of SERAC estimates that at least 266 structures that served as homes and businesses were completely destroyed, affecting an estimated 2,237 households.

“The Lagos state government has failed to comply with national and international law. It is high time that the Lagos state government and the Nigerian government stop forced evictions and enact legal safeguards that apply to all evictions,” said Oluwatosin Popoola.

This situation, and the issues it raises, is unfortunately characteristic of a broader pattern of forced evictions by the Lagos state government. In numerous forced evictions, documented by SERAC and Amnesty International, it has failed to consult people to explore alternatives to eviction, provide adequate notice, legal remedies and adequate alternative housing.

The Nigerian government must impose a moratorium on mass evictions until it has adopted legislation to protect people from forced evictions, which are illegal under international law.

Click here ^[185] to read the report.

Source: Amnesty International ^[186]

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In July, Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik visited the European Investment Bank (EIB) to discuss the right to adequate housing in projects financed by the institution. The Rapporteur also took part in an event hosted by the European Economic and Social Commitee, in Brussels, about social housing in the European Union, as well as in a colloquium hosted by the European Federation of Public, Cooperative and Social Housing (Cecodhas) about housing in times of social welfare transformations. We remind you that the Rapporteur’s next official mission will take place in the United Kingdom, late August/ early September.

www.righttohousing.org ^[116]

* European Investment Bank
On July 1st, the Rapporteur participated on a series of meetings in the European Investment Bank, which is revising its social safeguard policies. The Rapporteur spoke about the promotion of security of tenure, the European housing crisis, the prioritization of vulnerable groups, among other subjects related to the right to adequate housing. To know more, click here. ^[188]

* Housing in Europe
At the end of June, the Rapporteur attended in Brussels, Belgium, a debate promoted by the European Economic and Social Comittee about social housing in the European Union. Next, she went to Leuven for a colloquium hosted by Cecodhas on the challenges to the right to adequate housing in face of recent social transformations in Europe. Find out more here. ^[189]

*Security of Tenure
In July, the Rapporteur concluded a series of consultations related to the Security of Tenure project. The consultations were held in Quito, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo and Geneva. The Rapporteur also attended a round table on security of tenure with humanitarian organizations and donors. Click here ^[86] to know more. Reports and presentations of all consultations are available in our virtual platform ^[190], and photos are available in our gallery ^[191].

* Mission to United Kingdom
The Rapporteur will undertake an official mission to the United Kingdom between August 29th and September 11th. If you have information, documents and contacts on adequate housing in the UK, please send us by clicking here. ^[122]

On 1st July 2013 and upon the invitation of the Environment, Climate and Social Office (ECSO) of the European Investment Bank (EIB), the UN Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik visited the Bank’s headquarters, in Luxembourg, to deliver a seminar to EIB staff titled “Human Rights Mainstreaming in EIB safeguards – The right to adequate housing in EIB lending: how to do resettlement properly”.

In focusing on the EIB’s Standard on project-induced Involuntary Resettlement, the Rapporteur elaborated on the process of adopting adequate steps to minimise and mitigate related adverse impacts from an early stage, aiming at assisting those displaced to replace their housing, assets, livelihoods, land, access to resources and services and to improve or at least restore their socioeconomic and cultural conditions. Therein, upholding the right to adequate housing and promoting security of tenure at resettlement sites for those affected is a critical component and the session aimed at improving Bank’s staff awareness when carrying out due diligence.

With the opportunity of her visit, the Rapporteur also conducted a series of high-level meetings across the Bank. She had a fruitful exchange with the EIB’s Vice President, Philippe Curtaz, where she called for the Bank to apply social safeguards in order to ensure that the EIB lending does not result in a regressive impact on the right to adequate housing, particularly of vulnerable groups, and to use its lending operations to promote security of tenure.

Ms. Rolnik also met with the Bank’s Regional and Urban Development team to discuss the EIB’s Urban Development lending in relation to the SR mandate, in particular addressing the impact of the financial crisis and subsequent austerity measures on the right to adequate housing in various EU regions. With this opportunity, she brought to the awareness of the EIB staff the study on security of tenure undertaken by the Special Rapporteur mandate, expected to provide specific guidance on promoting security of tenure for the urban poor, including informal settlers.

In her session with the EIB’s Environment, Climate and Social Office, the discussion focused on her inputs to the revised Bank social standards, in particular the one addressing the impacts arising out of involuntary resettlement. Finally, the Rapporteur discussed specific projects in Belgrade, Serbia, addressing the right to adequate housing for Roma population in EIB operations in the region, in the presence of the project team members from the Slovenia, Croatia & Western Balkans Division and the Bank’s E&S safeguards division.

These meetings were part of the Special Rapporteur’s strategy to address finance institutions promoting the right to housing. On this regards, check the Rapporteur’s report about the World Bank safeguards review process. ^[192]

On June 24^th, the Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik attended an event at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), in Brussels, on “Social Housing: what role for the European Union?”. The Rapporteur presented her report on recent trends on housing policies and the right to adequate housing.

In the same event, Karima Delli, member of the European Parliament, presented a report on social housing, and Raymond Hencks, member of the EESC, presented the Committee’s opinion on “Issues with defining social housing”. These presentations were followed by others on the theme from members of EESC, Eurocities, Committee of the Regions and European Commission. The event was very important considering this is currently a moment of housing crisis in Europe.

On the same occasion, she also participated on a two-day colloquium promoted by Cecodhas Housing Europe (The European Federation of Public, Cooperative & Social Housing) in Leuven, on June 24-25. Cecodhas ^[193] is a network of 45 national and regional federations that together gather about 41 400 public, voluntary and cooperative housing providers in 19 countries.

Called “Where is housing in the future social contract? Housing in times of welfare transformation: what are the new challenges and how to answer them”, the event discussed the current welfare changes and the future challenges to propose common principles and objectives that fiscal and economic policies in the European Union have to achieve in order to ensure for all decent living conditions, specially access to housing. It brought together practitioners, political decision-makers, academics and professionals involved in the housing sector in order to know more about current trends and challenges and future perspectives. The Special Rapporteur gave a key-note opening on June 24^th, presenting the report presented to the UN General Assembly on housing finance that analyses the impact of prevalent housing finance policies and the current financialization of housing production which undermine the right to adequate housing, specially of those living in poverty (link).

^[194]

As part of the Security of Tenure project, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing promoted one more consultation, this time in Sao Paulo, on June 17th, focusing on Brazilian experience. The rapporteur also held a round table in Geneva, on June 26th, on the challenges related to security of tenure in Europe today.
On June 27th the rapporteur took part in an informal consultation with humanitarian organizations involved in the delivery of shelter assistance, and on June 28th she also took part in the round table “Security of Tenure in Humanitarian Shelter, Programming for the Most Vulnerable”, attended by operational humanitarian organizations and several of the most active country donors involved in shelter response. Both events were organized by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The Rapporteur also participated on a two-day event organized by Cecodhas (European Federation of public, cooperative and social housing) to discuss current welfare changes and future challenges to ensure access to housing and decent living conditions for all. You will also find in this newsletter the preliminary assessment of the mission to Indonesia, which took place between May 30th and June 11th.

www.righttohousing.org ^[116]

* Security of Tenure
The round table on security of tenure in Europe organized by the Rapporteur was attended by civil society movements and organizations from countries such as Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Ireland and others. Click here ^[195] to find out more. On the two events with humanitarian organizations and donors, click here ^[196] to know more.

* Brazilian Consultation
In Sao Paulo on June 17th, approximately 30 people from different regions of the country attended the consultation on security of tenure, including government officials, scholars, social movements and NGOs that provide technical and legal assistance to urban communities. Read more. ^[197]

* Indonesia Mission
At the end of a two-week official visit to Indonesia, rapporteur Raquel Rolnik held a press conference in which she presented her preliminary findings on the mission. Find out more. ^[198]

On June 27^th, in Geneva, the Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik took part in an informal consultation on Security of Tenure in Humanitarian Shelter, organized by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), with the support of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). This event provided an opportunity for humanitarian organizations active in the delivery of shelter assistance to engage in a dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing on her on-going work on security of tenure. Participants were encouraged to share their operational experience, practical challenges and successes in addressing security of tenure in humanitarian settings.

On June 28^th, the Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik delivered the keynote address in the roundtable entitled ‘Security of Tenure in Humanitarian Shelter, Programming for the Most Vulnerable’, organized by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), with the support of the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Department (CHASE) and the UK Mission to the UN in Geneva. The event was held at the Permanent Mission of the European Union to the WTO, in Geneva.

The aim of the roundtable was to seek a common understanding of security of tenure amongst humanitarian organizations and donors, with the intention of progressing towards an operational definition applicable for humanitarian settings. It is hoped that this event will facilitate progress towards a more equitable provision of humanitarian shelter assistance to disaster and conflict-affected populations – reaching beyond those with documented title. Participants included operational humanitarian organizations and several of the most active donors involved in shelter response.

These activities undoubtely served as valuable contribution to the Security of Tenure project, which the Rapporteur has been developing since 2012. Regarding this project, the Rapporteur has hosted between May and June regional consultations in Quito, Ecuador ^[199]; in Johannesburg, South Africa ^[200]; in Sao Paulo, Brazil ^[197]; and in Geneva, Switzerland ^[195]. Results of all these events will help the formulation of guidelines on the theme, which are to be presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2013.

The event organized in São Paulo on June 17^th, 2013, was attended by 28 people from different regions of the country, including representatives from government, academia, NGOs that work with technical and legal support to urban communities, and social movements.

The main goal of the Consultation was to identify relevant aspects of the Brazilian experience to help define guidelines on security of tenure for the urban poor, which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council. It also aimed to discuss in what measure new guidelines about the issue, conceived in an international venue, could in turn strengthen tenure security for the urban poor populations in Brazil.

This report succinctly presents the main debates around the issues of land regularization, the social function of urban property and how this concept may improve the access to land for social housing, and also the theme of forced evictions. At the end of the event, proposals for international guidelines were debated.

To read the full report, click here ^[201].

On June 26th, Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik hosted in Palais Wilson, headquarters of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, an informal consultation on security of tenure with representatives of civil society organizations from several  European countries, such as Spain, Portugal, France, Northern Ireland , Turkey and Serbia.

The meeting sought to identify the key challenges in ensuring tenure security for urban poor, particularly for informal settlement dwellers; identify and assess the effectiveness and validity of policies and practices that have been implemented or developed to ensure and/or strengthen tenure security for the urban poor, particularly informal settlement dwellers, at both national and local levels; and identify key recommendations of policies, practices and legislation that have: proven effective in addressing the above challenges; have the potential for general application; and could be part of the UN Special Rapporteur’s forthcoming Guidelines.

The consultation is part of the Special Rapporteur’s project on security of tenure. This two-year project started in 2012 and will continue until early 2014. In 2012, the Special Rapporteur ‘mapped’ legal guidance, policies and practices with respect to tenure security as a key element of the right to adequate housing, identifying a number of challenges and gaps. In 2013, between May and June, the rapporteur held regional consultations in Quito (Ecuador) ^[199], in Johannesburg (South Africa) ^[200] and in Sao Paulo (Brazil) ^[197]. The results of these events will help the formulation of guidelines on the theme, which are to be presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2014.

United Nations Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik conducted her first official visit to Indonesia from 30 May to 11 June 2013 to collect first-hand information on the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing in the country, particularly with regard to the poor and other marginalized groups.

Read the mission press release here ^[198]. Also, check the Special Rapporteur preliminary remarks ^[202].

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GENEVA, 14 June 2013 – On the eve of 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, said today: “I acknowledge that mega sporting events can  be an opportunity to enhance access to adequate housing. However, past experience has shown that these events often result in forced evictions, displacement, sweeping operations against the homeless and a general augmentation of the cost of adequate housing.”

“The situation is, unfortunately, not different in Brazil as we speak. We expected that the champion of many football cups would use this opportunity to show the world it is also a champion of the right to housing, in particular for people living in poverty, but the information I have received shows otherwise,” Ms. Rolnik added.

On 15 June, Brazil will inaugurate the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, an international football tournament that serves as a prelude to the 2014 World Cup, also to take place in Brazil. The Olympic Games are also planned to be hosted in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The organization of back-to-back mega events of this kind is at the centre of the urban planning and development policies in the country.

During the past three years, the independent expert has received allegations of evictions without due process or in detriment of international human rights standards. In various cases, residents and citizens have not been consulted and have not had the opportunity to participate in decisions having a grave impact on their standard of living. Concerns have also been expressed about very low compensation that might lead to the creation of new informal settlements with inadequate living conditions or greater rates of homelessness.

“As I have said many times, including in communications with the State and local authorities in Brazil, they must refrain from forced evictions in the preparation for mega-events. Where evictions are justified, they should be undertaken in full compliance with the relevant procedures and international instruments and guidelines. Above all, authorities should avoid at all costs any negative impacts on then human rights of the individuals and communities, especially the most vulnerable,” the UN independent expert highlighted.

“The authorities should ensure that their actions, and those of third parties involved in the organization of the events, contribute to the creation of a stable housing market and have a long term positive impact in the residents of the cities where events take place. Steps must be taken to prevent speculation in housing prices and to deliver more affordable housing.”

“I call for the adoption of urgent national regulations to guide the activities of local governments and third parties involved in these projects. This is an essential step in the effective preparation and planning for the series of mega-events taking place in Brazil. Just as the world will be watching the football champion, the international human rights community will also be watching how well the housing rights of all are protected in these coming weeks and years,” the Special Rapporteur said.

ENDS

Ms. Raquel Rolnik (Brazil) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2008. Ms.Rolnik is an architect and urban planner with extensive experience in the area of housing and urban policies. Learn more here ^[234].

For more information and media requests, please contact: In Geneva: Juana Sotomayor  (+41 22 917 9445 ^[235] / jsotomayor@ohchr.org ^[169]) or write to srhousing@ohchr.org ^[236].

Source: OHCHR ^[237]

JAKARTA (10 June 2013) – Indonesia faces huge challenges in promoting and protecting the right to adequate housing, “such as rapid urbanisation, the concentration of population in high density informal settlements in urban areas and acute vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change,” the United Nations expert on adequate housing said today.

The country has a “unique window of opportunity” in the next few years to address these challenges, and to manage urbanisation and economic development to ensure inclusive growth that also benefits the poor, Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik noted.

“I am concerned that in some cases development is having a retrogressive impact on the right to adequate housing,” Ms. Rolnik said, referring to the practice of development based evictions by State and private entities in both rural and urban areas.

Ms. Rolnik underlined that evictions are a gross violation of international human rights law. “I call on the Government to ensure that legislation regulating evictions is in line with Indonesia’s international human rights obligations and is duly enforced on State agencies and third parties,” she said.

At the end of her first country visit to Indonesia, she stressed that “more can and must be done to prioritize the poorest and most marginalized segments of society in Government housing policies and programmes”.

Ms. Rolnik, the independent expert charged by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the right to adequate housing worldwide, examined several housing policies and programmes, some targeting low-income households.

While commending the diversity of the programmes, which include the upgrading of informal settlements, and low income rental apartments, she expressed concern that the Government is currently concentrating its efforts and resources on housing finance policies, which may undermine access to adequate and affordable housing for the poor.

“Housing finance policies are inherently discriminatory against the poor – those living in informal settlements, working in the informal market and small-scale farmers, which represent the bulk of the Indonesian society, but cannot access formal credit and therefore cannot benefit from these policies,” she warned. She also noted that these policies may accelerate the spike in housing and land prices that Indonesia is already experiencing.

The Special Rapporteur called on the Government to channel the country’s economic and social resources to promote the right to housing of the poorest and most marginalized.

“One of the main assets of Indonesia is community organization, which is reflected in the culture of the inner city kampong. There are good examples of housing projects (particularly but not only in the disaster reconstruction context) that have harnessed the power of communities. These examples should serve as a model for the design and effective implementation of a National Pro-Poor Housing Strategy, based on human rights standards,” she recommended.

She urged the Government to design and implement a comprehensive land policy reform to increase the security of tenure of Indonesians and regulate the impact of market forces on land availability and affordability.

During her 12-day visit, Ms. Rolnik met senior government officials, donor agencies, international organizations, national human rights institutions, financial institutions, civil society and communities in Jakarta, Makassar, Surabaya and Yogyakarta.

The UN Special Rapporteur presented some preliminary findings and recommendations during a press conference today. These and other issues will be further developed in an official report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014.

ENDS

Click here ^[202] to read the complete media statement with the preliminary observations by the Special Rapporteur.

Check the mission photos here ^[238]!

OHCHR ^[239] – Country Page: Indonesia ^[240].

^[241]

At the beginning of last month, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing promoted in Quito, Ecuador, a consultation on experiences of strengthening security of tenure for the urban poor in Latin America. A similar activity was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 27th and 28th. There will also be consultations during the month of June in Sao Paulo and Geneva about Brazilian, European and humanitarian experiences. After the Johannesburg consultation, Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik headed to Indonesia, where she is conducting an official mission between May 30th and June 11th.

www.righttohousing.org ^[242]

* Quito Consultation
As part of the Security of Tenure project, the Rapporteur hosted in Quito (Ecuador) on May 11th, a consultation with experts from various Latin American countries. Find out more about it ^[243].

* Johannesburg Consultation
Also as part of the project, the Rapporteur hosted a second consultation in the city of Johannesburg (South Africa), in order to learn experiences from the African continent. Click here to know more. ^[200]

* Indonesia Mission
Between May 30th and June 11th, Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik is visiting Jakarta and other Indonesian cities at the invitation of the Indonesian government. By the end of the mission, she will present her preliminary remarks. Read the official press release here ^[244].

* Agenda
New consultations for the Security of Tenure project will happen in São Paulo, on June 17th, and in Geneva, between June 26th and 28th. More information soon.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing hosted on May 27th and 28th, in the city of Johannesburg (South Africa), a consultation on security of tenure for the urban poor in the African continent. Organized in partnership with the Ford Foundation and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (a South African non-governmental organization), the consultation was attended by government representatives, international agencies, consultancy entities, civil society organizations, social movements and universities from different African countries, such as Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, and South Africa.

The event had the purpose of identifying, based on these countries’ experience, the main challenges and obstacles to the strengthening of security of tenure for urban poor, particularly of those living in informal settlements. In addition, it also sought to collect suggestions of practices, policies and legislations implemented in the continent that have faced such challenges/obstacles and that may become part of guidelines (orientations to UN member states) to be presented by the Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council on her next report.

^[249]

Consultation on security of tenure for the urban poor population in Africa. Photo: Hakima Haithar.

On the first day, the consultation started with explanatory panels from the guests, who presented their respective countries’ experiences around four thematic axes: informal settlements upgrading, regularization and titling; land reforms and land management; urban policies and land market; litigation, advocacy, and other civil society initiatives. At the end of the day, an overall outlook was made along with the participants, containing the main challenges/obstacles detected from these experiences, which were gathered according to four main themes: political economy of land; financial role of land; multiple land tenure systems; and definition of principles and concepts related to security of tenure.

Divided into smaller discussion groups and using a participative methodology elaborated for the consultation, participants developed, during all morning of the second day, strategies and intervention proposals to overcome the identified challenges/obstacles. Following the presentation and debate of the final results achieved in each group, participants were invited to identify the main recommendations that should be included in the guidelines to be presented along with the next thematic report to the Council on March 2014.

Soon a consolidated report will be available on our virtual platform. Meanwhile, you may already check the participants’ presentations and reports ^[190].

Check more photos of the event here ^[250].

On May 11, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing promoted at the headquarters of FLACSO (Latin American School of Social Sciences), in Quito, Ecuador, a consultation on the main land policy experiences and planning instruments in Latin America aimed at strengthening security of tenure of the urban poor. Public managers, legislators, researchers, scholars, and NGOs and social movements’ activists from countries such as Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Brazil took part in the consultation. These experts and managers were in Quito for the Foro Latinoamericano sobre Instrumentos Notables de Intervención Urbana ^[251] promoted by Lincoln Institute in May 6-10.

^[252]

Consultation on security of tenure in Latin American cities. Photo: Gustavo Riofrio

Its purpose was to collect and analyse experiences related to strengthening the security of tenure of the urban poor population in Latin America, and to evaluate the effectiveness of public policies in the region in order to recognize, ensure and strengthen access to secure tenure. The discussion benefited from the presentation of papers and debates provided by the Lincoln Institute seminar. The first activity of the day was a discussion that sought to identify the main obstacles to ensure tenure recognition, to guarantee continuity of secure tenure in informal settlements, as well as to provide access to well-located urban land for the poor.

Having identified the obstacles, four critical thematic groups were formed: the hegemony of the market and the land’s treatment as a commodity; the prominence of homeownership ideology in the forms of tenure; the emphasis on individual housing solutions (credit subsidies and divorce from urban aspects); and the prevalence of corrective actions (such as land regularization programmes). During the afternoon, each theme was discussed exhaustively and proposals and recommendations were made related to legal framework, instruments, normativity, process, knowledge and information, seeking to trace possible strategies to overcome them.

The results of this and other consultations will play a helping role in establishing guidelines and recommendations on security of tenure.

To see more photos of the event, click here ^[253]. The report of the consultation is available in our virtual platform ^[190].

United Nations Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will conduct her first official visit to Indonesia from 30 May to 11 June 2013 to collect first-hand information on the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing in the country, particularly with regard to the poor and other marginalized groups.

“Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, faces a unique combination of challenges in promoting and protecting the right to adequate housing, such as rapid urbanization, a high proportion of households living in informal settlements and acute vulnerability to climate change,” said the independent expert charged by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the right to adequate housing worldwide.

“I see this visit as a great opportunity to assess the various policies and programmes the Indonesian Government has been developing to address these compound challenges,” Ms. Rolnik said.

The Special Rapporteur will devote specific attention to Government’s efforts to promote access to affordable housing for low income households, and to programmes to increase tenure security.

The independent human rights expert, who goes to Indonesia at the invitation of the Government, will visit communities in Jakarta as well as in other provinces during her two-week mission.

Ms. Rolnik will hold meetings with senior Government representatives, including officials from various ministries working on housing issues. She will also meet with representatives of the UN system, the donor community, non-governmental organizations, individuals and communities.

At the end of her visit, on Tuesday 11 June 2013 at 10:30 am, the Special Rapporteur will hold apress conference at the UN Menara Thamrin Building, Papua Room (7th floor), Jakarta, to present the preliminary findings of her mission.

A comprehensive report with her findings and recommendations will be presented in a report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014.

ENDS

Raquel Rolnik (Brazil) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2008. Her mandate was renewed in 2011. Learn more here ^[254].

OHCHR – Country Page: Indonesia ^[240].

For further information and media requests, please contact:
In Jakarta: Marita (Tata) Kurniasari, UNIC (+62 856 9133 7617 ^[255], +62 21 3983 1011 ^[256] / marita.kurniasari@unic.org ^[257]), Lidia Rabinovich, OHCHR (+41 79 201 0124 ^[258] / lrabinovich@ohchr.org ^[259]) or write to srhousing@ohchr.org ^[236]
In Geneva: Juana Sotomayor  (+41 22 917 9445 ^[235] / jsotomayor@ohchr.org ^[169])

Source: OHCHR ^[260]

May 19, 2013

Rising private rents, lack of affordable housing, benefit cuts and low levels of home-building force costly short-term solution, investigation finds

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A homeless mother drying her child with a towel in a hostel bathroom. The UK is spending £2bn housing homeless families in short-term accommodation. Photo: Mike Abrahams/Alamy

by Nick Mathiason ^[262], Victoria Hollingsworth, Will Fitzgibbon and Patrick Butler ^[263]

The UK has spent almost £2bn housing ^[264] vulnerable homeless families in short-term temporary accommodation, according to figures that demonstrate the scale of Britain’s housing crisis.

Rising private rents, a shortage of affordable housing and benefit cuts have forced local authorities, particularly in London, to place increasing numbers of households in bed and breakfast accommodation, hostels and shelters.

With the number of houses built in Britain falling to new lows ^[265], according to figures released last week, a four-month study by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism ^[266], has revealed that £1.88bn has been spent on renting temporary accommodation in 12 of Britain’s biggest cities over the past four years.

Campaigners have said welfare changes will exacerbate the problem. Official figures show that in London alone 7,000 families dependent onbenefits ^[267] stand to lose more than £100 a week ^[268] under the benefit cap, and many are expected to become homeless as a result.

Leslie Morphy, chief executive of the homelessness ^[269] charity Crisis, said: “For the sake of cutting just a few pounds a week from their benefits, families and individuals are being forced out of their homes, to be put up in B&Bs or temporary accommodation that costs us all far more.”

A separate investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has uncovered evidence that London councils are rapidly accelerating the rehousing of homeless households outside their home boroughs. Some 32,643 homeless households have been rehoused out of their borough since 2009.

In the year to April, 10,832 households were rehoused in this way – a 16% rise on the previous 12 months. Most left the more affluent districts of inner London for the cheaper outer suburbs, although an increasing number of London’s homeless are being moved to towns outside the capital, such as Dartford in Kent, Slough in Berkshire and Spelthorne in Surrey.

The “destination” boroughs have said the influx of households has put a significant strain on local services. Councillors in Enfield in outer London, where more properties and B&B rooms are secured by London authorities than anywhere else, have said the demand from inner London authorities is pushing up private rents and placing untenable pressure on school places.

“The pressure will not abate,” said Edward Smith, a Conservative councillor in Enfield. “Before long we will have to build more secondary schools.”

The Labour leader of Slough council, Robert Anderson, said: “If authorities put people in our area with complex needs, or even just families; they need to inform us. If we know where they have come from we can make sure the borough does not shirk responsibilities and just pass on their more difficult clients. You can’t just pitch up halfway through a year and expect to get a school place. It’s not McDonald’s.”

The housing minister, Mark Prisk, insisted on Sunday night that councils should be careful about placing families in B&Bs far from their home borough. “There is absolutely no excuse for families to be sent miles away without proper regard for their circumstances, or to be placed in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation for long periods of time,” he said. “The law is clear: councils have a responsibility to take into account people’s jobs and schools when securing homes for those in need.”

But Prisk also defended the policy of removing families on benefit from central London. “Nor is it right that those living on benefits should be able to live in parts of the capital that those who aren’t reliant on this support couldn’t afford to,” he said.

Households accepted as homeless by their local council will often be placed in temporary accommodation until a more permanent home can be found for them.

As latest government figures ^[270] show there were 53,130 households living in temporary accommodation at the end of 2012 – 9% higher than the previous year – a leading law firm is preparing a class action against councils that keep families in B&B for longer than the statutory maximum of six weeks. It is believed a third of British local authorities are in breach of the limit, largely because of a shortage of suitable temporary accommodation.

Official guidance says B&B accommodation should be avoided wherever possible. Lack of privacy and amenities for cooking and laundry means it is “not suitable” for families with children or pregnant women “unless there is no alternative accommodation available and then only for a maximum of six weeks”.

Bureau data shows the amount spent on temporary accommodation across 12 of Britain’s biggest cities was up 5.7% to £464m last year. And London councils have budgeted for further significant overall rises this financial year.

Since 2009, London councils have secured 5,827 properties and B&B rooms in the three London boroughs of Enfield, Waltham Forest and Haringey alone.

The borough suffering the worst homelessness crisis in the country appears to be Newham, in east London which has spent £185.2m placing people in temporary accommodation since 2009.

Source: The Guardian ^[271]

May 08, 2013

A group of United Nations human rights experts today urged world governments to ratify a key international instrument that allows individuals and groups who have been denied their economic, social and cultural rights to have their claims reviewed directly by a UN committee of experts.

The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ^[272], which has just entered into force, has been ratified so far by ten pioneering States: Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mongolia, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Uruguay, forming a “club for social justice”.

“This new procedure empowers individuals and groups, regardless of their nationality or migration status, to invoke, among other things, the rights to food, water and sanitation, health, education, housing, work and social security, before the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,” the experts said.

The UN independent experts stressed that the Optional Protocol represents “a major step in the protection and realization of economic, social and cultural rights, and a powerful affirmation that they are as important as civil and political rights, and fundamentally interrelated and interdependent with them.”

This new mechanism, they added, gives hope against the impending retrogression inherent in so-called ‘austerity measures.’ “Such retrogression is incompatible with article 5 of the Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights,” they stated.

“Case law is living law that gives a name and a face to individual victims,” the experts noted. “It is dynamic and future-oriented and it creates precedent that serves a triple purpose: to provide a tailored remedy in specific situations, concretize the norms so as to facilitate their understanding by public officials and enforcement by domestic courts, and ultimately contribute to the prevention of violations,” added the experts.

“The ‘club for social justice’ will surely grow, as was the case with the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which since its entry into force in 1976 has mandated the Human Rights Committee to register and examine thousands of cases, leading to the adoption of ground-breaking case-law and concrete remedies to the victims,” the experts said.

“We urge governments worldwide to join this ‘club for social justice’, and call on human rights defenders, national human rights institutions and civil society at large to publicize this new petitions procedure in a concerted effort aiming at the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, so as to advance toward universal participation,” the UN independent experts concluded.

(*) Check the Optional Protocol here ^[272].

ENDS

The experts:
Raquel ROLNIK, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context;
Farida SHAHEED, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights;
Alfred de ZAYAS, Independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order;
Kishore SINGH, Special Rapporteur on the right to education; Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances;
Christoph HEYNS, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions;
Olivier De SCHUTTER, Special Rapporteur on the right to food;
Cephas LUMINA, Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights;
Maina KIAI, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association;
Anand GROVER, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health;
Margaret SEKAGGYA, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders;
François CRÉPEAU, Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants;
Pablo De GREIFF, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence;
Gulnara SHAHINIAN, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and its consequences;
Ben EMMERSON, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism;
Catarina de ALBUQUERQUE, Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Click here ^[161] to learn more about the issue. Provisional rules of procedure under the Optional Protocol here ^[273].

Source: OHCHR ^[274]

May 7, 2013

For the millions of people facing forced evictions and displacement, access to secure and adequate housing continues to be a challenge. According to the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, it is estimated that more than 18 million people were evicted from their homes between 1998 and 2008. Every year, 15 million people have also found themselves displaced due to development projects.

“We are in the grip of a global tenure insecurity crisis,” says Raquel Rolnik, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, in her report presented during the 22nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“Access to secure housing and land is a prerequisite for human dignity and an adequate standard of living, yet many millions of people live under the daily threat of eviction, or in an ambiguous situation where their tenure status can be challenged by authorities or private actors at any time,” says Rolnik.

Land tenure, as Rolnik explains in her report, is the relationship among people, as individuals or groups, with respect to land. As a cornerstone of the right to adequate housing, the goal of security of tenure is to ensure the enjoyment by individuals of a secure home and enable them to live in security, peace and dignity.

“Recognition and protection of security of tenure is one of the most compelling challenges of today’s world and is fundamental to preventing the most egregious forms of eviction, displacement, and homelessness,” says Rolnik.

Displacement can be caused by development projects, natural disasters and conflicts. According to the report, by the end of 2011, about 26 million people became homeless due to armed conflicts, violence or human rights violations, while 15 million people were displaced because of natural disasters.

Drought and climate change, as well as land speculation and land grabbing, are major causes of migration from rural areas to cities where access to housing and land is limited, especially for the poorest population. People often settle in inadequate housing, with insecure tenure arrangements. It is projected that 67 per cent of the world’s population will be urban by 2050. In many cities, Rolnik explains, the majority of the world’s population resides in self-made and unplanned settlements, referred to as slums. According to the United Nations Settlements Programme (UN Habitat), it is estimated that 828 million people were living in slums in 2010.

People living in slums are most visible in this global tenure insecurity crisis. However, there are many other individuals and groups affected by tenure insecurity. These range from refugees, people living with HIV, and the poor, to nomadic communities, groups affected by caste-based discrimination and indigenous peoples. Women are particularly at risk because they often have to depend on a man to gain access to housing. Even individual property owners can be insecure, as the recent mortgage and financial crises have shown in different countries.

In her report, Rolnik described the complexity of this issue both in terms of practice and in international human rights law. During the past decade, some improvements have been made which have resulted in protection of various forms of tenure. However, while people already have a right to secure adequate housing, there is an urgent need for more analysis on how this right can be recognized, protected, and realized. “Much work remains to be done to harmonize law with practice,” she says.

2013 marks the 20th anniversary of the World Conference on Human Rights, which led to the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action ^[275] and the establishment of a High Commissioner for Human Rights. Its creation gave a new impetus to therecognition of human rights principles which has seen fundamental progress in the promotion and protection of human rights.

Since its creation in 2000, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing has advanced the promotion and protection of the main elements of the right to adequate housing, including legal security of tenure. It has also resulted in increased attention to the obligations States have with respect to individuals and groups, as well as areas of concern , such as development-based eviction and displacement, and post-conflict and post-disaster reconstruction.

Source: OHCHR ^[276]

Between April 19th and 23rd, the Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik participated in the “Civil Society Policy Forum”, an event part of the “Spring Meeting” promoted by the World Bank, in Washington, United States. The Rapporteur participated in discussions about the process of reviewing and updating the safeguard policies of the Bank and referred to the housing policies promoted by the institution and its impacts on the right to housing. In March, Rolnik presented to the UN Human Rights Council a report on safeguards related to housing, with contributions to the review process. Also, have a look at the last Communications Report and the agenda for the Security of Tenure project.

www.righttohousing.org ^[277]

* World Bank
Besides taking part in the Civil Society Policy Forum, the Rapporteur took the opportunity to meet with the World Bank environmental and social safeguards reviewing commission and with some of the executive directors, members of the World Bank board. Click here ^[278] to know more.

* Communications
Since February, the report containing all communications sent by Rapporteurs to governments between June and November 2012 is available. The report also includes the responses received between August 2012 and January 2013. Click here ^[279] to learn more.

* Security of Tenure Project: Schedule
This month the Rapporteur will hold two consultations on security of tenure ^[280]. The first will be in Quito, Ecuador, on the 11th. The second will be in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the 27th and 28th. More information coming soon!

The UN Human Rights Council has already made available for viewing the report with all communications sent by the Special Rapporteurs, as well as the answers received from the Member States.

The report refers to the second half of 2012, including communications sent between June 1st and November 30, and answers received between August 1st 2012 and January 31st 2013.

The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik, sent communications to 16 countries: Serbia, Cambodia, Israel (twice), Italy, Panama, Portugal, Nigeria (twice), Colombia, Egypt, France, Brazil, Turkey, Spain, Russia, India and Nepal. The communication to Nepal was sent on April 30, 2012, but it was included on this report.

Nine countries provided answers to the communications: Serbia ^[285], Portugal ^[286], Nigeria ^[287], Colombia ^[288], Spain (two responses: November 19, 2012 ^[289] and January 16, 2013 ^[290]), France ^[291], India ^[292], Nepal ^[293] and Turkey ^[294].

Moreover, the Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik sent a joint communication, along with the Rapporteurs on Extreme poverty; Food; Freedom of expression; Freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Indigenous peoples; and Water and Sanitation; to a company, GCM Resources, which has a contract with the Bangladesh government regarding a mining project. This project would carry consequences to human rights in many areas. The company sent a response to the questions of the Special Rapporteurs on January 31st, 2013 ^[295].

The document includes communications in English, Spanish and French. To view those sent by Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik, check the column “Mandate” and identify those under “adequate housing”. It is important to recall that the communications can be sent by only one rapporteur or by a group of rapporteurs (if the question involves more than one mandate).

To download the file, click on the green button below.

Download the file ^[296]

April 23, 2013

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Haitians living in a camp for people displaced by the January 2010 earthquake, Port-au-Prince January 3, 2013. Photo: REUTERS/Swoan Parker

Some dodge the stones and bottles thrown at their tents in the dead of night, others watch helplessly as their tarpaulin shelters, huddled in camps sprawled across the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, are destroyed with knives and sticks.

Rights group Amnesty International has collected dozens of such testimonies from Haitians who have been kicked out of makeshift camps set up by those left homeless by the January 2010 earthquake. Many camp residents have moved out, but just over 320,000 Haitians still live in them.

In its report released on Tuesday, rights group Amnesty said one in four camp dwellers face the risk of being evicted by landowners who want to reclaim their land, and increasing numbers are being forced out of camps, a practice that is carried out or condoned by the Haitian authorities.

“Around 10 a.m. a group of police officers accompanied by men armed with machetes and knives arrived at the camp. They insulted us and began to demolish our tents. The men pushed us around and the police waved their guns at us to prevent us from reacting,” Suze Mondesir, a former camp resident evicted from a camp in Port-au-Prince last January, is quoted as saying in a statement by Amnesty on Tuesday.

Haitian authorities have carried out forced evictions to clear public squares and spaces, while other evictions have involved private landowners eager to get their property back, the Amnesty report said.

“We have heard of state authorities taking part in illegal evictions, including justices of the peace turning up with armed groups with machetes and knives. The authorities are not doing enough to protect camp residents from forced convictions pro-actively. There has been no justice for the families who’ve been evicted, often without consultation and no warning,” James Burke, one of the report’s researchers and campaigner for the Caribbean region at Amnesty, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview from Port-au-Prince.

“We are calling on the government to stop forced evictions. The government needs to send a message to private landowners that there is a due judicial process they have to go through to reclaim their lands and that the threat of eviction will not be tolerated. People don’t know from one day to the next whether they’ll be on the streets,” he said.

Haitian authorities say they are investigating specific cases where police are alleged to have been involved in forced evictions.

Since July 2010, nearly 62,000 people have been evicted from the camps, including almost 1,000 families during the first three months of this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

SEX FOR FOOD

Amnesty’s report found that poverty and the dire living conditions in the camps, coupled with poor prospects of getting a job, “have led some women and girls to engage in transactional or survival sex.”

“We spoke with 150 people, the majority women, and there is anecdotal evidence that transactional sex goes on so that women can survive and feed their families. There are women who are placed in situations where they are forced to exchange sex for food,” Burke said.

Overcrowding in the camps, a lack of lighting at night and few police on patrol, are other  reasons why many women and girls living in camps have been victims of sexual violence, including rape, the Amnesty report said.

The report, based on three field visits by Amnesty to Haiti in 2011 and 2012, said most of those evicted have been driven deeper into poverty and often made homeless once again.

“Forced evictions pulled to pieces what women and families had arduously built up over months, destroying their means of earning a living and pushing them even further into poverty,” the report said.

HOUSING CRISIS

The shortage of housing in Port-au-Prince was an acute problem even before the quake hit, with around 70 percent of people living in slums.

The government of Michel Martelly has said that resettling camp dwellers is a priority and has drafted the country’s first ever housing policy.

“It’s at least an initiative to address housing in Haiti. It’s still a draft and it has a long way to go. We hope the housing policy puts human rights and the most vulnerable at the heart of their plans,” Burke said.

Efforts to resettle quake survivors in new housing or repaired homes have been hampered by political uncertainty, poor coordination, a cholera epidemic and longstanding land tenure problems.

The Haitian government and international aid agencies are running schemes to move families from camps on public and state-owned land into safe and repaired homes by offering them rental subsidies.

Such initiatives have helped reduce the number of people in tent cities by nearly 80 percent from a peak of 1.5 million in July 2010.  But forced evictions appear to have become an important factor behind the decrease in camp numbers, Amnesty said in its report.

In the absence of any long-term solution to Haiti’s housing crisis, camp dwellers continue to face deteriorating conditions.

“Some of the camps we visited had four latrines for 1,000 people. None of them had access to drinking water. Sanitation is horrendous,” Burke said.

Read Amnesty’s report here. ^[298]

Source: TRUST ^[299]

April 18, 2013

A group of United Nations independent experts on extreme poverty, indigenous peoples, right to food and foreign debt called on the Word Bank to adopt human rights standards this weekend, during the review of its environmental and social policies—also known as ‘safeguard policies’—which apply to project finance.

“All activities supported by the World Bank, not only its investment lending, should be included in the review to ensure consistency with international human rights standards,” the rights experts urged. “Doing so would improve development outcomes and strengthen the protection of the world’s poorest from unintended adverse impacts of activities financed by the Bank.”

The first consultation period of a two-year review of the Bank’s safeguard policies for project finance concludes this weekend, 19-21 April. A first draft of the revised policies, which will be open for public comment, is expected in the next few months.

The review offers an important opportunity for broadening their scope in key areas related to human rights such as disability, gender, labour, land tenure, and the rights of indigenous peoples. The experts underscored, however, that “amendments to the safeguard policies must not dilute their force, but should build on the advances already made and strengthen mechanisms for their effective implementation.”

“Unfortunately, economic development can have negative as well as positive impacts,” said the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda. “Often, the poorest of the poor do not benefit from development, or even worse, it is undertaken at their expense.”

“In order to avoid adverse impacts of development projects and maximize the benefits to the poorest and most marginalized, the World Bank should adopt a requirement to undertake human rights due diligence, including a human rights impact assessment, on all activities proposed for World Bank financing, particularly regarding the rights of the poorest and most vulnerable persons,” she underlined.

Source: OHCHR ^[304]

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Find out more about the project’s agenda and learn how to participate

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April 3rd, 2013

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Social worker donates food to homeless persons in Budapest, Hungary. Photo: EPA/ATTILA KOVACS

Two United Nations Special Rapporteurs on extreme poverty and on adequate housing criticized today a recent amendment to the Hungarian Fundamental Law that authorizes national and municipal legislation to outlaw sleeping in public spaces.

The human rights experts urged the Hungarian Government to retract this newly adopted amendment, in line with the Constitutional Court’s decision to decriminalize homelessness and Hungary’s international obligations, and expressed their concern about a “rushed amendment process, which left no time for public consultation.”

“Through this amendment, the Hungarian Parliament institutionalizes the criminalization of homelessness and enshrines discrimination against and stigmatization of homeless persons in the Constitution,” said the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda.

“Such legislation will have a disproportionate impact on persons living in poverty in general and on homeless persons in particular,” Ms. Sepúlveda said. “This will not only impede the enjoyment of human rights of homeless persons, but will also promote prejudice towards people living in poverty and homeless persons for generations to come.”

The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, warned that “outlawing rough sleeping in the context of limited availability of housing solutions for homeless persons and low-income households is contrary to Hungary’s international human rights obligations of equality and non-discrimination.”

Ms. Rolnik noted that, according to the Hungarian Government, there are currently not enough shelters in the capital to service the existing homeless community. “Hungary does not have a National Housing Strategy or a long term homeless plan for the almost 30,000 homeless persons living in the country,” she added.

“Although I welcome the additional amendments to the Constitution which recognize the right to adequate housing and a commitment to provide access to housing for every homeless person, the full realization of the right to adequate housing is far from a reality in Hungary,” the expert said.

“We are particularly concerned that this amendment aims to circumvent the decision taken by the Hungarian Constitutional Court in November 2012, which annulled previous legislation that criminalized habitual living in public spaces,” the experts stressed. The legislation was deemed by the Constitutional Court as contradictory to the Fundamental Law requirements for legal certainty and the protection of the right to human dignity and the right to property.

The Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty recalled that the previous legislation reportedly led to more than USD 125,000 in fines being levied by different municipalities on homeless persons, before it was struck down by the Constitutional Court.

“It begs the question as to how the poorest and most marginalized in Hungarian society are expected to pay these substantial fines, which only serve to push them deeper into poverty,” she stressed.

——- ENDS

Magdalena Sepúlveda is the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights since May 2008. She is independent from any government or organization. Learn more, click here ^[60]. In October 2011, Ms. Sepúlveda presented a report to the UN General Assembly on the penalization of people living in poverty: read it here ^[313].

Raquel Rolnik was appointed as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context by the UN Human Rights Council, in May 2008. As Special Rapporteur, she is independent from any government or organization and serves in her individual capacity. An architect and urban planner, Ms. Rolnik has extensive experience in the area of housing and urban policies. Learn more here ^[254].

Read here ^[314] the experts’ previous statement on the decision of the Hungarian Constitutional Court in November 2012.

Click here ^[315] to read the Hungarian Government’s response.

Source: OHCHR ^[316]

On May, the UN Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing will promote two consultations as part of the security of tenure project.

The first will be on the 11^th, in Quito, Ecuador, in FLACSO headquarters, taking the opportunity of the participation of specialists from several countries in the Latin American Forum on Noteworthy Instruments for Urban Intervention ^[251], promoted by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, from May 6 to 10. The event will analyse the main experiences in land policy and planning instruments in Latin America in recent decades.

The second consultation will take place on the 27^th and 28^th, in Johannesburg, South Africa, organized by the Rapporteur, in partnership with SERI (Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa) and supported by Ford Foundation.

The objective in these consultations is to assess experiences related to the strengthening of security of tenure for the urban poor. Both events will include public officials, legislators, researchers, scholars, NGO members and social movement activists.

March 22, 2013

Report says 64 million Indians live in degrading conditions and that a full survey would uncover even more

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Children in Trilokpuri in the Indian capital New Delhi. Photograph: David Levene

One in six urban Indians lives in slum housing ^[264] that is cramped, poorly ventilated, unclean and “unfit for human habitation”, according to the country’s first complete census of its vast slum population ^[318]. In other words, nearly 64 million Indians live in a degrading urban environment very similar to the shantytowns portrayed in the Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire ^[319].

The first-ever nationwide report – prepared from data collated for the 2011 national census – looks at urban slums in around 4,000 towns across India ^[320]. (A slum was defined as a settlement of at least 60 households deemed unfit for human habitation, but the report does not cover every town and city in this vast country.)

India’s Planning Commission has recommended that urban clusters with as few as 20 households should be classed as slums. “We will be analysing the census data on the basis of the new definition also,” said Dr C Chandramouli, the registrar general. “This is likely to increase the number of slum households across the country.”

While the report described open sewers and poverty, it also shows that many residents own mobile phones and televisions in their shacks and have overcome a lack of infrastructure by rigging up elaborate – mostly illegal – electricity supplies.

Mumbai has the largest absolute population ^[321] of slum dwellers: 41% of its 20.5 million people. But in percentage terms, India’s commercial capital has been overtaken by two other megacities: the bustling port city of Vishakapatnam on the Bay of Bengal (43% of its 1.7 million inhabitants) and the central Indian city of Jabalpur, birthplace of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (42% of its 1.3 million people).

“This kind of shift could be due to the displacement of the working class,” said PK Das of the Nivara Hakk housing rights group in Mumbai. “In the latest census, for instance, some municipal wards in central Mumbai dominated by the working class have actually shown a decline in the total population. This is because industries are creating fewer jobs in Mumbai, while smaller cities are attracting workers in the informal sector.”

The report reveals another fact that provides a bleak vision of India’s future urbanisation. Ten towns with a population of around 5,000 have been categorised as “all-slum towns”. These are concentrated in four states: Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Sikkim.

“Unlike in the past, state governments are no longer involved in creating affordable urban housing for the poor,” said Das. “After 1991, with economic liberalisation, this task has been left to the private sector. But housing for the poor is not profitable, so the private sector doesn’t see it as a good investment.”

Das pointed out that the slum rehabilitation programme in Mumbai involving the private sector has created only 137,000 houses in the last 22 years.

New Delhi, the capital, had a relatively low 15% of households in slums, while the big cities of Kolkata and Chennai had 30% and 29% respectively. Bengaluru, a high-tech centre, had only 9%.

Nationwide, more than one-third of slum homes surveyed had no indoor toilets and 64% were not connected to sewerage systems. About half of the households lived in only one room or shared with another family. However, 70% had televisions and 64% had mobile phones.

Maqbool Khan, 54, has lived in the seaside Geeta Nagar slum in South Mumbai for the last 40 years. The shantytown is close to posh apartment complexes inhabited by millionaires and senior officials. Khan runs a tailoring shop. He says that there are not enough municipal facilities for Geeta Nagar’s 2,000 households.

“I feel embarrassed to tell you how we survive,” he said in a telephone interview. “We have to queue up for hours even to go to the toilet, so we often end up doing it in the sea. The government keeps promising to shift us to proper housing, but we remain stranded here.”

Source: The Guardian ^[322]

March 14, 2013

The European Court of Justice ruled Thursday that harsh property repossession laws in Spain that have led to hundreds of thousands of evictions during the country’s deep recession violate EU laws on consumer protection, and activists said the decision could lead judges to halt thousands of bank foreclosure proceedings.

The watershed ruling said Spanish legislation infringes EU law as it does not allow courts to halt eviction orders on the basis of possible unfair terms in mortgage agreements.

The Luxembourg court ruling will almost certainly oblige Spain to amend its law and will also be taken into account by judges handling eviction cases.

More than 350,000 Spaniards have received eviction orders since 2008 because they were unable to make mortgage payments, though in most cases Spanish law required them to continue paying. At least five people have committed suicide in Spain since last fall because they had been evicted or were about to be forced from their repossessed homes.

The national outcry recently prompted the ruling Popular Party to make a last-minute change of stance and agree to debate mortgage default law changes in Parliament.

Ada Colau, a spokeswoman for the Stop Evictions platform that has worked doggedly to halt evictions across the country, welcomed the ruling and said it could be used by judges and lawyers for mortgage debtors to put thousands of current cases on hold.

“We are very happy with the news because it’s a clear show of support for what we have been demanding and denouncing for the past four years, that the procedure is illegal and violates fundamental rights,” Colau told Cadena SER radio.

She told reporters later that the ruling gives judges undisputed power to halt eviction proceedings when they believe mortgage holders signed abusive loan contracts drawn up by banks. Spanish judges had complained previously that they did not want to approve so many evictions but were powerless to prevent them because of the foreclosure laws.

“People are losing their patience, lives are literally at stake, there is an entire generation traumatized by the devastating effects of these procedures,” she said. “What more has to happen before the government responds?”

Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz Gallardon said Spain would respect the ruling but provided no details how the government will respond.

Spain is in its second recession in just over three years and has 26 percent unemployment. Banks, meanwhile, have been blamed for the wave of mortgage foreclosures and homeowner evictions, as well as the suicides.

The collapse of the property market, which triggered the crisis in 2008, led to a fall in house prices but also saw a massive freeze in new purchasing and bank loans so that indebted house owners were unable to sell their properties and pay off their debt.

Thursday’s ruling came after Barcelona Judge Jose Maria Fernandez Seijo sought the European tribunal’s opinion on an eviction case taken by a bank against a Moroccan man who was unable to pay off the balance of a €138,000 mortgage. His contract allowed the bank to tack on an annual interest rate of 18.75 percent for unpaid amounts without notice, and to demand payment of the full balance of the mortgage after just one payment had been missed.

Fernandez Seijo said the ruling now gives “judges a much more powerful tool” with which they could at least suspend evictions.

The court decision, however, did not deal with one of the main demands by anti-eviction lobbyists, which is for an insolvency law that would allow those who have defaulted on their mortgages to simply turn in the keys to their homes as they do in countries like the United States, freeing them from mortgage debt.

Spain is one of the only countries in Europe which has such laws. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Wednesday he is opposed to an all-encompassing insolvency law, saying it could throw the mortgage market into turmoil and eventually make it even more difficult for people to get loans for houses.

After the first eviction suicides last year, Rajoy’s government in November approved a two-year suspension of evictions for some needy homeowners unable to pay their mortgages. But activists said the measure did not go far enough and failed to address the larger issue of how many who give up their homes remain indebted. Children in Spain inherit unpaid mortgage debt if their parents die before paying it off.

Source: The Washington Post ^[323]

March 8, 2013

by Maria Foscarinis ^[324]

March 8 is International Women’s Day, and it’s especially timely for us in the U.S. this year. The recent enactment of legislation reauthorizing and strengthening the Violence Against Women Act ^[325] is a landmark event for women, and especially low-income women, in the U.S. The new law adds greater protections and resources for survivors of domestic violence and assault. It also brings our country closer to the goal of ensuring the human right to housing ^[326].

What does domestic violence have to do with the human right to housing? Lots. Part of the new law protects and greatly expands the housing rights of domestic violence survivors, with the goal of preventing a choice between staying with their abuser and having a place to live. This either/or is all too common now: in fact, domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness for women ^[327]. While anyone can be victimized by domestic violence, women as well as teens are much more likely to be than adult males. And of those fleeing their homes due to violence, those without resources are more likely to end up homeless.

Prevention is always the goal in addressing homelessness — once a person becomes homeless, not only does she suffer the pain, harm and danger of being without housing, but it is also much harder to attain self-sufficiency. Without a home, everything else become much more difficult or even impossible: searching for and maintaining employment; keeping up medication regimes; obtaining public benefits; obtaining and keeping identification documents; and obtaining housing; to name just a few. Emergency resources such as shelter are woefully inadequate across the country ^[328], and living in public brings not just risks to health and even life, but also to safety, especially for women, who are at risk of being raped or sexually assaulted ^[329].

Preventing this cascading harm must be a major goal of any effort to address homelessness, and the new VAWA law does just that. The 2005 version of the VAWA law ^[330] included for the first time provisions that protect survivors from being evicted from federal public and subsidized housing based on the actions of their abusers. The 2013 legislation ^[331] builds on and greatly expands those protections, by extending them to all housing programs administered by the U.S. department of Housing and Urban development, and to housing funded by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and to rural housing supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s over 3 million additional housing units now covered.

It’s a big step in the right direction–and it moves us toward protecting the human right to housing. Late last year, the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights issued a report on Women and the Right to Adequate Housing ^[332], a comprehensive look at the housing rights of women set out in human rights instruments and treaties — and their implementation, or violation, in countries around the world. The report includes a description of violations of that right in North America, drawing on testimony by poor and homeless women, including women in the United States, who told their stories to the top UN housing official during his consultation on women and housing rights ^[333], co-organized by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP), in Washington, D.C. in 2005.

In one of the examples presented to the UN officials, “Ronda” in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, obtained federal housing assistance in the form of a Housing Choice Voucher that helped her pay rent. She lived with her four children and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend assaulted her in July 2001, and she ended her relationship with him. He moved out, and she removed him from her lease. Ten days after the assault, she received notice from the local housing agency that her voucher assistance was being terminated because of her boyfriend’s violent criminal activity against her. With the loss of the voucher assistance, Ronda was suddenly unable to pay her rent.

Among the grievous harms described by some of the women — and confirmed by countless others — was the prospect of having their children taken away and put into foster care if they were to lose their housing. This fear, among others, kept them from fleeing abuse. Years later, in 2011, a visit by another UN official, an expert in domestic violence, was an occasion for NLCHP and other organizations to give testimony, outlining recommendations for changes to VAWA; many were adopted by the official UN report ^[334] that came out of that event.

Now, many of those recommendations — those of NLCHP, allied advocates, and survivors themselves — are reflected in the 2013 VAWA reauthorization and are now the law of the land. This is a tremendous achievement that bring us all closer to this goal: a decent, safe home for all.

Source: The Huffington Post ^[335]

To read the Bill Text, click here ^[336].

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Early in March, the Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik presented three mission reports – Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Rwanda and the World Bank – as well as a thematic report on security of tenure to the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva. Furthermore, the Rapporteur seizes the opportunity on this March 8th to reaffirm that the guarantee of the right to adequate housing for women is crucial for the effectiveness of other rights and for the promotion of autonomy in every sphere of their lives.

www.righttohousing.org ^[338]

* Internationl Women’s Day
Check out the learning materials on women and the right to housing ^[339] elaborated by the Rapporteur. You can also read the report presented last year to the UN Human Rights Council as well as other reports written by the Rapporteur on the theme. Click here. ^[340]

* New Reports
Read the mission reports presented to the UN Human Rights Council on March 4th: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory ^[341], Rwanda ^[342] and the World Bank ^[343]. You can also read the report on security of tenure ^[344]presented in the same occasion. To read the countries’ interventions, during the 22nd session, regarding those reports, click here ^[345]. It’s possible to watch the video ^[346] of the presentation and the thematic dialogue as well.

* Side event: Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territory
On March 4th, the Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik attended a side-event on the right to housing in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Promoted by human rights organizations, the event had over 30 participants. To learn more, click here. ^[347]

* Next Missions
The dates and countries for the missions the Rapporteur will carry out this year are already confirmed. The first one will be from May 30th to June 12th, in Indonesia, and the second will be from September 2nd to 18th, to the United Kingdom.

GENEVA (6 March 2013) – United Nations independent expert Raquel Rolnik, today urged the World Bank to take into account all aspects of the right to adequate housing when revising its safeguard policies. The Bank is currently undergoing a two-year consultative process to review and update its environmental and social safeguard policies.

“As Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, I have witnessed the crucial impact the safeguards policies have on the right to adequate housing of people affected by Bank-financed projects,” Ms. Rolnik told the Human Rights Council during the presentation of a comprehensive report* on the compatibility of the current World Bank’s safeguards system with the right to adequate housing.

“When safeguards fail to address crucial aspects of the right to adequate housing, or are not adhered to in design or implementation, projects may result in forced evictions, displacement, involuntary resettlement and a general deterioration in standards of living of communities,” she noted. “At any given time, involuntary resettlement triggered by active Bank-financed projects affects over 1 million people, two-fifths of which are likely to be physically displaced.”

Ms. Rolnik commended the Bank for being the first international financial institution to develop a safeguard on involuntary resettlement, which later served as a model to other international and regional financial institutions.

In light of the Bank’s current review of safeguards, the independent human rights expert focused her mission report to the World Bank on these issues, and also submitted her suggestions and recommendations to the review process.

The Special Rapporteur welcomed the commitment by World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, at the October 2012 Annual General Meeting in Tokyo not to dilute the Bank’s safeguard policies in the review process. However, Ms. Rolnik called on the World Bank to take a bolder stand, and to seize this opportunity to raise the bar of protection and bring its safeguard policies into line with international human rights standards and obligations in a comprehensive manner.

In her report, the Special Rapporteur makes a number of suggestions on ways in which the Bank’s current policy and practice with regard to involuntary resettlements could be improved, such as a more robust commitment to participation and the inclusion of independent assistance for affected communities.

She also recommends that impact assessments on the right to adequate housing should be in place prior, during and after the implementation of new financing instruments such as Development Policy Loans and Program for Results Financing and better linkages should be in place between analysis and operations design.

(*) Check the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations to the World Bank ^[192]

Source: OHCHR ^[352]

On March 4th, the Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik present her thematic report on security of tenure to the UN Human Rights Council. The complete report is already available in our website ^[353]. This report is parte of a study on security of tenure that has been developed by the Rapporteur since 2012. To learn more about the study, click here ^[86].

Moreover, the Rapporteur also presented reports regarding her missions to Israel and Palestine ^[354], Rwanda ^[355] and World Bank ^[192].

The video with her statement is available below, as well as the responses from the countries to the reports. At the UN WebTV website, it’s possible to watch the statements separately.

To read her statement, click on the green button below.

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On March 4th, Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will present her first thematic report on security of tenure at the 22nd session of the UN Human Rights Council. This report is part of a broader study which is being developed by the Rapporteur since last year and will only be finished in 2014. In the occasion, the Rapporteur will also present three mission reports: Israel and Palestine; Rwanda; and World Bank. Moreover, a mission to the United Kingdom has been confirmed for this year. The official visit will take place from 2 to 16 of September.

www.righttohousing.org ^[357]

* Report on Security of Tenure
This report, which will be presented on March 4th, maps existing tenure systems around the world and their relation with the right to adequate housing. It also presents policies and practices related to providing security of tenure among other points. Learn more. ^[358]

* Study on Security of Tenure
To learn more about the study the Rapporteur is developing on security of tenure and its next steps, read the infonote. Click here. ^[359]

* Mission Reports
The final reports on the missions to Israel and Palestine; Rwanda; and World Bank will be presented to the Human Rights Council on March 4th. To know more on each mission and read the report, click here: Israel and Palestine ^[360]; Rwanda ^[361]; World Bank ^[192].

* Mission to the United Kingdom
Annually, the Rapporteur conducts two official visits to countries in order to learn the situation on right to housing and to dialogue with governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in the issue. In 2013, a mission to the United Kingdom has already been confirmed and will take place from 2 to 16 of September. We will soon provide further information.

The Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing carried out a mission to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory from 30 January to 12February 2012. In the present report she presents her findings and recommendations regarding the protection and promotion of the right to adequate housing in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Click the green button below to read the report.

Download the file ^[366]

INFONOTE

Study on Security of Tenure

Security of tenure is a central component of the right to adequate housing. Any initiative related to housing, whether in the context of urban renewal, land management or other development-related projects, or in dealing with reconstruction needs after conflicts or disasters, will inevitably have tenure security implications. The lack of security of tenure – in law and practice – makes protection against forced eviction very difficult, leaving the most vulnerable, such as inhabitants of informal settlements, at risk of a range of human rights violations.

Human rights law mandates that all persons should possess a degree of security of tenure which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats. But what are the specific requirements derived from this general injunction? In other words, what are the precise, concrete obligations of States to ensure tenure security for their population, and in particular for the most disadvantaged? Are there any practices, policies, and measures to learn from to increase and ensure security of tenure for all?

Building on years of practice in the urban planning, housing policies and development fields, as well as human rights advocacy and litigation, the study aims to offer advice on ways to address the variety of tenure issues arising worldwide, and to strengthen security of tenure, particularly for those who most need it.

Timeframe and Areas of Focus:

Phase One (2012) of the study consisted of a ‘mapping’ exercise, combining legal analysis with an assessment of policies and practices worldwide with respect to tenure security. The Special Rapporteur’s report to the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/22/46) ^[353] reflects this mapping exercise.

The report highlights the overall context of global tenure insecurity and the crucial importance of security of tenure for the right to adequate housing but more broadly for social and economic progress. The report maps the tenure systems and arrangements existing worldwide, key policies and practices pertaining to tenure security, as well as existing guidance under international human rights law and at national level. The report also discusses key operational challenges that pertain to securing tenure.

Phase Two (2013-April 2014) will aim to develop specific guidance on security of tenure focused on urban poor, including the question of informal settlements. The study will be finalized by April 2014, with the Special Rapporteur presenting a final report to the Human Rights Council’s March 2014 session and encouraging further attention to this issue.

In light of the diversity and complexity of applications of security of tenure and their related challenges, the Special Rapporteur decided to focus Phase Two on security of tenure for urban poor. Among questions to be examined is that of urban informal settlements. Informal settlements epitomize tenure insecurity in a very visible form. In many cities they now represent the largest single channel of land and housing supply for the majority of the population.

By focusing on urban poor and informal settlements, the Special Rapporteur will also be able to address a number of challenges highlighted in her first report to the Human Rights Council, namely urban planning, land management, and the complexity of recording and strengthening tenure rights, while keeping her research practical and strategic given the limited time and resources at her disposal.

For more information or to submit any relevant document or information, please contact:

Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing
OHCHR – United Nations Office at Geneva
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Telephone: + 41 22 917 93 68
Fax: +41 22 917 90 06
Email: tenureproject@ohchr.org
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/StudyOnSecurityOfTenure.aspx

To read the PDF version of the infonote, click on the red button below. The infonote is also available in Spanish ^[367], French ^[368] and Portuguese ^[369].

Download the file ^[370]

The UN Special Rapporteur, Raquel Rolnik, will present her new thematic report on March 4th, 2013, during the Human Rights Council 22nd session.

In the report, the SpecialRapporteur elaborates upon the concept of security of tenure as a component of the right to adequate housing. The backdrop is one of a global tenure insecurity crisis, manifesting itself in many forms and contexts — forced evictions, displacement resulting from development, natural disasters and conflicts and land grabbing — and evident in the millions of urban dwellers living under insecure tenure arrangements.

The Special Rapporteur discusses existing guidance under international human rights law, raising questions regarding the precise State obligations with respect to ensuring security of tenure. She examines the wide range of existing tenure arrangements, and the prevalent focus in policy and practice on one form of tenure: individual freehold. The Special Rapporteur also discusses selected operational and policy challenges pertaining to securing tenure. She concludes by underscoring the need for more specific and comprehensive human rights and operational guidance on security of tenure.

To read the report in English, click on the green button below. To read the report in other UN official languages, click here ^[371].

Download the file ^[85]

January 27, 2013

Land ownership disputes stall development projects. Haiti faces international pressure to improve land registry.

By Susana Ferreira

The smooth black asphalt of National Road No. 7 stretches for about five miles beyond Camp Perrin, a town in fertile southwest Haiti.

It abruptly stops before reaching farmer Liphete Denis’ front door, replaced by a rocky dirt path that floods in the rainy season and billows dust clouds when the weather turns dry. “I don’t know why they stopped,” said Denis, 43. “We’d like the road done. We need it.”

The 56-mile road project was meant to connect the southern port city of Les Cayes with Jérémie, a city in one of Haiti’s most neglected regions. It was to resurface a pot-holed road that passes between narrow mountain ranges and fords a flood-prone river, making transportation to Jérémie arduous and dangerous.

Instead, the unfinished road has become a symbol of how efforts to improve Haiti’s infrastructure, especially after the devastating 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people, have run up against the country’s land laws.

A practically non-existent land registry, fraudulent land titles, unclear processes for land transfer, and a tangle of bureaucracy have halted the road project and similar major international investments.

Haiti’s land laws have delayed completion of a Spanish-funded water treatment facility on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince and prevented the start of construction ^[372] on a $26 million public hospital in the city of Gonaives.

The Vatican has shied away from building and re-building churches in this strongly Catholic country, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) decided to build permanent houses in the far north of Haiti rather than the more legally challenging capital, where most of the earthquake damage occurred.

WHERE DID THEY GO?

Paving of National Road No. 7 was announced in 2008 by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), in conjunction with the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), with a cost of $100 million, which has since risen to $132 million.

Brazilian company OAS Construtora won the bidding process with an offer of $94 million and in 2009 moved in to begin working on the first 44-mile stretch of road. To save money, state construction ^[372] company CNE was to handle another section from Les Cayes to Camp Perrin.

Then one day, Denis said, the Brazilians and their heavy machinery were gone.

The concrete walls of the small, two-room home he shares with his wife and infant child are still cracked from the shaking caused by OAS’ trucks.

Some roadside homes were razed by the state to make way for the wider road. Others were slated for demolition, but compensation was haphazard. Denis said he was presented with a hand-written notice in early 2011 saying he would receive the equivalent of $3,000 when his own home was knocked down, but no one ever returned with the money or a bulldozer.

Halfway to Jérémie, in the village of Beaumont, the story is much the same. In July, roadside homes were marked with red for demolition but they still stand, and it is not clear when the owners will be compensated and, if so, how much they will be paid.

National Road No. 7 narrows to a jagged single lane as it approaches Beaumont, evidence of a recent fatal bus accident still scattered along the mountainside. Beyond Beaumont, there is at least another hour of treacherous driving before reaching the last 12.5 miles to Jérémie, which are paved.

OAS has said its work was hindered when it ran into occupied parcels of land whose ownership was unclear and residents who had not been paid to vacate.

“The process of expropriation took much longer than anticipated,” said Gilles Damais, chief of operations for the IADB in Haiti. “One person would receive payment one week, and the following week someone else would come and say, ‘No, he’s not the owner, another person owns this land.'”

Behind schedule and over budget, OAS stopped work in July and filed a claim against the state for more than $40 million. When the Haitian government countered with a $2.7 million claim of its own, both sides dropped their demands in what one state official called “a gentleman’s agreement.” The OAS contract was formally terminated in December.

News of the abandoned road project disheartened and angered residents of the underdeveloped Grand’Anse area, but nowhere was there greater desolation than in Jérémie, a quaint ‘City of Poets’ on the tip of Haiti’s southern peninsula.

Violent demonstrations rattled the normally quiet city for several days; tires ^[373] were burned, cars destroyed, and at least one resident was killed. To mitigate the situation, the government promised that another company would take over work by mid-January, but with the project still dormant the people of Jérémie renewed their protests last week.

Government officials have said that it will soon be announced that Dominican construction company Estrella will take over the project.

Canadian International Development Agency head Julian Fantino has expressed impatience over the slow pace and inefficiency of development projects in Haiti. During visit to Haiti in November, Fantino told Reuters, without specifically mentioning the road project, “Canadians are not about to write a blank check without some assurances and regard for outcomes.”

WHO OWNS WHAT?

Haiti’s land registry problems can be traced back to its independence in 1804 and revolutionary leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines’ push for land reform.

The transfer of a land title involves surveyors, notaries, and the central tax authority. To avoid the expense and bureaucracy, many property owners use informal methods to transfer land making it difficult, if not impossible, to determine a rightful owner.

Title holders may deposit a copy with ONACA, the National Land Registry Office, but they are not obligated to do so.

“The ONACA office is an unwanted child,” said its director, Williams Allonce. Since its creation in 1984, the chronically under-funded office has only managed to register 5 percent of Haiti’s more than 10,700 square miles.

A second agency, the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Land Planning, is also working on a national registry, and the public works ministry has its own internal commission for land title and expropriation management.

After the earthquake, state and foreign agencies were eager to start rebuilding, but identifying landowners in the midst of chaos was often impossible so relief agencies had to find legal workarounds.

“Literally, no one had the answer for how you buy and sell property in Haiti,” said Elizabeth Blake, a vice president at Habitat for Humanity International.

Eighteen months after the earthquake, Blake initiated the Haiti Property Law Working Group. Representatives from foreign and state agencies volunteered to help demystify laws and procedures for purchasing, selling, and formalizing land rights. At the end of 2012, an official how-to guide was published in French, Haiti’s national language, and English.

“It’s an extremely complex problem, and it could put the brakes on reconstruction if we don’t find a way around it,” said Alfred Piard, Haiti’s director of public works.

On a visit to Haiti in January, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said ownership and tenure security issues had to be addressed if reconstruction was to move forward.

“What I’d like to see done is a renewed emphasis this year on the part of the government in clarifying the land laws … and doing other things that will basically cut down on the delay and the cost in starting businesses and starting investments,” Clinton told Reuters.

Gary Jean, an engineer at the public works ministry, said the state had learned an expensive lesson with the OAS road fiasco. Next time, Jean said, all land must be surveyed, accounted for and expropriated before work begins.

Source: Reuters ^[374]

January 25, 2013

Source: International Alliance of Inhabitants ^[377]

January 20, 2013

^[378]

Displaced people in Colombia continue to hope that their wait for justice will end. Photo: Nils Naumann/DW

About five million people are on the run in Colombia. Many have lost everything, including family members and the land they called home. But the government has now promised it will make good on a 2012 restitution law.

Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos traveled to Uraba with his entire cabinet to promote the new restitution law. “We want reconciliation, peace and development,” he explained to around 20,000 displaced people gathered for a speech. “No one will stop us. Our vision is that every displaced (person), who has a legitimate claim to his land can return to it,” he added.

Prior to the president’s visit, there were anonymous threats against some of the attendees. Still, many of the displaced from the region showed up for the event.

President Santos was casually dressed in light blue shirt, blue trousers. Even his choice of words was unusual for a conservative politician. For the government, it wasn’t just about a restitution law, he said.

“It’s about an agricultural revolution. The countryside will be transformed in a region of development and good living conditions. It’s a revolution without weapons – with the constitution and the law in hand,” Santos stated.

Unjust land distribution

Few countries can match the unequal distribution of land in Colombia. 3,000 major landowners control around half of the ground that is used for agriculture. So the president’s statements, in front of the displaced like Alicia Pacheco, were welcome news for many. “The president’s speech gave us hope. How he spoke, how he will help us, and that he means that, that makes us happy,” she says.

Carmen Palencia, who heads Tierra y Vida, an organization that helps the displaced, also welcomes the restitution law. “We expect that the land will finally be returned to its rightful owners through it,” she says.

Around five million people have been displaced in recent years. And about 1.6 million of them have lost their land, according to Palencia’s group. That land corresponds to an area around the size of Austria. Today, most of the land has since been sold off and is in the hands of major landowners. This makes the government’s plan a mammoth task.

The law has been effect since the beginning of 2012, with the goal of compensating victims and restituting their land within ten years. But not much has happened to date despite the high expectations. Most of the time has been spent on creating the relevant bureaucratic structures. Last December, the first 31 families received titles to the land that was stolen from them. In addition, each family received around 10,000 euros (around $13,000) each in compensation for their destroyed homes.

Fear of renewed violence

But families’ ability to return home is far from guaranteed. The biggest problem is the extreme right, says activist Carmen Palencia.

“The extreme right are organized and armed. They won’t allow anyone to take the land that was grabbed back. That’s what they are killing the leaders of the displaced and the applicants for. They are doing everything so that they don’t have to give this land back,” she says.

Since 2010, more than 30 leaders within the restitution movement have been murdered. Most of them have had to leave their home regions. Carmen Palencia has also received death threats. Today, she lives in the capital, Bogota. She only comes to Uraba when accompanied by bodyguards from the central government.

“The influence of the paramilitary and the illegal landowners is still very high in Uraba,” she explains. “Their backers finance senate members, mayors and governors.”

As such, many of the displaced people remain afraid.

“A farmer doesn’t count here. Without security, we are fair game. These bandits are still there. If the government doesn’t give us any security, then it will be dangerous to return. It doesn’t cost these people anything to shoot someone and leave him in the mountains,” Palencia explains.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has promised security to the displaced. It’s thanks to him that people like Gabriel Garces and Alicia Pacheco are feeling hopeful again. Now, the president has to ensure that their trust won’t vanish. But that is difficult. The influence of the central government in the regions of conflict like Uraba is limited. The civil war that has left several million people displaced continues. That’s why success in the ongoing negotiations between the governmentand FARC guerillas on a peace treaty, which also focuses on the land issue, is of central importance to Colombia’s future.

Source: Deutsche Welle ^[379]

^[380]

The Rapporteur begins 2013 at a fast pace: on March 4th, rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will present to the UN Human Rights Council her reports on Israel and Rwanda missions, which took place last year, and also on the official visit to the World Bank, undertaken in 2010. At the time, the rapporteur will also present a preliminary version of the thematic report on security of tenure, a topic which will continue being worked by the mandate throughout the year. Soon, all these reports will be posted on our website. In the meantime, see below a summary of the Rapporteur’s main activities in 2012.

www.righttohousing.org ^[116]

* Country missions and thematic reports
In 2012, Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik promoted official visits to Israel ^[381] and Rwanda ^[355] and developed thematic studies about financialization of housing ^[382] and security of tenure ^[86].

* Reports presented
In March last year, the Rapporteur presented to the UN Human Rights Council the reports on the missions to Argentina ^[383] and Algeria ^[384], undertaken in 2011, as well as the thematic report on women and right to housing ^[385]. She also delivered the report on financialization of housing ^[382] to the UN General Assembly. Unfortunately, due to the Hurricane Sandy, she was not able to present the report in person.

* Communications sent
In 2012, Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik sent 14 communications to the governments of 13 countries regarding complaints of violations to the right to housing. Click here ^[386] to read the communications available. Learn how to file an official complaint ^[387] to the Rapporteur.

* Composition and distribution of materials
The rapporteur ended the year with the distribution of a new leaflet – on megaevents and the right to adequate housing ^[388] -, and also guides ^[389] and leaflets about forced evictions ^[390] and guides ^[391] and leaflets on women ^[392], which have been reprinted.

* Working visits
Apart from the official missions, the rapporteur undertook working visits to Chile ^[393], to Barcelona ^[394], in Spain, toSt. Petersburg ^[395], in Russia, to Naples ^[396], in Italy, and to the cities of Fortaleza ^[397] and Curitiba ^[398], in Brazil.

January 12, 2013

^[401]

In Jan. 21, 2012 photo, Tcharry, a Guajajara Indian, climbs the stairs of the old Indian Museum located near Maracana soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Dozens of indigenous people who have built homes on the site of Rio's old Indian Museum, abandoned since 1977, will have to move as part of the neighborhood's makeover for the 2014 World Cup. Photo: AP/Victor R. Caivano

Police in riot gear surrounded a settlement of indigenous people next to Rio de Janeiro’s storied Maracana stadium on Saturday, preparing to evict them as soon as an expected court order arrived.

The site commander, police Lt. Alex Melo, explained officers were “waiting for the order, and understand it can come at any time.”

But the order still had not arrived after a tense, daylong standoff. Frightened residents wondered why law enforcement came without an order to enter, and federal public defenders who have worked on the protracted legal battle over the space tried to mediate.

“This is absolutely arbitrary. They can’t enter without an order,” said public defender Daniel Macedo. “If they did, they could be charged with a crime, with abuse of authority. It could be a blood bath, which could look really bad for the government of Brazil and the state.”

The indigenous group includes men and women of about 10 ethnicities – mostly Guarani, Pataxo, Kaingangue and Guajajara – who have been squatting for years in 10 homes they built on the site of an old Indian Museum, abandoned since 1977.

The police arrived early in the morning and surrounded the compound. By noon, the residents locked the main gate. As supporters arrived, the Indians lowered a wooden ladder over the brick wall surrounding the complex to let them in, later pulling the ladder back up.

During the nerve-racking wait on Saturday, the squatters painted their faces and bodies and donned elaborate headdresses, at times playing rattles and flutes or whistling bird calls. Some displayed ornamental bows and arrows over the wall and through the gate separating them from the black-clad police in body armor.

The settlement and the remains of the building that lodged the museum are adjacent to the Maracana, which is being refurbished to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics and the final match of the 2014 World Cup.

Blighted streets around the stadium are also to undergo a vast transformation to become a shopping and sports entertainment hub, complete with parking lots. Most of a favela, or shantytown, about 500 meters away has already been demolished to make way for the new development.

The governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, told a news conference in October that the building’s razing is necessary for hosting the World Cup.

“The Indian Museum near the Maracana will be demolished,” Cabral said then. “It’s being demanded by FIFA and the World Cup Organizing Committee. Long live democracy, but the building has no historical value. We’re going to tear it down.”

However, a letter from FIFA’s office in Brazil to the federal public defender’s office published in the newspaper Jornal do Brazil said that the soccer authority “never requested the demolition of the old Indian Museum in Rio de Janeiro.”

The indigenous have been resisting their possible eviction for months, operating with little or no information from authorities about what to expect, or what alternatives are available to them, said their leader Carlos Tukano.

“I know they are going to come in, and our proposal is to remain firm, but without moral or physical aggression,” he said. “We cannot fight them with bows and arrows; they are armed.”

Most of the approximately 30 Indians who live there and about 200 sympathizers packaged the compound Saturday to discuss how to peacefully deal with a possible police action. Several men, masking their faces with shirts, climbed high into the upper floors of the tumble-down building and surveyed the scene with professional bows and arrows.

The squatters believe they have history and the law on their side.

The crumbling mansion with soaring ceilings that housed the old museum was donated by a wealthy Brazilian to the government in 1847 to serve as a center for the study of indigenous traditions.

After the museum closed more than three decades ago, Indians of various ethnicities started using it as a safe place to stay when they came to Rio to pursue an education, sell trinkets in the streets or get medical treatment.

“They would come here without money, without knowing anyone, and sleep in the streets,” Tukano explained. He himself is from a village deep in the Amazon. “We made this our space.”

The head of Rio state legislature’s Human Rights Commission, representative Marcelo Freixo, called for the need to stay calm and avoid violence.

“Conflict here is not in anyone’s interest,” he said before addressing the squatters and supporters inside the compound. “If there is a judicial order, the police will have to enforce it, but we have avoid any injuries with dialogue.”

As he spoke, state public defender Eduardo Newton proposed an alternative legal tactic.

Under state law, Newton said, there can’t be a mass eviction without proper legal proceedings. With group approval, he began gathering documents that would prove that more than 10 families lived on the grounds so he could try for a rushed stay on the eviction notice.

Police, meanwhile, police continued to stand guard the compound.

Source: The Huffington Post ^[402]

December 30, 2012

Legislation which aims to effectively end homelessness in Scotland has come into force. The change entitles anyone finding themselves homeless through no fault of their own to settled accommodation. Previously, only those classed as being in priority need – often families with children – had that right.

It meets Scotland’s historic 2012 homelessness commitment, first set 10 years ago by the Labour/Lib Dem government.

The change, passed unanimously last month under the Homelessness (Abolition of Priority Need Test) (Scotland) Order 2012, will give an estimated 3,000 more people a year the right to settled accommodation.

As the changes came into force, the deputy first minister also announced £300,000 would be spent over the next two years to help councils with their efforts to prevent homelessness.

‘Heartache and trauma’

Nicola Sturgeon said: “This is a landmark day in the fight against homelessness. I know the heartache and trauma of homelessness from working closely with households faced with the prospect of losing the roof over their head.

“Meeting our 2012 commitment guarantees that those who lose their home from no fault of their own will be guaranteed settled accommodation.

“It is absolutely right to offer this guarantee in a time of crisis for people. It sends the signal that we are there to help, there is hope and that the state will do what it can.”

Official figures from February 2012 suggested the number of homeless people in Scotland is at its lowest for a decade.

Graeme Brown, director of the housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland, said: “Scotland can be very proud that it is making history by meeting the 2012 commitment – which is internationally regarded as the cutting edge of progressive homelessness reform. I congratulate all the local authorities who have made widespread changes in order to meet their new responsibilities to homeless people.”

Source: BBC News ^[403]

December 17, 2012

^[407]

Around 300 Roma people evicted from Coastei Street in central Cluj now live on the edge of a landfill. Photo: Mugur Vărzariu

Two years ago the local authorities of Cluj-Napoca forcibly evicted around 300 people – mostly Roma – from Coastei Street in the centre of the Romanian city. Since then, most of them have been living close to the landfill and a chemical waste dump in an area on the outskirts known as Pata Rât, where they were moved by the municipality.

Soon after their eviction, Romani people started a long struggle for justice. One of them is Ernest Creta who now lives in an improvised home in Pata Rât.

“It is a sad anniversary for us. On 17 December 2010, early in the morning, an impressive number of police forces arrived on Coastei Street, joined by the local authorities. We were overwhelmed and terrified by the number of police officers. Following pressure and verbal threats from the local authorities, we accepted the housing they proposed without knowing the exact location and the condition it was in,” said Creta.

And it turned out the new conditions were grim. Around 36 out of the 76 evicted families were not offered any alternative accommodation and were effectively left homeless.

The remaining 40 families were provided with one room per family. They each have to share communal bathrooms with three other families. The main connection with the city is a school bus that leaves at 7.15 am. The closest regular bus stop is 2.5 kilometres away across the railway.

“We were integrated in the life of the city when lived in Coastei Street. We used to have jobs, the children went to high school, we had decent living standards, we had access to the park, etc. Here, by the garbage dump, we feel like in a ghetto, we feel discriminated against from all points of view,” said Creta.

For the past two years, the Working Group of Civil Society Organizations (gLOC), Amnesty International and European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) have been supporting people from the former Coastei Street in their struggle for justice and dignity. In their joint statement issued at the anniversary of the December 2010 eviction, the organizations appeal on the local authorities in Cluj-Napoca:

“The municipality carried out a forced eviction that violated the human rights standards applicable in Romania. Central government failed to ensure that the municipality’s actions did not lead to human rights violations. The local and central authorities have an urgent responsibility to put this violation right and to ensure that people who were forcibly evicted are relocated to adequate housing, and brought back to the city.”

People evicted from Coastei Street have been trying to meet the authorities and raise the problem of their living conditions ever since the eviction. The municipality finally met with them earlier this year.

The authorities said they would move the Romani people away from Pata Rât in early 2014, as part of a joint project with the United Nations Development Programme. However details of the planned relocation are vague and the Romani community face another year of living in substandard accommodation that stops them from fully accessing their basic rights to education, employment and healthcare.

There are some 1,500 people living in Pata Rât area, including around 300 people from the former Coastei Street. The others reside in Cantonului Street, Dallas and a number of people live on the city’s landfill.

Iosif Adam, a resident from Cantonului Street explained: “We just started to organize ourselves. We do not want to be forgotten. Many of us were moved here by the local authorities starting in 2002. We were told that this is going to be a temporary location for us. And here we are in 2012: struggling with the lack of identity papers, electricity, and water. It is a precarious life, life in a great insecurity.”

To mark the second anniversary of the 17 December eviction, around 200 people will surround the Cluj-Napoca’s City Hall. The activists will be calling on the local authorities to bring the Roma back into the city.

Source: Amnesty International ^[408]

December 11, 2012

Two United Nations experts on extreme poverty and housing today urged the Government of Hungary to uphold the recent Constitutional Court decision decriminalizing homelessness, to amend the anti-homeless legislation and to adopt a national housing strategy, which will take into account the needs and views of the homeless and those inadequately housed, in conformity with international human rights obligations.

The UN Special Rapporteurs on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda, and on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, praised a recent decision of the Hungarian Constitutional Court, which struck down legislation criminalizing homelessness, and stressed again that Hungary is required to align its national legislation with its international human rights obligations.

The 2010-2011 legislation criminalized sleeping and other life sustaining activities in public spaces as a misdemeanor, punishable by incarceration or fine. It potentially affected more than 30,000 homeless persons in various municipalities in Hungary, including women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities

“We warned about the discriminatory impact of the legislation on those living in poverty and social exclusion,” said Ms. Sepúlveda, recalling that, in February 2012, both Special Rapporteurs had cautioned about the detrimental effects of this legislation on the rights of homeless people in Hungary.

“We also expressed our concern with the fact that the Hungarian Government chose to conduct costly policing operations to penalize homelessness, instead of seeking durable and adequate housing solutions for the poor, including those affected by the recent financial crisis,” Ms. Rolnik noted.

The Constitutional Court annulled the specific legislation provisions that criminalized habitual living in public spaces and empowered local authorities to confiscate property of homeless persons. These provisions were deemed by the Court as contradictory to the Constitution’s requirements for legal certainty, the protection of the right to human dignity and the right to property.

“The criminalization of rough sleeping and other life sustaining behaviours in public spaces is an infringement on the basic rights of homeless persons to liberty, privacy, personal security and protection of the family”, said the UN expert on extreme poverty, who in October 2011 presented a report* to the UN General Assembly on the penalization of people living in poverty.

“The Hungarian Government admits that there are currently not enough shelters in the capital to service the existing homeless community. It is therefore clear that homelessness in Hungary is not a choice, but a harsh reality,” stressed the UN expert on adequate housing.

“The recent decision of the Constitutional Court rightly highlights the fact that homelessness is a social issue, which needs to be addressed by the provision of adequate services and not by criminal proceedings,” she added.

(*) Read the 2011 report on the penalization of people living in poverty: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Poverty/Pages/AnnualReports.aspx ^[313]

—

Magdalena Sepúlveda is the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights since May 2008. She is independent from any government or organization. She is a Chilean lawyer currently working as Research Director at the International Council on Human Rights Policy in Geneva. She has extensive experience in economic, social and cultural rights and holds a PhD in international human rights law from Utrecht University. Learn more here ^[409].

Raquel Rolnik was appointed as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context by the UN Human Rights Council, in May 2008. As Special Rapporteur, she is independent from any government or organization and serves in her individual capacity. An architect and urban planner, Ms. Rolnik has extensive experience in the area of housing and urban policies. Learn more here ^[254].

Visit Hungary’s OHCHR Country Page here ^[410].

For inquiries and media requests, please contact Lidia Rabinovich (+ 41 22 917 9763 ^[411] / lrabinovich@ohchr.org ^[259]) or write to srhousing@ohchr.org ^[236] or srextremepoverty@ohchr.org ^[412].

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts: Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 ^[66] / xcelaya@ohchr.org ^[31])

UN Human Rights, follow us on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unitednationshumanrights ^[32]
Twitter: http://twitter.com/UNrightswire ^[33]
Google+ gplus.to/unitednationshumanrights ^[413]
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/UNOHCHR ^[34]
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Source: OHCHR ^[314]

November 13, 2012

by Pedro Almodóvar

In the past two weeks, two Spaniards who were facing eviction from their houses committed suicide ^[414]. More than 350,000 people in Spain have lost their homes since the onset of the economic crisis in 2008. These tragic deaths have attracted public attention and a group called “Stop Evictions ^[415]” has organized protests to block families from being evicted.

Virgin of Almudena Day, 9 November. (The two different sequences occur at the same time)

1.Baracaldo. Escuela de Artes y Oficios Street, number 11 A group of officials from the 4th District Court, accompanied by a locksmith, realize that it doesn’t make sense to use the buzzer since the building’s front door is open.

2. 4th floor of the same building.
A blonde 53 year-old woman pulls a chair up next to the window.

3. Madrid. Cathedral of the Almudena.
A group of people, dressed and groomed for the occasion, celebrate the holy day of Madrid’s patron saint. The Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid, Rouco Varela officiates the Eucharist, while Ana Botella, the mayor of Madrid, heads over to the feet of the Virgin, where she stands in front of a microphone.

4. Baracaldo. Interior of the Building.
The group of civil servants, plus the locksmith, take the stairs, or go up the elevator. They stop on the fourth floor, staircase B. Inside apartment 4A, the 53-year-old woman, Amaia Egaña, gets up on the chair by the window. She hears voices in the hall and the sound of the locksmith opening the door to what had been her home until this morning.

5. Madrid. Cathedral of the Almudena.
Behind the microphone, Ana Botella prays to the Virgin for the situation many families are going through as a result of the economic crisis. In the foreground is the virgin to whom the mayor’s words are addressed.

6. Barakaldo. Floor 4A, Staircase B.
The locksmith finishes opening the door to the apartment of Amaia Egaña, and the officials burst inside. They get the impression that no one is home. At that moment Amaia Egaña is lying on the pavement (a moment before the group entered the apartment, she had thrown herself out the window).
As the officials look for someone in the house and go out the balcony, they find the chair and see the body of Amaia, dying on the street. The voice of Ana Botella can be heard offstage confiding to the Virgin: “We are a great nation… united we will always be strong enough to to emerge triumphant from all the challenges we face.”

7. Barakaldo. 11 Escuela de Artes y Oficios Street.
The voice of Ana Botella is sunk by the arrival of an ambulance and an EMT, who certifies the death of Amaia Egaña.

Evictions are a real disaster that, like tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes, require governments to take immediate and effective action to help solve the desperation and absolute helplessness of their victims.

According to figures from the Mortgage Office, the number of evictions in the first trimester of this year reached 46,559 — that means 517 daily evictions. The prospect that this Monday there could be 517 people who, when they look out the window of their besieged home, feel that throwing themselves out into the void is the only available solution is horrific and unacceptable.

The incessant demonstrations of concern and citizen solidarity weren’t enough. Nor were the protests of 46 senior judges; the criticisms of the EU declaring that Spanish mortgage contracts were abusive; the thousands of families, with small children and aged grandparents, that were condemned to indigence. No, none of this was sufficient for our government to rank the problem of evictions top on their list of priorities. Instead, it took two suicides for Prime Minister Rajoy to say, “I hope that on Monday we will halt evictions of vulnerable families” — though coming from him, that could mean anything.

Does Rajoy include in the “vulnerable families” the people who used their own homes as guarantees for their children’s mortgages — older people who are now also threatened with eviction? Because in addition to the front-line victims of this perverse mortgage system, we must add a second category of affected people: the parents who used their only valuable good as a guarantee for their kids — their own home, the product of a whole lifetime of work, saving, and sacrifice. Can you reproach these grandparents for having lived beyond their means? Just a few days ago, one older woman, along with her husband, chained herself to the door of an Unicaja bank branch and a judge fined her 200 euros for damaging the glass of the door as she was locking herself up. These are the types of events we are referring to when we accuse the government of lacking sensitivity.

Speaking of sensitivity, although in this case we should qualify it more as sentimentality, the mayor of Madrid has been torn apart for her reactions to the tragedies surrounding her. I’m not going to insist on the Portuguese spa scandal, because there’s been enough talk about that in the past few days. But Spanish society just hopes that we identify who is responsible in the case of the Madrid Arena incident, in which four young people died in a stampede. If, as it seems, the place did not meet the safety regulations required to host a huge dance party like the one held on Thursday, November 1st, this means that the city hall is not fulfilling its own rules for security at public events, where such crowds are beyond predictable.

If the reason for safety violations is collecting money from the rent paid by the company that organized the event, then a whole new paradox arises. City hall is not only the principal guarantor for the safety of citizens but also a danger for young people it is supposed to protect. Ana Botella was right in her prayer to the Virgin of the Almudena when she said “all people of Madrid have felt as their own the grief of the families of the victims, especially those who are parents….” Those of us who are not parents have also felt it. And many of us are waiting and watching, and if the justice department and the police find that those four deaths were due to safety violations, the city hall should be the first to claim responsibility.

Source: The Huffington Post ^[416]

^[417]

In November, the Rapporteur started to distribute booklets and leaflets on forced evictions and the right to housing, after they were reprinted. All the organizations which have requested the materials should receive them within days. Booklets and leaflets in Portuguese on women and the right to housing are also being distributed. A new leaflet – on mega events and the right to adequate housing – has been printed! Organizations and activists who would like to receive these materials should contact us.  All these materials are available on our website.

www.righttohousing.org ^[116]

* Next country missions
The Rapporteur has sent letters to several countries expressing the wish to conduct an official mission. Among these countries are Angola, Bangladesh, Chad, China, France, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Mozambique, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe. The governments of India, Indonesia and Honduras have already made formal invitations to the Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik. However, no dates have yet been set for the visits. The Rapporteur conducts two missions annually. Learn about the countries already visited and read the missions final reports: click here. ^[418]

* New leaflet: mega events and the right to housing
The leaflet on the impacts of mega events on the right to housing was produced and printed only in Portuguese. However, the Rapporteur has plans to translate it into English and Spanish in the coming year. Should your organization be interested in receiving this material? If so, contact us ^[122]. Click here ^[388] to read the leaflet (in Portuguese only).

* Reprinted booklets and leaflets: forced evictions/ women
In the Rapporteur’s website, you can find more information about the booklets and leaflets on forced evictions and the right to housing and also about the materials on women and the right to housing. If you are interested in receiving them, contact us ^[122]. Read the guide ^[389] and the leaflet ^[390] on forced evictions, as well as theguide ^[391] and leaflet ^[392] on women and the right to housing.

* And more…
Get the latest news from the Rapporteur on Facebook ^[400] and Twitter @adequatehousing ^[419].

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The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing has issued a new material. The thematic leaflet addresses the right to housing on the context of sports megavents and approaches both the situation before and during the event.

For now, the material is only available in Portuguese, but soon it will be translated to English and Spanish.

To read the Portuguese version, click on the green buton below.

Download the file ^[423]

November 29, 2012

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Forced evictions affect several thousand migrant Roma each year across France. Photo: Amnesty International

The French authorities must immediately stop forced evictions affecting several thousand migrant Roma each year across the country, Amnesty International said in a report published today.

Focusing on the region of greater Paris, the report “Chased away”: Forced evictions of Roma in the Ile-de-France exposes the negative impact of forced evictions on the lives of migrant Roma and the failure of the French authorities to incorporate international human rights standards concerning evictions into domestic law.

“The new French government has taken some positive steps in relation to the situation of migrant Roma. Its tone and approach have improved, relative to previous years in which Roma were often openly stigmatized by the government. However the practice of forced evictions has continued at the same alarming rate as before” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International.

“France has failed to include international human rights standards against forced evictions in its domestic legal system. As a result, evictions of informal settlements where Roma live generally take place without adequate prior information, consultation or notice to residents.

“In most cases, alternative housing is not provided and entire families are left homeless. They have no choice but to re-establish their homes in another informal settlement elsewhere, and schooling and medical treatment are interrupted as a result.”

Most of the estimated 15,000 migrant Roma living in France come from Romania, and some from Bulgaria; almost all are fleeing chronic poverty and discrimination in their countries of origin.

As non-French EU citizens, they are prohibited by French law from staying in the country for more than three months unless they are employed or can demonstrate sufficient resources to support themselves.

However, as EU citizens, if expelled they are free to return to France and many have done this several times.

There is a chronic shortage of adequate housing and emergency shelter for all who need it in France, but Roma, the victims of prejudice and discrimination in France – as much as elsewhere in Europe- are particularly vulnerable to violations of their internationally guaranteed right to adequate housing.

In the absence of other alternatives, many migrant Roma live in informal settlements for months or years in dire living conditions, perpetually fearing and often being forcibly evicted without adequate prior consultation, information or notice and with limited possibilities in practice to challenge their eviction through the courts.

Long-term housing solutions are very rarely offered to evicted Roma, who even struggle to access emergency shelter or other support mechanisms that would enable them to secure adequate accommodation.

The camps and squats visited by Amnesty International delegates varied in their size and in the services provided, but what they all had in common was the extreme risks posed to the health of the inhabitants due to the absence of or inadequate access to running water, toilets, rubbish collection and often infested by rats. Repeated forced evictions do not resolve these problems, they exacerbate them.

“Repeated forced evictions have disastrous consequences on Roma’s health, education and ability to secure an adequate standard of living. Forced out of one informal settlement after another they end up in ever poorer housing conditions, forced to sleep on the streets and in tents until they manage to build another makeshift home,” said John Dalhuisen.

“During forced evictions, they often lose their belongings, identity papers and medical records; in many cases schooling is disrupted and medical treatment is interrupted, while ties to local employment and support networks are severed. Yet, under French law they do not receive adequate reparation.”

In August this year, the current French government has issued a circular outlining best practice guidelines on steps to be taken prior to and during evictions. These guidelines are discretionary and inconsistently applied, and in any case are not intended to stop forced evictions from occurring.

The government is currently consulting with non-governmental organizations – including Amnesty International – in preparation of its national plan for access to housing and emergency accommodation for all those in need.

However, despite some positive initiatives in certain regional departments, forced evictions continue throughout the country, in violation of France’s obligations under international law.

“Under international law France is obliged to guarantee the right to adequate housing without discrimination and to prevent forced evictions. This means that the French authorities must immediately stop all evictions until all the international human rights safeguards can be guaranteed to all inhabitants of informal settlements,” said John Dalhuisen.

Cases
Constantin, 39, has been living in France for 20 years, during which time he was evicted on average twice a year, and was expelled to Romania three times. He had been living for eighteen months with his wife and two children in an informal settlement in La Courneuve. Amnesty International delegates met him on 21 September 2012, Three days after a bailiff had given him an immediate order to leave the premises. According to him, there was no consultation of any sort.

“It’s very hard to move from place to place. We can’t even stay for a bit. As soon as I hear I’m going, it’s like, I feel my heart ache,” Maria, Roma woman living in a warehouse in Sucy-en-Brie told Amnesty International.

Carmen, 27, has a son aged 8 and a daughter aged 4. She lived in a makeshift cabin in Villeneuve-le-Roi until it was forcibly evicted on 11 September 2012. She was offered two nights of emergency accommodation in a hotel. The police did not let her fetch her effects during the eviction and she had to walk for hours with her children and luggage to reach the hotel, which was kilometres away from the nearest station. She stayed there one night only as it was far away from where she used to live. When Amnesty International delegates met her on September 22, she was living in a small, two-person, tent with her husband and two children in an informal settlement in Champs-sur-Marne. There was no access to water or toilets on the camp, and none of the children were registered in school. On 16 October 2012, a bailiff was sent to distribute an eviction court summons to the inhabitants of the settlement as it was on private property. The hearing was scheduled for 27 November 2012 in the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Meaux.

Click here ^[425] to read the report “Chased away: Forced evictions of Roma in Ile-de-France”.

Source: Amnesty International ^[426]

November 12, 2012

The General Assembly today elected 18 States to serve on the Human Rights Council, the United Nations key forum for tackling entrenched human rights concerns around the world.

Those elected were Argentina, Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Estonia, Ethiopia, Gabon, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Montenegro, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Venezuela.  All would serve three-year terms beginning on 1 January 2013.  These States are the first round of Council members whose terms of office would begin on 1 January, and not in June.

Of those elected, Côte d’Ivoire, Estonia, Ethiopia, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Montenegro, Sierra Leone, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela will be sitting on the Geneva-based panel for the first time.  Re-elected for an additional term was the United States, while Argentina, Brazil, Gabon, Germany, Japan, Pakistan and the Republic of Korea had served previous non-consecutive terms.

Assembly President Vuk Jeremić announced that the following States would also continue as members of the Council:  Angola, Austria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chile, Republic of Congo, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Qatar, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand and Uganda.

He noted that, in accordance with Assembly resolution 65/281, beginning in 2013, the Human Rights Council would start its yearly membership cycle on 1 January.  As a transitional measure, the period of office of its members ending in June 2012, June 2013 and June 2014 had been exceptionally extended until the end of the respective calendar year.

Created by the General Assembly in May 2006 (resolution 60/251) as the principal United Nations political body dealing with human rights, the Council replaced the much-criticized Commission on Human Rights, abolished in June 2006, and comprises 47 elected Member States that are pledged to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights.  On the basis of equitable geographical distribution, Council seats are allocated to the five regional groups as follows:  African Group, 13 seats; Asian Group, 13 seats; Eastern European Group, 6 seats; Latin American and Caribbean Group, 8 seats; and the Western and Others Group, 7 seats.

The Council’s founding resolution calls for the direct election of its members by an absolute majority of votes in the 193-member Assembly, or 97 votes.  Members can be suspended by a two-thirds majority vote if deemed to be deficient in upholding human rights standards.  Membership, which is staggered, is open to all Member States, and members are not eligible for immediate re-election after two consecutive terms.

Based on recent nominations made by the Economic and Social Council, the General Assembly also elected, by consensus, seven members of the Committee for Programme and Coordination.  They would serve three‑year terms beginning 1 January 2013.

Those seats were distributed as follows:  two seats for African States (Botswana, the United Republic of Tanzania); one for Eastern European States (Russian Federation); two for Latin American and Caribbean States (Peru); and two seats for Western Europe and Other States (France).

The Council had earlier postponed to a later date its consideration of one seat for the Latin American and Caribbean States and one seat for the Western European and Other States.

The President also noted that the following States would remain members of the Committee:  Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Belarus, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of Moldova, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.

For that election, delegates had before them for consideration a note by the Secretary General on the Election of seven members of the Committee for Programme and Coordination (document A/67/125 ^[427]).  The note clarifies that members of the Committee for Programme and Coordination are nominated by the Economic and Social Council and elected by the Assembly, and states that those elected today would fill the vacancies in the Committee that will occur on 31 December 2012 upon the expiration of the terms of office of the following members:  Comoros, France, Haiti, Israel, Namibia, Russian Federation and Venezuela.

Source: General Assembly ^[428]

To see the complete composition, click here ^[428].

November 11, 2012

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The protest at Mr. Hernández’s apartment. Photo: Samuel Aranda for The New York Times

The first night after Francisco Rodríguez Flores, 71, and his wife, Ana López Corral, 67, were evicted from their small apartment here after falling behind on their mortgage, they slept in the entrance hall of their building. Their daughters, both unemployed and living with them, slept in a neighbor’s van.

“It was the worst thing ever,” Mrs. López said recently, studying her hands. “You can’t imagine what it felt like to be there in that hall. It’s a story you can’t really tell because it is not the same as living it.”

Things are somewhat better now. The Rodríguezes are among the 36 families who have taken over a luxury apartment block here that had been vacant for three years. There is no electricity. The water was recently cut off, and there is the fear that the authorities will evict them once again. But, Mrs. López says, they are not living on the street — at least not yet.

The number of Spanish families facing eviction continues to mount at a dizzying pace — hundreds a day, housing advocates say. The problem has become so acute that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has promised to announce emergency measures on Monday, though what they may be remains unclear.

While some are able to move in with family members, a growing number, like the Rodríguezes, have no such option. Their relatives are in no better shape than they are, and Spain has virtually no emergency shelter system for families.

For some, the pressure has been too much to bear. In recent weeks, a 53-year-old man in Granada hanged himself just hours before he was to be evicted, and a 53-year-old woman in Bilbao jumped to her death as court officials arrived at her door.

Yet at the same time, the country is dotted with empty housing of all kinds, perhaps as many as two million units, by some estimates. Experts say more and more of the evicted — who face a lifetime of debt and a system of blacklisting that makes it virtually impossible for them to rent — are increasingly taking over vacant properties or moving back into their old homes after they have been seized.

Sometimes neighbors report such activities. But often, experts say, they do not. It is a temporary and often anxious existence. But many see no alternative.

The Rodríguezes fell behind in their payments trying to help their daughters, who both lost their jobs and have three children between them. Their daughters had come to live with them after being evicted themselves. “I could not let my children and my grandchildren starve,” said Mrs. López, who used to work as a cleaner in a home for the elderly.

No one tracks the number of squatters. But Rafael Martín Sanz, the president of a real estate management company, says squatting has become so common that some real estate companies are reluctant to put signs on the outsides of buildings indicating that an apartment is available.

“The joke is that half the people touring apartments that are on the market are actually just picking out which apartment they want to squat in,” he said.

Most of the evictions take place quietly, with embarrassed families dropping the keys off at the banks. But in some working-class neighborhoods, there are weekly clashes with the police and bank officials, as housing advocates and volunteers try to resist the evictions.

In Madrid’s Carabanchel neighborhood, a crowd protesting outside a basement apartment recently shouted “shame on you” to a cluster of bank and court officials who had come to evict Edward Hernández and his family. But Mr. Hernández’s lawyer, Rafael Mayoral, sized up the picture and predicted he would be able to negotiate a postponement. The crowd of supporters, he said, outnumbered the police officers.

Mr. Hernández, 38, who worked in construction, bought the apartment for $320,000 in 2006, but he lost his job three years later, he said. He thought he had negotiated with his bank to pay less for a while. But one day, he said, he got a letter saying that his apartment had been auctioned.

Mr. Hernández and his wife have their eye on an empty apartment they intend to occupy. Failing that, the couple will have to split up, he said. His wife would go back to live with her mother, who is behind in her own mortgage payments and already housing her other adult children. Mr. Hernández would live with his brother, who lives with his young family in a studio apartment.

By the end of the morning, bank and court officials had agreed to postpone Mr. Hernández’s eviction for six weeks. He still faces a debt of more than $330,000, more than he paid for the apartment. In Spain, mortgage holders are personally liable for the full amount of their mortgages. Then penalty interest charges and tens of thousands of dollars in court fees are added at foreclosure. Bankruptcy is no answer, either — mortgage debt is excluded.

Trying to stem the flow of homeless, the Spanish government has asked the banks to adhere to a code of conduct that protects, to some degree, the very poorest Spaniards, and many of the banks have signed on. But advocates say that the code offers relief to such a narrow slice of homeowners — those who have no working adults in their household and who paid less than $260,000 for their homes — that it is unlikely to have much effect.

Elena Cortés, the councilor for public works and housing for Andalusia, the region that includes Seville, said that during the boom years the government rarely built any low-income housing. On top of that, the country has never had much rental property. Now, as families are evicted they have nowhere to turn. In a written statement, Spain’s banking association, the A.E.B., said banks were looking to avoid evictions whenever they could through negotiation.

The Rodríguezes began living in the luxury block, Corrala Utopía, in May with only a few belongings, a move that was organized by members of the 15-M movement, the name given to people who became organized after the countrywide protests that began on May 15 last year. One member of the group, Juanjo García Marín, said the property was chosen because it was mired in legal proceedings that might give the families more time to stay there.

Neighbors have given them furniture, and donations of food arrive most days. On a recent evening, Mrs. López was using a generator to keep her lights on and her refrigerator running. Others in the building also have generators, but some cannot afford the gasoline to keep them running.

After dinner, Mrs. López’s 13-year-old grandson arrived, announcing that he needed a place to do his homework. His mother’s apartment upstairs had no lights.

Source: The New York Times ^[430]

November 2nd, 2012

Financial markets have taken over the housing sector, resulting in a detrimental effect on the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing, especially for the poor, UN Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik said today, urging governments to adopt broader policies and interventions for the housing sector.

“The ongoing worldwide housing crisis, in which there are millions of vacant houses and apartments and an alarming rise in foreclosures and homelessness, is the starkest evidence of the failure of housing finance to address the housing needs of all segments of society,” Ms. Rolnik said during the presentation of her annual report* to the UN General Assembly in New York.

Ms. Rolnik emphasized that housing finance policies based on credit are inherently discriminatory against lower-income households, exposing them to increased financial risks and pushing them further into debt and poverty. She also noted that “in many cases, housing finance policies have resulted in increasing inequalities in access to housing, increased tenure insecurity, poor location and low habitability, social segregation and, sometimes, increased homelessness.”

“Despite this clear evidence, I am extremely concerned to find, three years into the deepening financial and economic crises, that States are still promoting credit for individual homeownership as a “one-size-fits-all” solution, in both developing and developed countries,” warned the expert. “The provision of credit to finance a massive production of houses does not fulfill the multiple and interconnected elements of the right to adequate housing.”

“Instead of doing more of the same, States should promote more comprehensive and holistic housing policies and interventions, such as public investments in infrastructure and basic services, upgrading and rehabilitation of human settlements, public land and housing provision, rent regulation and collective and cooperative solutions,” said Ms. Rolnik,stressing that a mixture of tenure solutions, based on genuine and meaningful participation of those affected, is essential to shield the housing sector from economic and financial shocks.

“I call for a shift from housing policies based on the ‘financialization’ of housing to a human rights-based approach to housing, which can help us learn from past mistakes and promote the right to adequate housing for all,” Ms. Rolnik said.

Source: OHCHR ^[431]

November 04, 2012

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A volunteer stands in front of the construction site of the Olympic stadium 'Fisht' on February 10, 2012 in Sochi, Russia. The 'Fisht' will host the opening and the closing ceremonies of the 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images

The workers arrived at Sergei Khlystov’s gate on a Friday evening to bulldoze his home and clear a path for sewage pipes to the Olympic village being built in the Russian city of Sochi.

Khlystov and his 33-year-old son-in-law, Maxim Samokhval, at first tried to block the bulldozers but then stood aside and watched as the two-storey house was destroyed.

The earthmovers ended Khlystov’s battle to stay in his house, one of the last razed in the Mirny neighbourhood to make way for the Winter Olympics in 2014.

For President Vladimir Putin, the Games are a prestige project that will allow him to showcase Russia’s ability to organise major events and boost its international image.

He regards the event as an important element of his new presidential term as well as a chance for the country, which will also host the 2018 World Cup soccer finals, to show off its sporting prowess.

New homes are being provided for Sochi residents displaced by the reconstruction of their town. But such is the importance attached to the Olympic project that people who don’t want to move have no option but to get out of the way of the bulldozers.

What sealed the fate of the Khlystov family was the fact that they had failed to prove they owned their property, despite Samokhval’s wife, Tatyana, enlisting the help of the local priest as well as the local authorities.

“She went to the spiritual authorities and the secular authorities,” Samokhval said. “One said ‘pray’ and the other said ‘sue’.”

All along this stretch of the Black Sea coast, houses have been pulled down and thousands of people resettled in the Olympic building boom that has overtaken this city of 340,000 in the shadow of the Caucasus mountains.

The air in Mirny is thick with cement dust. A flyover was built near Khlystov’s home and the house shook violently when holes were drilled for its pylons.

Construction of the Olympic venues and infrastructure alone is expected to cost more than $6 billion, and half of this will be privately financed.

The final bill for hosting the Olympics in Sochi, most of whose spas and resort hotels date from the days of Stalin, who died in 1953, is likely to end up much higher.

BUILDING A SHOWCASE

Just out of sight of Khlystov’s garden, the Iceberg stadium, the jewel of the Olympic park, glows pale blue in the dark and seems to hover over the churned up mud around it.

An undulating steel structure encased in glass, it will host the figure skating in 2014 and is one of six stadiums to be built in the complex as venues for ice events and Olympic ceremonies.

Hotels, sports facilities and general improvements are under construction in the city, and work is going on in the mountains above Sochi where other events will be held.

This means upheaval for some residents. The cost of resettling 1,500 families in the path of the bulldozers has been borne by the government of the relatively wealthy Krasnodar region in which Sochi lies.

Such programmes are not unusual for an Olympics. Rights groups criticised China for forced evictions before the 2008 Beijing Games, with some estimates indicating that 1.5 million people were moved, many against their will.

The Chinese government said the demolition of homes in parts of Beijing earmarked for development before the Olympics was carried out fairly and legally.

A few London residents were also rehoused because of construction work before this year’s Olympics in Britain.

In Sochi, far from everyone is unhappy about having to move into new homes in exchange for being uprooted.

Viktor Altunyan, an employee in the Sochi department of culture, was moved from a small house in Mirny to a newly built village a short distance away near the border with Georgia’s Abkhazia region.

He now lives in a house more than twice the size with his mother, wife and young child, surrounded by almost identical homes decorated with similar paintwork.

“The president’s words came true for me,” Altunyan said in reference to Putin’s pledge that people should not be moved into worse housing. “It’s better here in terms of location and utilities, electricity and water. It’s only positive.”

Altunyan has put some plants and a young persimmon tree in his garden, and says he no longer misses his old house, which he built himself and lived in for 15 years.

LEGAL BATTLE

But Khlystov, 52, says he and his family were cheated out of fair compensation by a bureaucratic loophole. They had not managed to prove they owned the land on which their house was built, a condition for receiving a new house in exchange.

On bailiffs’ orders, half the house had been bulldozed a few days before the workers – accompanied by police – returned to finish the job on Sept. 21, even though the family had continued to live in it with Samokhval’s children, aged three and eight.

The New York-based watchdog, Human Rights Watch, had urged the International Olympic Committee to intervene, saying “the illegal eviction of a family in Sochi casts a dark shadow over preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games”.

Other Sochi residents have complained that compensation has in some cases been arbitrary, and some have accused the local authorities of damaging the environment and harming wildlife.

But authorities have defended their actions. The Krasnodar region’s deputy governor, Alexei Saurin, has been quoted by local media as saying 15.5 billion roubles was spent before the end of 2011 on resettling 90 percent of the people whose homes had been demolished.

“The state built villages, perfect houses. I don’t have such a house,” Dmitry Chernyshenko, President of the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee, told reporters in Moscow.

Without commenting on the Khlystov case, he said the people being relocated were getting a fair deal but some were trying to game the system.

“Sometimes people built buildings without any permission on land which did not belong to them,” he said. “They are trying to earn money from the state.”

COURT CASES AHEAD

About 180 cases will be settled in court, most of them disputes over valuation, Saurin said. In cases where cash compensation was not provided, the government had built seven new residential developments and apartment blocks, he said.

Khlystov said he had lived in Mirny for more than three decades since being given some land there in the Soviet era.

But Oksana Rafalskaya, a spokeswoman for the Krasnodar regional government’s Olympic department, said the Khlystovs had never established the right to use the land for a residence so it remained government property. She said Khlystov’s extended family had been offered flats as compensation.

The start of the Games in February 2014 is now less than 500 days away and officials say construction of the sports facilities is about 70 percent complete.

“When the construction is over, it will be better,” said Nina Shishimorova, a neighbour of the Khlystovs in her late 50s.

“We already have roads and they’ve started picking up the rubbish again. Compared to the way the rest of Russia is living, we don’t live too badly.”

Source: The Huffington Post ^[433]

“Security of tenure” will be the theme of the next reports produced by the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing. Considering that, the Rapporteur decided to create a new topic of discussion in the virtual platform.

The questions are:

What, to you, is security of tenure? What do you consider to be the key elements of security of tenure? What are the forms of tenure most subjected to insecurity? In your opinion, what are the social groups most affected by these insecurities?

To contribute to the debate, just click here ^[434].

^[435]

Click here ^[382] to read the report.

Click here to watch the live stream broadcast of the event. ^[436]

For World Habitat Day, Monday 1^st October 2012

GENEVA (1^st October 2012) – “Opportunities for whom?” asked the United Nations Special Rapporteur on housing, Raquel Rolnik, when assessing this year’s World Habitat Day theme ‘Changing cities, building opportunities.’

“The current ruling model of housing policies across the globe increasingly focuses on housing finance,” said Ms. Rolnik, noting that this pattern has proven to be detrimental to the realization of the right to adequate housing of the poor.

“Credit for housing ownership is not a ‘one-size-fit-all’ solution,” warned the human rights expert. “The ongoing worldwide housing crisis, in which millions of vacant houses and apartments coincide with an alarming rise in foreclosures and homelessness, is the starkest evidence of the failure of housing finance to address the housing needs of all segments of society.”

The Special Rapporteur stressed that housing finance policies based on credit are inherently discriminatory against lower-income households, and at their best increase housing affordability for middle-income groups.

“Subject to financial logic, the housing market has not led to adequate housing solutions for the poor,” Ms. Rolnik noted. “In many cases, housing finance policies have resulted in increasing inequalities in access to housing, increased tenure insecurity, poor location and low habitability, social segregation and sometimes, increased homelessness.”

The Special Rapporteur, who in the last four years has examined the impact of prevalent housing finance policies in both developing and developed countries of the world, underscored that such strategies “have largely failed to promote access to adequate housing for the poor.” She describes these findings in a report to be presented to the UN General Assembly at the end of this month.

“I take this opportunity on World Habitat Day to call for a shift from housing policies based on the financialization of housing to a human rights-based approach to housing policies, which can foster real opportunities for all,” Ms. Rolnik said.

ENDS

Ms. Raquel Rolnik (Brazil) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2008. Ms. Rolnik is an architect and urban planner with extensive experience in the area of housing and urban policies. Learn more, visit:http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/housing/index.htm ^[234]

For more information and media requests, please contact Lidia Rabinovich (+41 22 917 9763 ^[303] / ravinovich@ohchr.org ^[437]) or write to srhousing@ohchr.org ^[236].

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 ^[66] / xcelaya@ohchr.org ^[31])

The Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing will present her new thematic report this year at the 67th session of the General Assembly.

In this report, the Rapporteur analyses the ruling paradigm of housing policies that focus on housing finance as the main means of promoting homeownership. The report assesses the impact of prevalent housing finance policies on the right to adequate housing of those living in poverty.

The Special Rapporteur concludes that the full realization of the right to adequate housing, without discrimination, cannot be promoted solely by financial mechanisms and requires broader and more holistic housing policies and State interventions. She calls for a paradigm shift from housing policies based on the financialization of housing to a human rights-based approach to housing policies.

To download the report in English, click on the green button below.

The report is also available in Spanish ^[438], French ^[439], Russian ^[440], Arabic ^[441] and Chinese ^[442].

Download the file ^[443]

September 14, 2012

From 27th to 29th September 2012, The Geneva Habitat Forum has the pleasure to welcome civil society and academic actors, political figures and Inhabitants from here and elsewhere to reimagine a town as a place by and for its inhabitants.

At the beginning of the 20th century, urban population accounted for only 13% of the planet’s inhabitants; today it accounts for more than half, and will probably rise to more than two thirds by 2050. We no longer talk about towns, but “polycentric urban systems” or “extended metropolitan areas”, to the point where rural and urban borders become fuzzy and towns even join up.

With the amount of land available for construction in constant decline, access to decent housing is more often a privilege than a right. How many people in the world live in dignified sanitary conditions? These days, how many people can claim that they really have a choice about where they live? How many people can afford to own their own house? Or feel satisfied with the amount of rent they pay, or worse, run the risk of being evicted from their home when they have fallen on hard times after 40 years of faithfully paying their rent?

The Forum will open on Thursday 27th September with a public conference on “A town by and for its inhabitants at UniMail and will continue on 28th with the Tribunal of Evictions and the Civil Society Prize at the Maison des Associations. The Forum will close at the Place des Nations after reading the Tribunal of Evictions recommendations and awarding the prizes at the Inhabitants’ March.

Gordon Aeschiman (Tribunal des Baux), Humberto Antúnez (Federation of Housing Coops in Uruguay), Benedito Barbosa and Marli Carrara (CMP/National Union for Low-Income Housing, Brazil), Yves Cabannes (University College London), Oumar Cisse (Institut Africain de Gestion Urbaine), Georges Deikun (UN-Habitat), Jackson Doliscar and Géralda Sainville (FRAKKA and GARR, Haïti), Matias Echanove and Rahul Srivastava (URBZ, India), Ramiro Gárcia (DESCO, Peru), Marcus George (Concerned citizens, Port Harcourt, Nigeria), Christophe Golay (ADH, Geneva), Mukesh Mehta (MM Project Consultants, India), Isabelle Milbert (IHEID), Father Pedro Opeka (Akamasoa, Madagascar), Cesare Ottolini (International Alliance of Inhabitants), Luca Pattaroni (EPFL), – Anthony K. Prashanth (PROUD, Mumbai, India), Luon Sovath (Cambodia), Malavika Vartak (Amnesty International), the Group of 500 of Geneva, and many others will participate in the second edition of the Habitat Form, a participatory event open to all.

To see the complete programme of the event, click here ^[444].

Press contact:

Julien Beauvallet, urbaMonde Vice-President: julien.beauvallet@urbamonde.org

Olivier Grobet, Member of the organisating committee: olivier.grobet@urbamonde.org

Source: International Alliance of Inhabitants ^[444]

From September 1st to 5th, Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik participated in the World Urban Forum, organized by the UN-Habitat, and in the Urban Social Forum, promoted by civil society organisations and right to housing activists.

Apart from the interventions and participation in both events – in roundtables, dialogue,  women’s assemblies, among others – the Rapporteur participated in  the tribunal established in the external area of the Forum  by the organizers of the Urban Social Forum so that different communities  could complaint on violations to the right to housing in their countries and regions.

Furthermore, she visited two communities in Naples and surrounding areas. In the city of Giuliano, for example, Raquel visited Roma settlements which are facing eviction, as well as settled Roma families.  She also visited Scampi, an occupied public housing project in Naples, together with civil society groups that operate in the area, like the  Sportello Anti-Camorra.

On the 6^th, the Special Rapporteur held an informal consultation on security of tenure to inform her study on the topic. Some 30 participants attended, discussing a wide range of issues, such as: the challenges preventing communities from enjoying secure tenure and from being protected from forced evictions; the political economy of land and urban development as root causes for today’s forced evictions; the role that land use regulations, urban planning and other tools as such could play in strengthening secure tenure; a working definition of security of tenure, its main elements; the multitude of tenure arrangements and their legitimacy, even though the dominant discourse and practice today is geared towards private ownership and or individual freehold, among other topics. Furthermore, those present also discussed ways for further contribution to the Rapporteur’s studies.

To learn more about the study, click here ^[445].

Finally, on the 7^th and 8^th, the Rapporteur participated in a expert meeting on  methodologies for evaluation of the impact of forced evictions, organized by the UN-Habitat and the  OHCHR.

In 2011, Members States to the Geneva Conventions gave a clear mandate to the International Federation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent to work on regulatory barriers to disaster response. In this context, the 31st Conference of the IFRC was held, addressing disaster laws and adopting a resolution on the topic.

The event was attended by heads of state, government and senior-level representatives of government,  and the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement from the all over the world.

Many humanitarian organizations and the UN system also participated as observers. Three sub-themes guided the discussion:

• Strengthening legal preparedness for international disaster response, including implementation of the IDRL Guidelines ^[446]

• Enhancing disaster risk reduction at the community level through legislation

• Addressing regulatory barriers to the rapid and equitable provision of emergency and transitional shelter after disasters

A resolution concerning these themes was adopted by consensus after the conference plenary. It’s important to notice that this is a theme which Special Rapporteur has been working on, and in 2011 she issued a report on post conflict and post disaster reconstruction ^[447].

To download the resolution document, click on the green button below.

To know more about the Conference and disaster laws, click here ^[448].

Download the file ^[449]

September 05, 2012

Naples gave a warm welcome to the second Urban Social Forum (USF). While UN-Habitat neglected to include such vital issues as eviction from the agenda of their World Urban Forum (WUF 6), the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing (who has an independent mandate which is much more aligned to the reality of the people than that of UN-Habitat) accompanied a USF delegation to the popular neighbourhood Scampia.

The visit included a meeting with local social organizations and with inhabitants from the Giugliano Roma settlement camp, who have been threatened with an eviction order scheduled for 7 September. The denounciations of violations gathered in Naples as well as other places throughout Italy has lead the country to make the list of countries that the Rapporteur will make official missions to during the next year.

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Photos from the HIC website.

The civil society organization Anticamorra Resistance has been operating since 2011 in the municipal office of Scampia to offer employment alternatives to youth and to encourage anonymous denunciations of violations from the nearly 60,000 inhabitants who live in the area. Official figures show that nearly 60,000 inhabitants live in the area, however the local organizations place that figure around 80,000 when considering those who are not included in the census, however only about 9 denunciations are made per month. A representative of one local organization stated that when the population begins to trust the denunciation process “the Camorra realizes that they no longer own the area”.

The GRIDAS Association (Group of those Awakened from a Dream) has been operating in the area since 1969. They explained the long and complex history of Scampia. When inhabitants were expelled from the city center in the post-war era, they moved to the Vele housing complex in Scampia during the 1970s, despite not having access to basic services. An earthquake in 1980 caused further insecurity and a lack of funds provided for reconstruction saw the rise of the Camorra influence in the area which has lasted until recent times. Vele is now under threat of being destroyed, under the argument that the drug trade has caused the neighbourhood to have the highest level of delinquency.

According to the Committee established to consider the destruction of Vele, the only solution to these problems is to first destroy the “special prison cells where the proletariat were sent to live in order to remove them from the city centre”, then follow with the relocation of inhabitants to new houses, and lastly to transform the zone to an arts and crafts fair. The Committee emphasized the contradiction made by the Mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris, who was in agreement with this proposal at the beginning of his mandate, but has now reverted to discussing restructuring.

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In the Giugliano gypsy camp, the USF delegation and the Rapporteur witnessed the terrible living conditions where more than 650 people live without water and other basic services. The eviction order scheduled for 7 September should be considered illegal as it violates the general comments made in Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by Italy, which prohibits evictions when adequate alternative housing is not provided.

These violations affect the large majority of approximately 17,000 Roma living in Italy. Given the grave violations of the right to housing that were apparent during the visit, as well as the testimonies of violations that are being presented in the debates at the USF, the Rapporteur affirmed the need to conduct an official mission to Italy and she will soon send a list of official recommendations to the Italian government with respect to these human rights violations.

Source: Habitat International Coalition ^[452]

September 2nd, 2012

The first day of the Urban Social Forum was open by former asylum Filangieri with the reception and registration of participants and a social lunch organized by the Organizing Committee.

At the same time, a delegation of the forum has accompanied the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations for the right to housing, Raquel Rolnik, to a working visit in the heart of Scampia, at the door Anticamorra, the Gridas and Vele, and later Raquel Rolnik has visited the camps ROM Giugliano.

The day continued with an exhibition of photo-handwriting, by Monica Ventra, “Tutti d’un tratto” (All of a sudden).

Tomorrow, at Orientale, via new marina 59, at 9.00 am, the day will open dedicated to the Right to housing.

To follow and participate in the initiatives proposed and to consult the calendar, check the website www.forumsocialeurbanonapoli.org ^[453] and the facebook group forumsocialeurbanonapoli.

Organizing Committee FSU

Contact: 333.3576348 – info@forumsocialeurbanonapoli.org ^[454]

Fuente: International Alliance of Inhabitants ^[455]

[the news was translated from Italian to English by the Special Rapporteur’s support team]

August 29, 2012

The French government has been urged by United Nations independent experts to stop discrimination against the Roma people.

The Special Rapporteurs on minority issues, migrants, housing and racism say that evictions of the Roma continue and threaten to place families in highly vulnerable situations.

Gail Walker reports.

The call by the UN experts follows reports that there have been a number of evictions and expulsions of the Roma in the cities of Lille, Lyon and Paris, this month.

They say non-governmental organizations and the media have documented these expulsions and that they seem set to continue.

The experts recall that similar expulsions in August 2010 were widely criticized in Europe and around the world.

They urge the French government to ensure that its policies on the evictions and expulsion of the Roma migrants are not discriminatory and conform to European and international human rights law.

Source: UN Radio ^[456]

The press release is available at the OHCHR ^[457] website.

August 25, 2012

More than 350,000 earthquake survivors still living in tent cities outside Port-au-Prince are lashed by wind and rain.

Tropical Storm Isaac has killed at least four people in different parts of Haiti, with more than 4,000 people still remaining in temporary emergency shelters.

Lashing rains and gale-force winds and high winds were reported along parts of the country on Saturday. The impoverished Caribbean nation is still reeling from the effects of a devastating 2010 earthquake that killed more than 250,000 people.

In addition to those in temporary shelters, more than 350,000 survivors of the last earthquake are still living in fragile tent and tarpaulin camps near the capital.

Intermittent power outages affected the greater areas of the capital city of Port-au-Prince area as Isaac bore down on the impoverished Caribbean country.

The storm had sustained winds of 110 kmh and its centre was expected to pass over Haiti’s southern coast.

Life-threatening flash-floods and mudslides, which are common in Haiti, could add to the misery of the displaced Haitians.

The storm was forecasted to “move near or over southeastern Cuba on Saturday, move near or over central Cuba on Saturday night and approach the Florida keys on Sunday”, the US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its 21:00 GMT bulletin on Friday.

Military mobilised

Long lines had formed outside supermarkets in the Haitian capital on Friday as people filled stores to stock up on supplies.

Those still without proper shelter after the quake “remain amongst the most vulnerable, should the storm hit the city”, said Jean-Claude Mukadi, Haiti’s national director for the humanitarian group World Vision.

“Without a stable sanitation system or permanent housing, heavy rain and wind can create much larger problems like disease from water contamination.”

President Michel Martelly, who canceled a trip to Japan, earlier took to the airwaves with safety advice and to urge Haitians to follow the directions of civil defence personnel.

Laurent Lamothe, the Haitian prime minister, said the whole government, including security forces, has mobilised to prepare for the storm.

“We are going to work with our international partners to co-ordinate response actions,” Lamothe said.

The Haiti director for Oxfam, another humanitarian group, said that his group was preparing clean water and hygiene kits to help prevent the spread of cholera and other water-borne diseases.

Hurricane watch

Haiti has always struggled to cope with the aftermath of natural disasters. Deforestation has made the country highly vulnerable to landslides and flash flooding.

“These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,” the NHC said.

If this storm follows the forecast, then it will cause widespread flooding and potentially landslides as well.

Residents in the neighbouring Dominican Republic and on nearby Puerto Rico rushed to erect defences against the expected wind and rain, set to sweep on to Cuba and the southern US by the weekend.

Isaac has already churned over the tiny Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Dominica.

Flights were canceled, and some restaurants were closed, but fortunately Isaac was not particularly powerful when it hit the islands. Generally, the winds were under 75kph, and no more than 80mm of rain was reported.

As a precaution, hearings at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba have been postponed.

It is thought Isaac may hit Florida on Monday, the same day the Republican National Convention starts.

Source: Al Jazeera ^[458]

August 7, 2012

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Demonstrations in Vila Autódromo. Photo: Cíntia Barenho/CEA/Flickr

With residents of several favela communities in Rio de Janeiro facing resettlement and others having already been removed from their homes to make way for 2016 Olympic infrastructure development, the longstanding community of Vila Autódromo is pushing back with their Plano Popular da Vila Autódromo.

Founded by fishermen in 1967 on the shore of the Jacarepaguá Lagoon in Rio’s Zona Oeste (West Zone), the neighborhood’s proximity to Barra da Tijua – one of the main areas in which the 2016 Olympic Games ^[460] will take place-has put some of Vila Autódromo’s homes again at risk of demolition.

The community of an estimated 4,000 people has proven resilient in the past by staving off several possible evictions ^[461], most notably in 1992 due to city claims of environmental damage and in 2007 during Rio’s preparations to host the Pan American games.

This time with the help of the Núcleo Experimental de Planejamento Conflitual (ETTERN/IPPUR/UFRJ), residents have written a proposal, the Plano Popular da Vila Autódromo, stating their housing and human rights and resistance to relocation.

Theresa Williamson, Executive Director of Catalytic Communities (CatComm ^[462]), an NGO non-profit, told The Rio Times that, “The plan is an important tool in showing that the community has the support of architects and planners from Rio’s universities, and that the upgrading of the community is possible and practical.”

The plan sites the 1988 Federal Constitution, the 1966 UN General Assembly housing resolution (signed by Brazil in 1992) and law 11124 of the State Constitution and Municipal Organic Law (Constituição Estadual e a Lei Orgânica Municipal) and proposes that its citizens have the right to decide their own city planning.

Emphasizing a desire to set their own objectives and determine their priorities for themselves, stating that all residents should have access to housing and public facilities and services. They want to improve their community not leave it. The plan also asserts that it, “rejects the involuntary removal of any resident.”

Williamson says, “Vila Autódromo has wide roads and well-built housing. It is a relatively easy favela to upgrade. Evicting and relocating residents is exponentially more costly than upgrading the community.”

News of an officially slated 2013 demolition ^[463] began to surface in 2011 with the neighborhood’s proximity to the future Olympic Park ^[464] as a sited reason for relocation of its citizens.

In January of this year the people of Vila Autodromo took their battle concerning lack of planning for their future ^[465] resettlement in the bidding process to court and won a temporary stay. The bidding on the project was delayed but eventually resumed.

The official reasons have again shifted emphasis, now siting a need for removal due to future Transolympic and Transcarioca Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor pathways that will run through the area.

The government maintains that it will provide adequate resettlement housing most likely through the Minha Casa, Minha Vida ^[466] (My Home, My Life) program. However, the people of Vila Autódromo consider the land they’re on as theirs with a state land title having been given to the community in 1994 allotting them a 99-year period of ownership of the land.

Source: The Rio Times ^[467]

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INTERNATIONAL CALL

Communicate your case of eviction!

The Tribunal for Evictions launches an international call to identify cases of evictions for its 2012 session. The Tribunal will take place on 28 September 2012 in Geneva within the Geneva Habitat Forum and for the launch of the World Zero Evictions days 2012.

A city FOR its inhabitants

Today, forced evictions threaten between 50 and 70 million people worldwide.

The Tribunal is a tool for organizations of inhabitants and all stakeholders that defend the right to housing. The Tribunal aims to reinforce the recognition, propositions and fights against housing rights violations at local, national and international levels. It also aims to put the spotlight on threats and violence of all kind committed against the defenders of these rights.

In this perspective, a jury, made of representatives of civil society, international organizations and academics, involved in the defense and respect of housing rights, will evaluate the claims in the light of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and all international legal instruments related to the enforcement of the right to housing and land security.

Working method

This call is broadcasted worldwide in order to identify cases of evictions through a webform. You are all kindly invited to fill the webform before 20 August 2012.

The secretariat of the Tribunal will coordinate the preliminary phase of investigation by selecting the most significant cases in terms of severity, number of people affected, as well as representation of themes and continents.

At the 28 September 2012 session, the Tribunal will publicly examine the presented cases and will issue a judgment and make recommendations to the various officials. The Tribunal will then issue formal recommendations to economic and institutional actors responsible for the evictions, and to civic organizations helping them enforce their demands by the authorities.

Do not keep silent: make the world know your eviction case!
Fill out the eviction case webform before 20 August!

To post a case:

1. Create an account ^[469] on the website
2. Once you received the confirmation e-mail, log in to the website and click on “submit your case of eviction ^[470]”
3. Fill the form
4. Save the form
5. When you have entered all the information, click “I wish to validate and send my application.”

Your case will then be reviewed by the Geneva Habitat Forum team. Once it has been validated, it will be published online (if allowed) and the team will contact you without delay.

For further information, please contact:
tribunal@forum-habitat.org ^[471]
Secretariat: +41 22 320 86 06

Source: Habitat Forum Geneve ^[472]

August 10, 2012

^[475]

SECURITY OF TENURE AND INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS
New Study by UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing

Security of tenure is a central component of the right to adequate housing. The new study of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, seeks to ‘unpack’ the concept of security of tenure and the specific requirements arising from human rights law in this respect. This two-year thematic study will also aim to offer both legal and practical advice on ways to address the variety of tenure issues arising worldwide, and to strengthen security of tenure for those who most need it. 

To know more on the study, read our infonote. ^[445]

SAVE THE DATE!
Consultation on Security of Tenure – Thursday 6 September, Naples, Italy

Taking advantage of the organization of the World Urban Forum VI in Naples, Italy, the Special Rapporteur is organizing an informal consultation on security of tenure and informal settlement. The consultation will be held immediately after the closing session of the World Urban Forum, on Thursday 6 September. Those interested in participating are requested to confirm their presence at the e-mail tenureproject@ohchr.org. Note that places for this consultation are limited and the working language will be English.

To know more on the consultation, click here. ^[476]

Taking advantage of the organization of the World Urban Forum VI ^[477] in Naples, Italy, the Special Rapporteur is organizing an informal consultation on security of tenure immediately after the closing session of the World Urban Forum, on Thursday 6 September.

Generally, it is hoped that the consultation could discuss existing guidance on land/housing tenure and assess its adequacy from a right to housing perspective; ‘unpack’ the concept of security of tenure and identify its key elements; discuss gaps in the current legal framework and in policies and practices (related to urban development for instance) when it comes to ensuring tenure for those most disadvantaged, such as those living in informal settlements.

You can also send suggestions on this agenda to the e-mail: tenureproject@ohchr.org

To know more on the thematic study on security of  tenure, click here. ^[445]

Practical information
What: Consultation on Security of Tenure
When: Thursday 6 September
Time: 14:00 – 18:00
Where: Hotel San Paolo, Via Terracina 159 (5mn walk from WUF Conference Centre)
Working language: English.

July 31st, 2012

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Photo: David von Blohn/Demotix

The Chilean authorities must initiate a thorough, independent investigation into the police use of force during and after an eviction that resulted in a dozen Indigenous community members – including children – being detained, with many suffering injuries, Amnesty International said.

On 23 July, police officers (carabineros) reportedly moved in to evict a group of Mapuche Indigenous people who a day earlier had occupied a plot of agricultural land in Ercilla – 600 km south of Santiago – as part of an ongoing protest to reclaim their traditional territory in Chile’s Araucanía region.

According to reports, twelve Mapuche Temucuicui community members – including women and children – were taken into custody, with several injured as police fired buckshot and used tear gas during the eviction. At least four other Mapuche children were injured when police fired buckshot at demonstrators who had gathered outside Collipulli Hospital, where their injured friends and family members had been taken.

Amnesty International Americas Researcher Maria Jose Eva Parada said:

“The accounts from the forced eviction in Ercilla point to a possible disproportionate use of force by the police, and the reports of children being injured by police firing buckshot into the crowd outside the Collipulli hospital are especially worrying.

“The investigation into the incidents must be thorough, impartial and independent and, if it finds that police overstepped the boundaries of the law, those responsible must be brought to justice.”

Following the eviction, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera reportedly said that the incidents would be investigated and that, although his government supported the police force “100 per cent”, they would not be allowed to act outside the framework of the law.

Numerous Mapuche Indigenous communities across southern Chile have long protested to have their traditional territories restored to them.

A day after the eviction in Ercilla the authorities responded by publishing a “Special Security Plan for the Araucanía Region” which aimed at combating criminal activity in the course of the protests. However, the Mapuche Indigenous peoples’ territorial claims remain unresolved.

Maria Jose Eva Parada added:

“Whatever measures are taken to tackle social conflicts arising from Mapuche ancestral land claims in the Araucanía, human rights must be respected.”

Source: Amnesty International ^[479]

July 29, 2012

Government defends its decision to forcibly evict the almost 200-year-old Makoko shantytown built on lagoon in Lagos.

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A man paddles a canoe past demolished stilt houses in Makoko after orders by the government to evict thousands of homes. Photo: Sunday Alamba/AP

Thousands of people have been left homeless in the Nigerian city of Lagos after a recent government-led eviction of an almost 200-year old shantytown.

During last week’s eviction of the Makoko slum, home to about 100,000 people, residents were given only 72 hours to evacuate before men in speedboats were sent to destroy their houses.

“As the city authorities continue to forcefully evict this community of mainly fishermen, many say there have nowhere to turn to,” said Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow, reporting from Lagos on Sunday.

The floating Makoko slum rises out of the murky lagoon water that separates mainland Nigeria from the island that gave birth to its largest city.

According to reports, men armed with machetes and power saws descended on the shantytown to demolish it, leaving some 3,000 people homeless.

Adow said that with their houses demolished, many families were now left living on boats or seeking refuge in churches.

“The government is treating these people as though they were not human,” Felix Morka, a rights activist at the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre in Lagos, which works with Makoko residents, told Al Jazeera.

“It’s very condescending of the government to contemplate displacing nearly 150,000 people without any discussion or notice. That is wrong,” he said.

Violence sparked

Nigeria’s government insists it has done nothing wrong.

Lateef Raji, an adviser to the governor of Lagos State, told Al Jazeera: “Let us look at how these people live. Is there any reasonable society that would allow its citizens to live the way they are living?”

Makoko resident Mirabelle Agbete said: “We are just trying to survive… This is unfair, we are human beings. How do you just throw out people without warning?”

The continued unease around the evictions has already sparked violence.

On Saturday, trouble started when authorities tried to demolish a building after officials reached an informal agreement about how they would target homes for destruction.

A police officer shot dead community chief Timothy Hunpoyanwha, residents have said.

Ngozi Braide, Lagos state spokeswoman, said a police corporal had been arrested over the fatal shooting, which remains under investigation. The killing prompted Babatunde Raji Fashola, Lagos state governor, to order a stop to the demolition exercise.

Fashola also said he was willing to speak with the communities to reach a compromise, but said Makoko would not be allowed to grow any further.

A government notice issued about the evictions seems to suggest it wants the entire community gone.

“The Lagos state government is desirous of restoring the amenity and value of the waterfront… [and] improve the waterfront/coastline to underline the megacity status of the state,” the notice read.

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People stand inside a roofless stilt house as the metropolitan government begins the demolition of structures in Makoko. Photo: AKINTUNDE AKINLEYE/REUTERS

‘Integral part’

Makoko is a sprawling community of bamboo homes and shacks built out of driftwood, close to the University of Lagos campus and visible to daily traffic that plies the Third Mainland Bridge, the link from the mainland to the city’s islands.

Those living in Makoko subsist largely as fishermen and workers in nearby saw mills, cutting up water-logged timber that’s floated into the city daily.

Some residents work jobs outside of the slum as gate guards and in other industries, although most live almost entirely within its watery boundaries.

“For almost 200 years Makoko has remained an integral part of the city of Lagos, its uniqueness often a symbol of Nigeria’s ever growing problem of urban poverty,” our correspondent said.

The people of Makoko have created their own life independent from the state, with its own schools and clinics, however ill-equipped.

Commerce goes on in its creek alleyways. Children who attend classes in schools on the water learn in English and French and speak various languages from Nigeria and neighboring Benin.

Many residents in Makoko come from the French-speaking West African nation but have lived in the community for decades.

Waterfront villages remain common through Nigeria and Lagos itself grew out of one.

Source: Al Jazeera ^[482]

KIGALI / GENEVA (13 July 2012) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, today highlighted the issues of resettlement of people and land reform as two of the main challenges for the consolidation of peace and stability in Rwanda.

“The processes of displacement and resettlement of people that are taking place in the context of the ‘villagization’ policy in rural areas and the implementation of urban planning in Kigali have to be handled very carefully, if they are to consolidate peace, stability and reconciliation in Rwanda,” stressed the UN independent expert at the end of her first official mission to the country.*

Ms. Rolnik commended the Government for its initiatives in the areas of land reform, but warned that insufficient room for challenging decisions taken in the processes of land registration and titling could create tensions in the long run. “I call on the Government to make sure that implementation of the land consolidation policy is conducted on the basis of the human rights values of consultation and participation,” she said. “Involvement in land consolidation projects must be voluntary and in no way based on coercion.”

The Special Rapporteur also pointed out the many limitations to freedom of expression and association faced by housing advocates in the country. “If the Rwanda 2020 Vision is to be achieved and made durable, the Government must provide more space for participation, for the operations of NGOs and other civil society organizations, and for freedom of expression. This would help it receive more genuine feedback on its policies and programmes,” she stressed.

“As far as housing is concerned, land consolidation has the potential of improving the living conditions of people in planned and organized settlements,” the rights expert said. “There is however the risk of making consolidated lands more attractive to agribusinesses, with the possible consequence of concentration of land ownership in rural areas, and of increased migration to urban settlements.”

The Special Rapporteur acknowledged the Government’s “impressive capacity of planning and implementing its policies, reaching out to communities in the most remote areas of the country.” However, she said, “it is my wish that this vision is realized in a way that is sustainable, and does not leave any Rwandan behind.”

During her nine-day fact-finding mission to the country, Raquel Rolnik met with Government officials at the highest level, as well as with representatives of civil society organizations, independent researchers and academics, and UN agencies.

Ms. Rolnik visited inhabitants of several neighbourhoods in the capital Kigali. She also visited villages in the countryside that are being set up in the context of the villagization policy of imidugudus, and discussed with inhabitants the impacts of this policy on their housing and living conditions.

The UN Special Rapporteur will present detailed observations and recommendations on her mission report in a forthcoming session of the UN Human Rights Council.

(*) Read the full end-of-mission statement: click here. ^[483]

ENDS

Raquel Rolnik (Brazil) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2008. Her mandate was renewed in 2011. Learn more, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/HousingIndex.aspx ^[24]

UN Human Rights, Country Page – Rwanda:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/AfricaRegion/Pages/RWIndex.aspx ^[484]

For further information and media requests, please contact:

In Rwanda: Boris-Ephrem Tchoumavi (+41 79 444 5188 / srhousing@ohchr.org ^[236])
In Geneva: Laure-Anne Courdesse (+41 22 917 9368 / lcourdesse@ohchr.org ^[485]).

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org ^[31])

July 11, 2012

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California State Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris gathers stories about foreclosures from the staff of the East L.A. Community Corporation last year. Photo: Bob Chamberlin/Los Angeles Times

A major overhaul of foreclosure laws in the Golden State has been signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Last week, California lawmakers passed the legislation that would provide homeowners with some of the nation’s strongest protections from foreclosure and aggressive bank practices. For instance, seizing a home while the owner is negotiating to lower mortgage payments will be restricted.

At a boisterous signing ceremony in downtown Los Angeles, Brown said that the measures were an important step for an economy still suffering the fallout of the subprime mortgage crisis and housing bust.

“This is a very important day, to sign a very important bill, to clean up at least part of the mess that has been created by all sorts of people in the mortgage, the banking and servicing business that caused untold suffering to millions of people,” Brown said. “People have lost their homes, they have lost their jobs. Families have broken down because of the insensitivity, the greed and the blindness of very powerful people who made millions of dollars personally, and billions of dollars for their respective entities.”

The legislation was backed by Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris, who earlier this year helped negotiate a national mortgage settlement with the nation’s largest banks. Many of the reforms that were part of that settlement were incorporated into California law with the bill signed into law Wednesday morning.

“California homeowners will take back a system in a way that gives them due process, gives them transparency, gives them dignity through a fair process,” Harris said. “This is about saying that we have had a series of unnecessary foreclosures in a state full of responsible homeowners.”

When the measures go into effect next year, California will be the first state to prohibit lenders from “dual tracking,” the practice of negotiating with clients to modify a mortgage so that payments become more affordable while simultaneously pursuing foreclosure. In such cases, homeowners can wind up being evicted even though they had been working with the bank to modify their loans.

The new laws also ban so-called robo-signing — the improper or faulty processing of foreclosure documents — and would allow state agencies and private citizens to sue financial institutions, under limited conditions, for economic compensation and for additional civil damages of up to $50,000 if lenders willfully, intentionally or recklessly violate the law. No lawsuit could go forward if the bank or servicer first fixes the problem with documentation or procedures, according to the bills.

Source: LA Times ^[487]

Housing is a cross-cutting human rights issue that goes beyond structures, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing at the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Raquel Rolnik, has said.

She was speaking yesterday during a tour of Nyagatovu model village in Kayonza District, Eastern Province.

“Housing is not just about bringing up buildings…it cuts across a number of issues mainly infrastructure development. It is a human right. Just like health and education, housing is not a privilege, but a people’s right which they must enjoy.”

The UN Commissioner toured the village, and had a chat with residents as well as grassroots leaders before briefing the media.

Rolnik, an architect and university professor from Brazil, told The New Times that every country had its unique housing issues.

“I don’t compare countries because they tend to have great differences. But I am so far impressed by Rwanda’s capacity of organisation and implementation of programmes.”

“I was invited by Rwanda and will present my findings to the UN… The spirit is to contribute to a better future”.

She said Rwanda was her first country to visit in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Nyagatovu is a model home settlement constructed under the Integrated Development Programme (IDP), one of the country’s poverty reduction initiatives premised on concentrating families and their resources to improve productivity and deliver services more effectively, thereby boosting incomes.

Emmanuel Mugabo, an official from the Ministry of Local Government and Social Affairs, said the system of settling people into organised villages, commonly known as Imidugudu, was paying off.

Rolnik is on a nine-day visit to Rwanda, from July 5 to 13.

She is expected to meet with several officials and human rights groups to discuss issues concerning the country’s housing priorities.

“This will be a great opportunity to look into how the most densely populated nation in Africa is managing land and housing issues in a way that takes into account equality and non-discrimination,” Rolnik said in a statement, in reference to Rwanda.

“It is paramount that allocation of land and housing does not result in injustices that impede the reconciliation that Rwanda has long been striving for,” he added.

Rolnik was appointed as Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination by the UN Human Rights Council in 2008.

Her mandate was renewed in 2011.

Fonte: allAfrica.com ^[488]

GENEVA (3 July 2012) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, will undertake an official mission to Rwanda from 5 to 13 July 2012, at the invitation of the Government.

During her nine-day visit, Ms Rolnik will meet with Government officials, human rights groups and other stakeholders. “This will be a great opportunity to look into how the most densely populated nation in Africa is managing land and housing issues in a way that takes into account equality and non-discrimination,” the Special Rapporteur said.

“It is paramount that allocation of land and housing does not result in injustices that impede the reconciliation that Rwanda has long been striving for,” she added.

At the end of her visit, on Friday 14 July 2012 at 10 am, the Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference at the Mille Collines Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda, to present the preliminary findings of her mission.

ENDS

Raquel Rolnik (Brazil) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2008. Her mandate was renewed in 2011. Learn more, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/HousingIndex.aspx ^[24]

OHCHR – Country Page: Rwanda:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/AfricaRegion/Pages/RWIndex.aspx ^[484]

For further information and media requests, please contact:

In Rwanda: Boris-Ephrem Tchoumavi (Tel: +41 79-444 5188 / Email: ^[493] srhousing@ohchr.org ^[236])
In Geneva: Laure-Anne Courdesse (Tel: ++41 22 917 9368 / Email: lcourdesse@ohchr.org ^[485]).

For media requests related to other UN independent experts, please contact Xabier Celaya (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org ^[31]).

To read the original press release, click here. ^[494]

Check the photos of the working visit of the Special Raporteur to the Right to Housing, Raquel Rolnik, to Saint Petersburg, Russia, on June 30 and July 1st.

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July 3rd, 2012

State lawmakers approve what would be the nation’s strongest legislation to help financially troubled borrowers stay in their homes. Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign them this week or next.

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DeAun Tollefson, whose home is in foreclosure, marches with others in Sacramento to protest home foreclosures. Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press/June 25, 2012

California lawmakers have passed legislation that would provide homeowners with some of the nation’s strongest protections from foreclosure and such aggressive bank practices as seizing a home while the owner is negotiating to lower mortgage payments.

After years of distress in the housing and mortgage markets, during which lenders seized nearly a million California houses, legislators Monday sent a pair of Assembly and Senate bills to Gov. Jerry Brown ^[526] designed to help financially troubled borrowers stay in their homes.

The legislation would make California the first state to prohibit lenders from “dual tracking”, the practice of negotiating with clients to modify a mortgage so that payments become more affordable while simultaneously pursuing foreclosure. In such cases, homeowners can wind up being evicted even though they had been working with the bank to modify their loans.

The measures would outlaw so-called robo-signing — the improper or faulty processing of foreclosure documents— and would allow state agencies and private citizens to sue financial institutions, under limited conditions, for economic compensation and for additional civil damages of up to $50,000 if lenders willfully, intentionally or recklessly violate the law. No lawsuit could go forward if the bank or servicer first fixes the problem with documentation or procedures, according to the bills.

The legislation, SB 900 and AB 278, also would simplify dealings between homeowners and their banks or loan servicers by requiring that clients be given a single representative to work with, helping to prevent bureaucratic runarounds.

“This has been an incredibly long and tortuous process to get the kinds of basic protections that borrowers have long needed throughout this six-year crisis,” said Paul Leonard, California director of the Center for Responsible Lending in Oakland.

The banking and real estate industries opposed the foreclosure-prevention bills, calling them well-meaning but overly complicated and so legally ambiguous that they would spur frivolous lawsuits.

It is crucial that “we don’t give borrowers and enterprising attorneys an opportunity to delay foreclosures at will,” said Dustin Hobbs, a spokesman for the California Mortgage Bankers Assn.

Bankers also said the bills would increase real estate transaction costs, slow the housing recovery, tighten credit and lower home values.

Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff ^[527] (R-Diamond Bar) on Monday called home foreclosure “a significant and life-changing problem for many Californians and many California communities.”

“But rather than find realistic and reasonable solutions to help those in need, Democrats ^[528] are wielding a sledgehammer on our fragile housing market,” Huff said.

A two-house conference committee made a number of amendments in an effort to address some of the criticisms made by the banks.

Committee members narrowed the measures to apply only to modifications on primary, or “first-lien,” mortgages. The compromises also limited the protections to owner-occupied residential properties with four or fewer living units. Mortgage holders who bought property for investments and so-called strategic defaulters, who turn in keys and voluntarily go into foreclosure, aren’t covered by the proposed law.

On Monday, the Assembly voted 53-25 in favor of the pair of bills that came out of the conference committee; the Senate passed the bills on a 25-13 vote.

Brown, who hadn’t previously indicated whether he supported the bills, issued a statement Monday saying the legislation “establishes important consumer protections that are long overdue.” Gil Duran, Brown’s press secretary, said that the governor “is expected to sign” the bills this week or next and that they would take effect Jan. 1.

The bills are the most controversial part of a Homeowner Bill of Rights legislative package, sponsored by California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris ^[529] and written by 10 Democratic lawmakers, including the state Senate and Assembly leaders. The package is modeled on a multi-state, $25-billion settlement of a foreclosure lawsuit against five large banks; it would extend protections to more homeowners and would lock the provisions into state law.

“Passing these key elements of the Homeowner Bill of Rights represents a significant step forward for struggling homeowners,” Harris said. “These common-sense reforms will require banks to treat California homeowners more fairly and bring more transparency and accountability to their practices in our state. Responsible homeowners will have a better shot to keep their homes.”

The housing crisis has hammered California: Although mortgage delinquencies and home repossessions have eased, more than 362,000 California homes were in foreclosure or seriously delinquent as of March 31, Mortgage Bankers Assn. data show. About 30% of all California homes with mortgages would not be able to command a sales price high enough to pay off the mortgage, according to research firm CoreLogic.

If the bills had been law a few years ago, they would have saved many homeowners much time, anxiety and heartache, said Rose Gudiel, who knows the problems all too well. The state worker from La Puente ran into unexpected financial difficulties in 2009 and fell slightly behind on her mortgage payments.

For three years, Gudiel said, she tried to get a loan modification but couldn’t get a straight answer about her status. She received a foreclosure notice in early 2011 but refused to vacate her home. The bank granted new terms only after Gudiel, backed by activists with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, made the news by getting arrested during a protest.

Gudiel, 35, said she can afford to stay in her three-bedroom house, where she lives with her parents and brother, now that her monthly mortgage payment has dropped to $1,800 from $2,400.

She said she likes the legislation: “It’s a good thing, because at least you’re able to get an answer and don’t have to go through the extremes that I had to do.”

Some of the proposed rules that state lawmakers approved Monday are already finding their way to borrowers because of the national mortgage settlement and other agreements reached last year between banks and federal regulators.

Alberto Gutierrez of Panorama City, another homeowner and alliance activist, said he gave up in frustration trying to get a loan modification from his bank last year. But recently the bank assigned him an officer to handle his case.

“Within the last four months,” the 39-year-old Gutierrez said, “I have been able to make more headway than I did all of last year.”

Source: Los Angeles Times ^[530]

Read more about this on Chron ^[531], Chicago Tribune ^[532], The Washington Post ^[533].

ABONNEMA WHARF COMMUNITY DEMOLISHED BY THE RIVERS STATE GOVERNMENT IN FLAGRANT DISREGARD OF JUDICIAL PROCESS

The Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC) strongly condemns the on-going demolition of Abonnema community by the Rivers state government. The invasion and destruction of the homes, properties and businesses of residents of the community without the due process of law is callous, unjust, illegal and a reckless affront to constitutional governance.

On Wednesday June 27, 2012, at about 6.00 am, the Rivers state government’s demolition squad assisted by heavily armed police and other security forces invaded the Abonnema Wharf community located on the Port-Harcourt waterfront. Without warning, bulldozers began to tear down homes and other structures in the community as residents that were rudely awakened by the violence fled in utter consternation. Residents that attempted to salvage personal properties were brutally beaten by members of the demolition squad. The demolition continued until about 7 pm.

At the time of this press statement on June 29, 2012 the Rivers state government has continued its ruthless forced eviction of the Abonnema Wharf community destroying several hundred homes, properties and livelihoods of an estimated 25,000 families without any safeguards or resettlement.

The demolition of Abonnema community is being carried out in flagrant disregard of judicial process. On behalf of the community, SERAC obtained an order of interim injunction restraining the Rivers state government from destroying the community on November 11, 2011 in Jim George & Others vs. The Executive Governor of Rivers State & Others (Suit No.PHC/2286/2009). A ruling on a contested application of the government to vacate the interim order of injunction was fixed for July 2, 2012. Despite the pendency of this lawsuit and a subsisting order of interim injunction, the Rivers state government has proceeded, lawlessly, to destroy the community.

The government’s suggestion that Abonnema Wharf is being demolished in order to rid the community of criminals is as unconscionable as it is absurd. Nowhere in the laws of Nigeria is demolition authorized as a crime fighting strategy. This is yet another pitiful excuse to justify the indefensible action of the government.

At the core of the decision to destroy Abonnema Wharf community, like it destroyed Njemanzeand other waterfront communities in 2009, is Governor Rotimi Amaechi administration’sunbridled quest to acquire prime waterfront lands in favor of private businesses for upscale entertainment and other investments. Under the guise of public-private partnerships, the government has continued to utilize tax payers’ resources and state instruments to advance the parochial interests of its affluent business collaborators to the extreme detriment of desperately poor citizens of the state. Since his inauguration, Governor Amaechi has vigorously pursued a land grab policy that has resulted in the painful displacement of hundreds of thousands of poor citizens.

Forced eviction entails the removal of people from their land and homes against their will and without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protections. The forced eviction of Abonnema Wharf constitutes a brazen violation of the human rights to adequate housing, dignity of the human person, private and family life, fair hearing and, indeed, the right to life as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other human rights instruments.

SERAC demands an immediate end to the ongoing demolition of Abonnema Wharf community. We further demand an end to the violence and brutality that is being perpetrated against innocent citizens of the community.

We strongly urge the government of Rivers State to immediately provide emergency shelter and other services to the displaced population, and take expeditious steps to provide adequate compensation or resettlement to affected residents.

We further urge Governor Rotimi Amaechi to observe observance of the rule of law in dealing with these populations, and to bring his strayed administration back on a path of constitutional democracy.

Signed

Felix Morka
Executive Director Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC)

Source: SERAC ^[534]
Plot 758, Chief Thomas Adeboye Drive, Omole Phase 2, Isheri, Lagos, Nigeria.P.O. Box 13616, Ikeja-Lagos, Nigeria
Tel: 234-1-7646299
E-mail: info@serac.org; seracnig@aol.com

^[535]The Right to City for the Defense of Common Goods

Call to the Urban Social Forum

(Naples, September 3-7, 2012)

We invite local, national, and international inhabitants’ organisations, networks, and citizens, who are involved in the livability of the city and are struggling for rights related to habitat, to participate in the second Urban Social Forum (USF) in Naples, Italy, September 3-7, 2012, which will be held as an alternative to UN-Habitat’s World Urban Forum (WUF) 6.

We launch this call, based on the shared principles of the World Social Forum (WSF), convinced on the necessity to continue to develop successful convergences at local, national and international levels, such as: the World Assembly of Inhabitants (Mexico City, 2000), World Social Forum 1 (Porto Alegre, 2001), Urban Social Forum 1 (Rio de Janeiro, 2010), World Assembly of Inhabitants and the Popular Neighbourhood Forum (Dakar, 2011), World Days for the Right to Habitat (October 2011), the People’s Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 2012), and the upcoming World Assembly of Inhabitants during the World Social Forum in 2013.

The second Urban Social Forum in Naples will be held in a beautiful territory rich with resources, however severly damaged, which is an additional reason to build this inclusive space together. Naples will represent another milestone in the consolidation of dialogue and alliances to reach a consensus on a platform and program for common action between urban and rural inhabitant movements and all those organizations, networks and institutions that fight for the rights to housing, land, common goods, and to the city. These rights can only be protected by building more just, democratic and sustainable territories and by defending inhabitants against attacks steming from the crisis caused by neoliberal globalization.

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In solidarity, we want to contribute to the rebuilding of beautiful and livable cities for all inhabitants, as based on the World Charter for the Right to the City and collective human and environmental rights, with inhabitants assuming protagonistic roles in the construction of incluvise communities. These are the essential conditions to a sustainable future.

We want to live well in rebellious cities that have  the right to oppose the model which is at the root of the current crisis founded on supremacy of neoliberal paradigms that try to impose recipes that produce infinite social, economic, and environmental debts: the privatization of common goods, the commodification of territories, and the state’s abandonment of public urban policies and social housing programs.

We all together want to fight against policies that attack inhabitants’ dignity, democratic sovereignty in the territories moved by policies of citizenship’s rights depreciation, deprivation of  popular participation, criminalization of social struggle movements, proxy to the mafia’s criminality to run local territories in crisis favoured moreover by global and systemic speculation and corruption.

We therefore want to enhance the experiences of struggles and alternative as protagonized by local movements and international networks throughout the world that fight against and denounce evictions, land grabbing and real estate speculation, as well as those that propose alternatives for the occupation of abandoned buildings and the self-management of housing cooperatives. These denunciations and proposals correspond to the urgency and maturity of claiming the rights to housing, land, the city and common goods, foundations on which the future cities are to be constructed, now.

All together, we move forward towards the USF in Naples and beyond to reinforce the global and local inhabitants’ struggles and proposals!

The USF 2012 Organizing Committee

Source: The USF 2012 Organizing Committee ^[489]

June 27, 2012

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Roadblocks setup by "anti-riot" intervention police prevented Boeung Kak residents from reaching the appeal court. Photo from the website.

Statement issued by Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC), Cambodian Youth Network (CYN), Social Action for Change (SAC), People’s Action for Change (PAC), Cambodian Worker Center for Development (CWCD) Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association (IDEA) and Cambodian Food and Service Worker’s Federation (CFSWF), Cambodia’s Civil Servants Association (CICA), Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT), Housing Rights Task Force (HRTF), Community Legal Education Center (CLEC), Equitable Cambodia (EC),Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), and LICADHO Canada

We, the above organizations, welcome the release today of the 13 jailed Boeung Kak (BK) representatives but strongly condemn police violence against BK residents trying to reach the appeal court and regret that the convictions against the 13 were upheld despite the government’s failure, again, to present any evidence of the alleged crimes.

Whilst the judges heard the appeal inside the court, a large unit of anti-riot intervention police were mobilized to prevent BK community residents and neighboring community villagers from reaching the court. The police officers turned violent as a group of children tried to rush through the road block. During the standoff, one woman – a sister to one of the 13 jailed representatives – was kicked by an intervention police officer in the stomach. Doctors have confirmed that she was pregnant and has lost her unborn child due to heavy bleeding. At least 4 other BK villagers and 7 children were beaten by police and had to receive medical treatments.

“Court officials must immediately carry out a full and independent investigation into this tragic incident and prosecute the officers who assaulted the residents, as well as the commanding officer who ordered the violence.” said Yeng Virak, Executive Director of CLEC.

The court upheld the sentences of two and a half years against all 13 BK women but suspended all but 1 month and 3 days, in recognition of the burden that imprisonment poses to them, in particular given that they are mothers and grandmothers. TheBK women thus remain at continued threat of re-arrest.

During the appeal none of the trial irregularities were addressed and, once again, no evidence was presented in support of the charges. On the contrary, three witnesses for the defense were prevented from entering the courtroom to testify despite attempts by the defendant’s lawyer and each of the 13 women testified in detail about their actions on the day of the alleged offenses, confirming their innocence of the charges. The one defense witness allowed to testify corroborated their testimonies. No government witnesses attended the appeal hearing.

“While the release of the 13 BK women is most welcome, upholding these sentences is a travesty of justice. Despite in-court testimony, video and photographic evidence that the women are innocent, they have been declared guilty again – with their suspended sentences hanging over their every move” said Dr. Pung Chhiv Kek, President of LICADHO.

It’s also important to realize that the BK community is now back to square one as the underlying issues remain unresolved. Many families still remain arbitrarily excluded from receiving land titles, and the 12, 44 hectares of land given to the remaining lake families has still not been demarcated. Whilst the families of the women can rejoice in being reunited with their loved ones today, the community’s fight for their land and their rights will continue.
Background

The released women are: Nget Khun; Tep Vanny; Kong Chantha; Song Srey Leap; Tho Davy; Chan Navy; Ngoun Kimlang; Bov Sophea; Cheng Leap; Soung Samai; Phan Chunreth; Heng Mom; and Tol Srey Pov.

The thirteen were arrested on May 22, 2012, during a peaceful demonstration over a land dispute that has led to the displacement of over 3,500 families.

They were convicted roughly 48 hours later, in a show trial laden with irregularities. Lawyers for the women requested a delay in the proceedings, but were denied. The lawyers were also refused access to the case file and state evidence. They were not even permitted to call witnesses.

Two other BK residents, Ms Ly Chanary and Mr. Sao Sarouen, were arrested outside the trial. They had come to serve as witnesses. They were placed in pretrial detention until June 15, 2012, when they were released under judicial supervision. Charges against them are still pending.

The BK Lake dispute dates back to 2007, when the lake and its surroundings were leased to Shukaku, a company owned by a ruling-party Senator. Shukaku filled the lake and forced out virtually all of the residents living in the area. Minimal compensation was paid to some, but most families received nothing.

The company’s coercive intimidation campaign led to the largest displacement of Cambodians since the Khmer Rouge era.

The events surrounding the arrest of the 13 women clearly did not justify the charges. On the morning of May 22, as part of a media event, some 18 families from Village 1 in BK arrived at the sand dunes covering their homes in the lakeside village. Equipped with a few pieces of wood, one family attempted to erect poles to mark the locations of their destroyed home. Soon after, however, police arrived at the site trying to confiscate the wood and prevent the family from proceeding.

After the media event was disrupted, a group of BK residents remained in the area, and several sang songs about land rights. Shortly before noon, a small group of women was surrounded by a mixed force of police and district guards, who proceeded to violently push into the remaining group. As the community members dispersed, 13 women – some of whom were not even part of the group that had been singing – were violently arrested.

They were charged with – and later convicted of – violating articles 34 and 259 of the 2001 Land Law and article 504 of the Penal Code. Article 34 of the Land Law states that any “illegal occupant” of certain property shall be subject to article 259, which provides for imprisonment of one to five years. Penal Code article 504 describes the crime of obstruction of public officials with aggravating circumstances. It allows for six months to one year in prison.

The women were all sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, though some sentences were partially suspended.

For more information, please contact:
• Eang Vuthy, EC, 012 791 700
• Neup Ly, HRTF, 012 909 397
• Yeng Virak, CLEC, 012 801 235
• Am Sam Ath, LICADHO, 012 327 770

Source: LICADHO ^[538]

June 26, 2012

Alternative housing for them will be ready only in 2 months

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A tense situation prevailed after Saraswati (third from left) threatened to commit suicide even as the drive was on. Photo: M. Karunakaran

The Chennai Corporation on Monday removed several houses and a small temple that came in the way of a proposed approach road to a new bridge connecting Rajiv Gandhi Salai and Indira Nagar. The bridge was recently inaugurated by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa via teleconferencing.

Even as local civic body officials, with the assistance of a strong police posse, bulldozed homes, a 35-year-old homemaker doused herself with kerosene protesting the move. However, Saraswati was stopped before she could set fire to herself. “My husband, a car driver has gone out for work and the children to school. What will I tell them when they come back and find no house here,” she asked.

After Mayor Saidai S Duraisamy intervened, her house was not demolished on Monday although it will be pulled down later. The residents said that only after Saraswati threatened to give up her life did the Corporation issue tokens to them. Over 20 families were provided these tokens as interim measures. Most of these families had been assured that they would be resettled at Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) tenements. However, the tenements will be ready in another two months. The tokens carry the name, address and the number given to them when they were enumerated by the TNSCB. But they do not give any assurance that the residents would be given alternative housing.

A few residents, who did not get tokens, were asked to meet the assistant commissioner in-charge of Adyar zone on Tuesday.

89-year-old Kamalamma, who was not given a token, said that she had been living at the place for over 60 years and had even cultivated crops. Refusing to move to another location, she said she would rather die during the encroachment removal drive. Govindan(72), who cannot walk without help, said that he had been forcefully removed from his house along with utensils, grinder, TV, wooden almirah, bedding and other stuff. His wife, Dhanalakshmi, a flower seller who is disabled said that they had no place to go.

“Our relatives will allow us to stay with them for a few days but they cannot take our things. We were hoping the slum board tenements would be allotted before the eviction,” said Shanthi, another evictee.

June 25, 2012

At least 18 people have been killed with more feared dead in eastern Uganda after a mudslide buried several villages. The slide followed heavy rains in an area where deforestation is thought to contribute to the problem.

June 25, 2012

by David Killick

Decent, affordable housing is a basic human right. In the second of a five-part series, David Killick argues Christchurch needs practical housing solutions – now and for the future.

People sleeping in cars. Families living in garages or earthquake-damaged homes because there is nowhere else to go. People freezing in sub- zero temperatures. People struggling to feed their families because rental accommodation has soared and even the basics are beyond their means.

This is shameful stuff. You might expect to read about it in a Third World country, not New Zealand.

“People are living in houses that are not fit for human habitation,” says Mike Peters, of Addington Action, a volunteer group that is helping people by supplying cheap fruit and vegetables and putting insulation in earthquake-damaged homes. Peters slams the authorities as “callous and uncaring”. Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee initially said housing was “up to the market” to fix. He now says there is no crisis. Nevertheless, the Department of Building and Housing is investigating.

According to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, housing is a basic right. “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family [sic], including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services”.

Christchurch East MP Lianne Dalziel has launched a petition calling for legislation to establish a rent cap in Christchurch, “to ensure security of tenure and to eradicate homelessness and overcrowding in homes by providing affordable, warm and healthy rental houses to all members of our community”. The petition calls for the immediate establishment of a community taskforce.

Housing is an urgent problem that is beyond politics. It demands a bi-partisan approach. I would support any party that comes up with a practical solution. If they can build instant villages for construction workers, why not displaced people? What happened to the campervan villages? Long-term, we need a fundamental change in the way we plan, design and build housing.

Over the last 20 years the gap between those living in comfortable well-designed homes and those forced to endure substandard housing has widened alarmingly.

New Zealand used to pride itself on how many people owned their homes. No longer. The New Zealand Human Rights Commission identifies “affordability and accessibility as barriers to the full realisation of the right to housing”.

The Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey ranks Christchurch as “severely unaffordable”. Houses cost 6.3 times annual household earnings. In some United States cities, such as Dallas- Fort Worth and Houston, houses cost just three times or less than annual household earnings. No wonder people are saying “what recovery?” No wonder they are leaving.

Lack of progress, low wages and rising costs (including rate rises substantially higher than inflation, even for houses that are uninhabitable) are driving Cantabrians out.

Demographia co-author, Christchurch retired property developer Hugh Pavletich, says the New Zealand residential development and construction sector is “a complete shambles. While they are getting new starter housing on the fringes of the affordable North American markets for about US$600 per square metre there, here in Christchurch and New Zealand generally it is going in for NZ$2500-plus per square metre – much of it just expensive rubbish”.

We need affordable sections of $50,000 or less on the fringe, he says. It is up to the Government to make land available.

Could we do that? New Zealand has plenty of land. In Europe and the United Kingdom, for example, the main restriction on development is the physical lack of available land. While a few subdivisions have been proposed, new houses will be unaffordable for many – especially those receiving an average $300,000 payout for a red zone property. Insurance delays are stymieing development.

The old-style suburban subdivision model is outmoded and fails to accommodate changing social patterns such as smaller families, single people, or the growing number of elderly. It is also land hungry, with large single-storey homes plonked in the middle of the section, with unused front lawn and unnecessary grass berms.

Alternative solutions have been proposed or are under way. New Yaldhurst and Belfast village subdivisions by developers Tom Kain and Mark Prain seek to create new local communities by building density multi-story houses catering for mixed use, and by minimising the dominance of the car.

Another development has won backing from the Christchurch City Council. A non-profit consortium comprising the New Zealand Housing Foundation, Abbeyfield, the Housing Plus Charitable Foundation, and the Salvation Army has purchased a 15,000 square metre block of land in Hornby for $525,000 (below the council’s valuation of $1.3 million) to build 42 units catering for low to medium-income residents.

Alarmed by the housing crisis, businesswoman Sue Robinson has founded the Canterbury Affordable Housing Trust and is seeking Government funding.

Property owner Liz Harris, who lost about 130 rental apartments and boarding house rooms in the city in the quakes, plans to rebuild, but says there have been big insurance delays. She hopes to have work under way on four projects offering 28 apartments within three months.

These are good moves. But they are not enough.

Cluster housing or co- housing is an interesting alternative. A group of people buy a large section and develop it together. The result is not just more affordable housing, but a community with shared facilities such as parks, vegetable gardens, and meeting areas. Co-housing is popular in Denmark and parts of the United States.

Architects design the whole development – not just single houses. Well-designed homes in a real community are not just places you can afford, but places you really want to live.

Two top international experts are visiting Christchurch this Friday (June 29) for a public address, sponsored by the New Zealand Green Building Council: Architect Bill Dunster, whose company Zed Factory has designed low-energy sustainable developments in Britain; and Tim Horton, commissioner of the Integrated Design Commission, South Australia.

His mission is “to be a bridge between Government and the design, planning and development sectors – to transform the urban environment and enhance quality of life through a multi- disciplinary, design-led approach.” It sounds like just what we need.

(The Hagley Lounge, Christchurch Netball Centre, Hagley Avenue, 5.30pm to 8.30pm, bookings essential:adnz.org.nz/events ^[541]).

If they can do it overseas, in Britain, Australia, the United States and Germany, why not here?

These are new concepts for New Zealand. They have not been the norm. But the norm has changed. We need new solutions. Christchurch and Canterbury could be a world leader for eco-friendly, sustainable housing. We have the potential.

So far little thought seems to have been given to where new developments should be. Simply building new houses anywhere, with no thought of how they will fit into the whole plan, is an ad hoc approach. Transportation is a vital component of any integrated plan.

That is the subject of next week’s article. Last week’s Perspective generated positive feedback. I shall incorporate some of the responses later in this series.

Source: The Press ^[542]

June 11, 2012

by Duncan Kennedy

A project helping homeless in a Sydney suburb is claiming impressive results, by challenging the notion that people living on the streets need to find the help themselves.

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Photo from the website.

Are we helpless when it comes to the homeless?

It seems that many countries and societies don’t know how to solve this enduring problem.

But now, in Australia, which has 100,000 homeless people, an attempt to confront the issue with direct, quantifiable action appears to be yielding impressive results, for both the individuals and the state.

It all began in 2007, when a philanthropist approached Mission Australia with an idea. Mission Australia is a 150-year-old Christian community organisation that assists those on the lower rungs of life, such as the poor and homeless and has the staff and expertise to take on big projects.

The philanthropist, who prefers anonymity to publicity, explained that her own parents had been homeless and that, with the considerable personal resources at her disposal, she wanted to give something back. After discussions, the scheme came to be called The Michael Project, named in memory of her dead husband.

At her request, the aim was to design a brand new service and to change the lives of thousands of homeless men, permanently.
She would put up the money for what would become an expensive experiment in social readjustment. These were, after all, people who had often given up on themselves and were largely being ignored by society.

Of the thousands of men who passed through The Michael Project, 253 entered the research study and 106 made it to 12 months. One of those was Gordon. He is 68 and has the kind of friendly, white-bearded, Santa Claus-type face that charms everyone who meets him.

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Gordon has turned his life around. Photo from the website.

But behind the jocular, engaging demeanour, Gordon’s story reads like it’s been lifted from the pages of the homeless person’s stock-in-trade manual. Gordon was an accountant with two practices and a beautiful home. But 12 years ago, he lost everything, including his girlfriend, when mental health problems began to dog him. It left him devastated and homeless. For the first two years “home” became a shipping container. The adjacent river was his bathroom. He shared a field with a goat and a cow.

Gordon sank further into depression and was admitted to a series of psychiatric hospitals for a succession of well-meaning, but ultimately futile, therapies. Then, four years ago, Gordon was introduced to Mission Australia and the Michael Project. It changed everything. He now has a clean, one-bedroom apartment in Parramatta, west of Sydney, that he calls home. There’s a television, an audio system, a bookshelf that includes Shakespeare and pictures that he painted, including one of a 19th Century Mexican cowboy.

“That picture got me into art college when I was a young man,” explains Gordon, with a nostalgic glint in his eye. The apartment and all that’s in it, have paid for by Gordon himself out of the disability allowance that’s been organised for him. “The Project changed my life,” he says. “It gave me back my confidence.”

The Michael Project is about more than putting a roof over someone’s head. It is a wrap-around support service tailored to an individual’s needs. At its heart lies the one-to-one relationship between the homeless person and their mentor, or care worker. In Gordon’s case that’s Claudia, a care worker with the kind of patient, understanding disposition usually associated with the most dedicated of hospice nurses.

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Sydney has thousands of homeless. Photo from the website.

Each case manager like Claudia has up to 20 clients but together, they systematically worked through each of Gordon’s problems.
If he needed a dentist, Claudia would get him an appointment the same afternoon. If he required a doctor’s visit, one would be arranged for the following morning.

Job interviews, resumes, contact numbers, access to phones, advice on pensions, everything needed to help Gordon re-enter normal society was provided and, crucially, it would be provided immediately. There would be no drift, no inertia, no “I’ll do it tomorrow” attitude, which would only wrack up the costs of fixing it later.

This would be a full-on, bespoke, intensive approach to break the cycle of aimlessness and hopelessness associated with long term homelessness. The results of the whole scheme, since verified by outside auditors, have been remarkable.

Before Michael, there was practically nobody in long-term housing. After Michael, 50%were in permanent homes. Before, homeless people were four times more likely to need hospital care than the general public. After, that dropped to 1.7 times. Before, 6% were employed. Afterwards, that tripled to 18%.

Overall, the cost to taxpayers went down from $24,399 (£15,567) per homeless person, a year (in costs to the health, justice and other systems) to $20,798 (£13,270). That’s a saving to the state of $3,601 (£2,298) for every homeless person. “It’s more expensive to have a person homeless than not to have a person homeless,” says James Toomey from Mission Australia. “It doesn’t make sense for the state to ignore homeless people, as that’s more expensive to tax payers.”

Mission Australia accepts that the Michael Project was relatively small in size and that more than half of those who entered the scheme dropped out. But it says that’s only to be expected with people who are, by definition, rootless and unsettled.

But Mission Australia still believes the programme could be scaled up nationally and serve as a template for similar operations in other countries. “Every where has homeless people”, says Toomey. “But we’ve shown that you can do something about it and save money. These are forgotten people at the margins of society and it’s not right they are ignored, when our project is proof that they can re-engage and become full citizens again, not just burdens.”

Gordon no longer feels like a burden. Every Monday you can now catch him at his local theatre rehearsing a play. “We do a new piece every six weeks,” he says. “I really enjoy getting stuck into the text and love performing.”

“Would you ever be homeless again?” I ask.

“No, I will never be homeless again. Never. I might even take up painting, once more. Another cowboy, perhaps?”

Source: BBC News ^[546]

May 04, 2012

By Chris Clark

Raquel Rolnik’s comments on use of subsidies in housing reconstruction spark debate.

During a weeklong visit to Chile prompted by several local organizations, Raquel Rolnik, the special rapporteur on housing with the United Nations, criticized the role of subsidies in Chile’s reconstruction process after the 2010 earthquake.

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Photo provided by malinkrop/Flickr.

“The reconstruction following the 2010 earthquake has been an efficient and notable process, but it ought to rely upon a mechanism apart from subsidies,” Rolnik told La Tercera ^[548].

Following the earthquake, the Chilean government established three types of subsidies for residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed. Depending on the severity of damages sustained, victims of the earthquake could receive a subsidy to repair a home, purchase a new home or completely rebuild.

The National Movement for Just Reconstruction (NMJR), one of the organizations which encouraged Rolnik’s visit, holds that the Chilean government’s approach to reconstruction may be at odds with international standards for human rights and housing as outlined by the international declaration of human rights, according to El Ciudadano ^[549].

Pablo Ivelic, the director of the government’s housing reconstruction agency, said that the reconstruction plan introduced by the Chilean government meets international standards of human rights and was developed with help from representatives of the World Bank.

“The approach taken by the Chilean government  to housing reconstruction following the earthquake has indeed been comprehensive in nature,” Ivelic told The Santiago Times. “There have been three distinct target areas to our approach: the household, the neighborhood and the city. We have structured our projects to best meet the needs of Chileans at each level.”

Among other concerns, critics assert that the Chilean government has not provided the necessary legal framework to ensure a clear definition of property rights within many new housing developments that have come to fruition after the earthquake.

Additionally, the rebuilding process for many Chileans has been relatively slow, forcing some to live in overcrowded conditions. Consequently, rates of delinquency have increased in areas that were especially affected by the earthquake.

Other critics say that too much emphasis has been placed on the provision of housing subsidies and relatively little concern has been granted to social issues that came about as a result of the displacement of thousands of Chileans.

Ivelic noted that it is important to consider the role of subsidies in two distinct ways: first, as an instrument of reconstruction, and second, as a system of social policy.

“As an instrument of reconstruction, subsidies can be helpful,” Ivelic said. “There are a number of studies that support the use of subsidies as an instrument to help reconstruction efforts.”

As is the case with many social issues in Chile, there seems to be a sharp divide between those who hold a relatively narrow view of adequate housing, and those who believe otherwise. Rolnik, whose work with the UN deals with the role that adequate housing fulfills within the broader spectrum of human rights, explained that reconstruction is “an extensive process that affects people’s property and lives as well as the socioeconomic climate and urban development of cities.”

“Such a definition of reconstruction requires processes that involve public participation and that are well-rounded in nature,” Rolnik said. “When housing policies define ‘adequate housing’ as a dwelling with a roof and four walls, it is possible to violate human rights because adequate housing implies much more than this.”

At a seminar called “The Right to Housing in Chile” on Wednesday evening, Paulina Saball, of the Foundation to Beat Poverty, echoed Rolnik’s sentiments.

“Whether housing is seen as a human right in Chile is a complex question,” Saball said. ”It is first necessary to conceptualize what ‘adequate housing’ means in Chile.”

Source:  The Santiago Times ^[550]

We announce two new topics to be debated in our virtual platform this month. The first, on sports mega-events and the right to housing, the question posted is: “What impact does the promotion of sports mega-events, like the Olympics or the World Cup, cause on the right to housing in cities? ^[551]”.

The second, on housing finance and the right to housing,  we ask: “In your country, are there bank credit to finance housing for low-income populations? What has been the impact of these programmes on the right to adequate housing for these individuals and communities? How has the recent financial crisis affected these programmes? ^[552]” This topic will be open to discussion until May 28^th.

The debates are open to all those interested in the themes.

Why debate?

The debates will contribute to subsidise  the special rapporteur Raquel Rolnik in her  writing of two documents: an insert on the impacts of sports mega-events on the right to housing and a thematic report on housing finance and the right to adequate housing.

The insert will be included in the guide on forced evictions in the context of development projects, published in 2010, to be reprinted and redistributed. The report on housing finance  will follow up the report on the effects of the financial crisis on the right to housing, presented in 2009. This time, the focus of the report will be more specific, dealing with the consequences of construction financing on the right to housing. In October, the special rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will present it at the UN General Assembly.

Join and contribute!

April 5th, 2012

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Workers and union leaders protest in São Paulo. Photo: Andre Penner/Associated Press

The Brazilian group that forced work to stop at the stadium being built for the 2014 World Cup opener plans to intensify protests across Brazil, saying the poor are paying the price for the government’s decision to bow to FIFA’s demands.

The Homeless Workers Movement said Thursday that it will organize protests to draw attention to problems it says are caused by World Cup projects, especially the evictions of “thousands of working families.”

There were protests Wednesday in eight of the 12 host cities. Hundreds of protesters forced work to briefly stop at Sao Paulo stadium, which is set to host the opener. There also was a temporary road block near Castelao stadium in the city of Fortaleza.

The homeless movement, known for its Portuguese acronym MTST, said more than 1,500 people protested across Brazil on Wednesday, although authorities disputed the number.

World Cup organizers and local authorities said they’re not concerned and the protests did little to disrupt the country’s preparations, but MTST warned there was more to come.

“We are not going to stop,” said Normalina Moreira dos Santos, a MTST spokeswoman in Sao Paulo. “We are going to plan many more protests to show what’s wrong with how the World Cup is happening in Brazil. We need to keep working to get the community more involved and let people know what is happening.”

MTST said it wants to draw the attention of authorities and call for a nationwide referendum to ask the population whether they actually want the World Cup in Brazil at this cost.

“We are not against having the World Cup here,” dos Santos said. “We are against how these evictions are happening. And we wished part of this money used in the World Cup could’ve been used in more housing for those who need it.”

MTST is the biggest of the groups that joined the Resistencia Urbana movement to protest against what it calls the “crimes of the 2014 World Cup.”

“The goal of the campaign is to denounce the evictions and removal of thousands of working families because of the World Cup work,” the group said in a statement. “The goal also is to denounce the creation of laws just for the upcoming mega events such as the World Cup and the (2016 Rio) Olympics.”

The movement said it’s not fair for the Brazilian poor to be hurt just because the government has to abide by FIFA’s wishes.

“What we are seeing is the Brazilian government bowing to FIFA’s demands and to the real estate market,” it said in a statement. “That’s happening at the expense of the urban workers and of their right to housing. The World Cup will only benefit the big companies.”

Some of the infrastructure work needed for the World Cup and the Rio Olympics have required the eviction of some local residents, but Brazilian authorities claim the entire process is being conducted strictly according to the law.

MTST said 700 people invaded the construction site at Itaquerao Stadium in Sao Paulo, disrupting work at the venue for two hours. Authorities said the number of protesters was about 300 and the work stoppage lasted nearly 30 minutes.

A road leading to Castelao Stadium in Fortaleza was blocked for about an hour and a half, and there were peaceful acts in front of Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Estadio Nacional in the capital of Brasilia and in the cities of Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Cuiaba and Manaus.

“It was very important to show society that what is happening in Brazil is not right,” dos Santos said. “We are proud, I think we reached our goal with the protests.”

The protests came as the Brazilian senate is about to consider a controversial World Cup bill that gives FIFA the needed guarantees to organize the event. FIFA says Brazil agreed to the legislation changes when it accepted hosting the tournament in 2007, but critics say the country is giving soccer’s governing body too much power.

Among the law changes asked by FIFA involves the sale of alcohol inside stadiums, currently prohibited in Brazil.

MTST has been active in Brazil for several years, occupying vacant buildings in the main capitals to demand more housing for the poor. It is the urban reflection of Brazil’s landless movement, which has seen hundreds of thousands of people in the countryside invade farm and ranch land in recent decades looking for room for subsistence farming.

Source: The Washington Post ^[554]

March 21st, 2012

The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted today, during its 19th regular session, a resolution regarding adequate housing in the context of disaster settings. In its introduction, the resolution expresses the Council’s concern at the number and scale of natural disaster and weather events, which have resulted in massive loss of life and homes, as well as forced displacements and other negative consequences for all societies in the world. It also shows the necessity of a human rights-based approach as a factor to the realization of the right to adequate housing, and reinforces the importance of the principles of participation and empowerment of the affected people.

Among its urges to the states, the Council asked them to ensure that all affected people have equal access to adequate housing with all its components, without any discrimination and regardless of their previous tenure status. Also, the resolution urges the states to include the right to adequate housing as a key component of planning and implementation of disaster responses, and to give priority to the vulnerable people in its realization, integrating, as well, a gender perspective. The access to information and the participation of affected persons and communities in the planning and implementation of shelter and housing assistance was another important issue in the text.

The complete text of this resolution may be found here ^[555] (only in English).

The UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik, displayed in the end of 2011, during the 66th session of the General Assembly, a report on adequate housing in the context of post disaster and post conflict. The report is available here ^[447].

March 9th, 2012

Quilombo ^[556] Rio de Macacos in Bahia, one of the oldest communities of descendents of slaves in Brazil, woke up enclosed by military police threatening their eviction on Sunday morning, March 4, 2012.

The Brazilian Navy hold an order for repossession of the lands on which 50 families live, as Global Voices reported ^[557] on February 21. However, it was guaranteed in a hearing with the Brazilian federal government on February 27 that the eviction would be suspended for five months ^[558] [pt] until the conclusion of a Technical Identification and Delimitation Report from the National Institute of Colonisation and Agrarian Reform (Incra).

“Article 68 in the 1998 Constitution and the Decree 4887/2003 guarantee the rights of the community’s centuries-long occupation,” explains sociologist and president of the Development Council of the Black Community in Bahia, Villma Reis, one of the first persons to react ^[559] [pt] publicly on March 4 after the siege by the police:

“Scheduled for today, March 4, 2012, and suspended by action of the Presidency of the Republic (General Secretary for Policies regarding the Promotion of Racial Equality, SEPPIR and Palmares Culture Foundation, FCP), the takeover of the Quilombo Rio dos Macacos territory is currently experiencing great tension as there are now three navy trucks inside the community, each one carrying around 80 men. Outside are the Bahia military (who cannot enter) and 1 tractor positioned at the entrance of Vila Naval, an area repossessed from the community 42 years ago.”

The Ondina settlement of the Occupy Salvador movement rapidly created an event ^[560] [pt] on Facebook after receiving requests for help from two local activists. A call for a solidarity “occupation” of the quilombo was soon made. A map showing how to get to the community was shared, and more information was uploaded throughout the day.

“The sense of solidarity with the people of Quilombo do Rio dos Macacos was fundamental in order for the Navy to retreat and withdraw their trucks, marines and the tractor from the area of Quilombo,” announced ^[561] [pt] the Bahia blog network.

The blog also republished the testimony of one activist who responded to the call and spent the day in the community along with around 300 other individuals, including representatives of various organizations, activists from the black people’s movement, university students and school kids.

Poliana Rebouças, described the following events:

“The mobilisation began with a visit by some groups to bring food to the community, as fishing and farming in the area was previously prevented by the Navy under the threat of eviction. Upon arrival, the group came across tractors, armed military police, and police vehicles, which suggested an additional threat of eviction. The inhabitants reported that they were threatened at dawn, hearing gunshots and other forms of intimidation, through [sic] psychological pressure. The Navy prevented the whole group from entering the Quilombo, leading most to enter from the back, and afterwards set up a commission to enter the Quilombo and provide food and assess the situation of the inhabitants. In the early afternoon, the situation was under control, contact was made with representatives from the ministry of defence who guaranteed that there would be no eviction for 5 months, the deadline by which inhabitants have to show proof that they are descendents from the original quilombo of that region.”

The same blog shared testimony by an anonymous naval officer who said that “the troop’s presence there was a coincidence and a routine operation.”

Journalist Daniela Novais, from the site Câmara em Pauta, reaffirmed the guarantee promised by the Federal Government “that the community’s rights would be preserved”, adding ^[563] [pt]:

“The corporation (Brazilian Navy) still hasn’t made a statement and limited itself to informing the community that a message would be sent by the communications office of the military once authorisation is granted. We from Câmara em Pauta hope that the government of Bahia vigorously intervenes so as not to repeat the human rights violations seen in the repossession of Pinheirinho, in São José dos Campos, São Paulo.”

Like Novais, who considered that “Quilombo Rio dos Macacos lived a Pinheirinho day ^[563]” [pt] several other internet users mentioned ^[564] [pt] the repossession of Pinheirinho ^[565] that took place on January 22 under excessive police force, as reported ^[566] by Global Voices.

In regards to the community’s safety, a note was republished ^[567] [pt] by Sandra Martuscelli (@PersonalEscrito) on Twitter reflecting the fear shared by many:

“no one knows what will happen after this collective is dismantled, there is no security in terms of what will happen tonight, tomorrow, throughout the week…”

A petition for the preservation of possession and title of the lands of Quilombo do Rio dos Macacos ^[568][pt] has been circulating. It recalls the quilombola community’s rights enshrined in the constitution, while reinforcing the claim for “the “demarcation, titling and ownership of the lands occupied by descendents of the quilombola people, allowing the continuity of these communities, which should be considered as the greatest proof of a symbol of the struggle against slavery, in the past, and racism, in the present”.

Source: Global Voices ^[569]

Turkey’s cultural capital is undergoing a huge construction programme that is driving out communities

Constanze Letsch ^[570] in Istanbul
Thursday 1 March 2012 23.00 GMT

A few hundred metres from the bustling Taksim Square in Istanbul, the sound of jackhammers reverberates through the street: demolitions in the nearby neighbourhood of Tarlabasi are under way despite legal objections from residents, architects, and human rights groups.

Empty buildings, many of which date from the late 19th century and are used to house a large part of Istanbul’s former Greek population, have already been gutted, waiting for their turn. In the area’s main street, only the local barber and one cornershop still hang on.

Tamer Bekar, a 70-year Tarlabasi resident, shakes his head in dismay. “They are looting all the empty buildings, they take windows, doors, cables to sell for a few pennies. The municipality does nothing to protect these historical buildings,” he says. “There are not many people left but everything I have is here. I cannot go anywhere else at this age. I don’t know what to do.”

Up to 278 buildings will be demolished to make way for a high-end construction project that will include homes, offices, hotels and a shopping mall. Those who could afford it have already moved. “I don’t want to move into a tower block outside the city,” Bekar says. “What would I do in the middle of nowhere?”

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The Zorlu business centre, scheduled to open in 2013, is just one of many massive construction projects in Istanbul, Turkey. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty

But the Tarlabasi renewal project is just one of many in the most frenetic redevelopments Istanbul has known for a generation. About 50 neighbourhoods in Istanbul alone are earmarked for urban renewal projects, and 7.5bn Turkish liras (£2.69bn) has been set aside for Istanbul’s public development projects in 2012, according to the Istanbul metropolitan municipality mayor, Kadir Topbas.

The formerly Roma neighbourhood of Sulukule has already been razed to make way for “Ottoman-style” townhouses, and the transport minister, Binali Yildirim, has vowed to go ahead with the construction of a third Bosphorus bridge that, environmentalists and urban planners warn, would further increase traffic congestion and lead to the destruction of Istanbul’s last forest areas and water reservoirs.

The prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, has promised an array of mega-projects including a 25-mile canal between the Black and the Marmara seas as well as two new cities on both sides of the Bosporus, each housing at least 1 million people – the centre of his election campaign.

“We need to face it,” Topbas said in a press conference after the devastating 2011 earthquakes in Van that killed 644 people, “we need to rebuild the entire city.”

Now the Turkish government is preparing a new law that will grant the prime minister and the public housing development administration sole decisive power over which areas will be developed, and how. The law will overrule all other preservation and protection regulations, and allow the government to declare any area in Turkey ^[572] a zone of risk.

Affected house-owners will have the choice of either demolishing their buildings themselves, or letting the government do it for them – in exchange for compensation.

The law’s advocates argue that it will enable the government to make cities safer against the ever-present risk of earthquakes without a lengthy legal process.

However, a growing number of critics point out that it will serve as a pretext to open valuable land to speculation, and drive low-income groups from city centres – as has already happened in Sulukule ^[573] and is happening in Tarlabasi.

And the government’s appetite for ever more ambitious development projects is not likely to be sated in the near future.

According to the Turkish Contractors Association’s ^[574] predictions, the construction sector, which contributes about 6% to the economy, faces decline and much fiercer competition abroad in 2012: domestic urban renewal projects, estimated to generate £250bn of profit – £55bn in Istanbul alone – are seen as a convenient alternative.

Detached

Professor Gülsen Özaydin, head of the urban planning department at the Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts Istanbul, says: “There is no urban planning that sees the city as a whole. Projects are completely detached from one another, and take no heed of the existing urban fabric, or the people living there. That’s very dangerous for the future of a city.”

Özaydin criticises the complete lack of public debate prior to the announcement of major reconstruction projects. “Expert views are rarely taken into consideration,” she adds. “We only learn of projects like Taksim Square from the newspapers. How can that be?”

Neither the names of the architects nor the financial scope of the Taksim project have been disclosed to the public. For the architect and urban activist Korhan Gümüs, the main problem is the lack of transparency and the disregard of the people affected: “This reflects the highly centralised politics of the Turkish state and the rigidity of the national programme that it advocates,” he says.

“National programmes don’t require any form of participation, they don’t need different opinions and thoughts. But cities need experience, they need research, they need questioning, thoughtfulness and creativity.

“If you leave a city at the mercy of speculators, it will die. If you try to make money only by way of new construction projects, the city will end up poorer, not richer.”

Mücella Yapici of the Istanbul Chamber of Architects paints a similarly bleak picture: “Urban poverty will increase. People evicted from their houses not only lose their home, but also their jobs, their neighbourhood, and their social ties.”

Tower block developments on the far outskirts of the city further isolated disadvantaged groups. “A city should bring people together, not segregate them,” she says.

“But in Istanbul we will end up in a situation where everybody will be afraid of one another – the rich will fear the poor and vice versa. It will be the end of social peace in the city.”

Source: The Guardian UK ^[575]

The Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will participate in a panel on Housing Rights in the Left Forum annual conference, in New York, on March 17, from 10ham to 11:50am (Session 1, room LHS). See below more details about the panel and the hole conference. To register, you must access the website of the event ^[576]. The panel will also be streamed live on the web. ^[577]

Panel: Housing as Human Right; is it Real or Imagined?

Participants:

Chair: Robert Robinson
Speakers: Liz Theohrais, Bandile Mdlallose, Janis Rosheuvel, Max Rameau, Tessza Udvarhelyi, Csaba Papp, Peter Sabonis, Raquel Rolnik and Veronica Medina-Matzner.

The Left Forum will host its annual conference at Pace University on the weekend of March 16-18. As it has done for many years, the conference will gather civil libertarians, environmentalists, anarchists, socialists, communists, trade-unionists, black and Latino freedom fighters, feminists, anti-war activists, students and people struggling against unemployment, foreclosure, inadequate housing and deteriorating schools from among those active in the U.S. and many other countries, as well. We will again share our activities and perspectives with special attention to all that has changed in 2011 and what it means for the prospects of progressive change in 2012 and beyond.

Once a year, the Left Forum creates a space to analyze the great political questions of our times. Activists, intellectuals, trade unionists, movement-builders and others come together to identify new strategies for broadening the “anti-corporate capitalist” movement. In the wake of a persistent crisis of the international economic and political system, a new left politics in the United States and around the world is taking shape. Will the mass movements in Egypt, Greece, Latin America, the United States and elsewhere further extend their participatory democratic, community-building, non-capitalist, and caring forms of struggle into the institutions of everyday life? Will the movements confront and disrupt the complicity of neo-liberal state elites with corporate capital? Are there alternatives to the increasingly brutal capitalist system on the horizon?

Join us in exploring such questions and moving forward left agendas for social changes.

Source: Left Forum ^[576]

It was supposed to be a triumphant moment for Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, March 4th 2012

Gearing up for the 2016 Olympic Games ^[579] to be held here, officials celebrated plans ^[580] for a futuristic “Olympic Park ^[581],” replete with a waterside park and athlete villages, promoting it as “a new piece of the city.”

There was just one problem: the 4,000 people who already live in that part of Rio de Janeiro, in a decades-old squatter settlement that the city wants to tear down. Refusing to go quietly and taking their fight to the courts and the streets, they have been a thorn in the side of the government for months.

“The authorities think progress is demolishing our community just so they can host the Olympics for a few weeks,” said Cenira dos Santos, 44, who owns a home in the settlement, which is known as Vila Autódromo. “But we’ve shocked them by resisting.”

For many Brazilians, holding the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics on Brazilian soil is the ultimate expression of the nation’s elevation on the world stage, and the events are perfect symbols of its newfound economic prowess and international standing.

But some of the strengths that have enabled Brazil’s democratic rise as a regional power — the vigorous expansion of its middle class, the independence of its news media and the growing expectations of its populace — are bedeviling the preparations for both events.

At stadium sites, construction workers, eager to share in the surging wealth around them and newly empowered by the nation’s historically low unemployment rate, are pushing aggressively for wage increases.

Unions have already held strikes in at least eight cities where stadiums for the soccer tournament are being built or refurbished, including a stoppage in February by 500 laborers in the northeast city of Fortaleza, and a national movement of 25,000 workers at World Cup sites has threatened to go on strike.

Construction delays are fueling problems with FIFA, soccer’s world governing body. The group’s secretary general, Jerome Valcke, said late last week that Brazilian organizers were falling behind, adding, “You have to push yourself, kick your arse.” Brazil’s sports minister hit back over the weekend, saying Mr. Valcke’s comments were “offensive.”

Meanwhile, residents in some of the favelas, or slums, who face eviction are pulling together and standing their ground, in stark contrast to the preparations for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where authorities easily removed hundreds of thousands of families from the city for the Games.

Favela residents are using handheld video cameras and social media to get their messages across. And they are sometimes getting a helping hand from Brazil’s vibrant and crusading news media, arguably the envy of other Latin American countries.

Not only have the news media and newly-created blogs focused attention on the evictions, but they have also dogged officials with their own pursuit of corruption allegations swirling around the Olympic and World Cup plans.

“These events were supposed to celebrate Brazil’s accomplishments, but the opposite is happening,” said Christopher Gaffney, a professor at Rio’s Fluminense Federal University. “We’re seeing an insidious pattern of trampling on the rights of the poor and cost overruns that are a nightmare.”

Brazil’s political culture has done its share in contributing to delays, with corruption scandals involving high-ranking sports officials.

But the favela evictions have struck a particular nerve on the streets. A network of activists in 12 cities estimates that as many as 170,000 people may face eviction ahead of the World Cup and the Olympics. In Rio, evictions are taking place in slums across the city, including the Metrô favela near the Maracanã stadium, where residents who refused to move live amid the rubble of bulldozed homes.

The evictions are stirring ghosts in a city with a long history of razing entire favelas, as in the 1960s and 1970s during Brazil’s military dictatorship. Thousands of families were moved from favelas in upscale seaside areas to the distant Cidade de Deus, the favela portrayed in the 2002 film “City of God ^[582].”

Source: The New York Times ^[584]

The Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik made a working visit to Barcelona and, during this occasion, met with members of the Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (Platform of People Affected by Mortgage, or PAH, in Spanish), at one of their assemblies.

Below, there’s a piece of news from El País (in Spanish) regarding this encounter. Also, there are two videos ^[585] in Spanish with the Special Rapporteur talking about right to housing during this working visit.

by CLARA BLANCHAR ^[586], Barcelona

“Asistimos al fracaso total de la mercantilización de la vivienda: ha pasado de cumplir una función social a convertirse en una mercancía para acabar siendo un activo financiero que sube y baja. Pero la gente no vive en un activo financiero. Además, a diferencia de otros productos financieros, la vivienda es un derecho humano”. La relatora especial por el derecho a la vivienda de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), Raquel Rolnik, culpó ayer a la banca de la burbuja inmobiliaria que se ha producido en España y otros muchos países desde 2009. “La toma del sector inmobiliario por los bancos se traduce en que su último objetivo sea la revalorización y demuestra que la burbuja no es fruto de una política no deseada”, afirmó.

Rolnik está en Barcelona para participar en un curso y ayer acudió a una multitudinaria asamblea de la Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) a la que asistieron afectados de Cataluña y Madrid. La relatora incluirá la experiencia de la PAH y la lucha contra los desahucios en España en el informe internacional que entregará en junio y que en octubre presentará a la asamblea general, en Nueva York. Para su informe, Rolnik requerirá información al Gobierno central y mañana se reunirá con el secretario de Vivienda de la Generalitat, Carles Sala.

Durante su encuentro con los afectados, la relatora constató cómo ha evolucionado el movimiento contra los desahucios que empezó en 2009, justo cuando inició su mandato. Rolnik ya se reunió entonces con representantes de la PAH barcelonesa. De la realidad del mercado inmobiliario español cuestiona que la ley permita los desahucios al tiempo que las familias no se libran de la deuda que arrastran. “El foco principal de las instituciones ha sido salvar el sistema financiero, es preocupante que la gente no haya sido objetivo de políticas claras”, dijo. Ayer celebró que la PAH haya introducido la dación en pago en el debate público. “No estoy hablando de comunismo ni socialismo, sino de marcos legales que incorporen derechos humanos”, sostuvo.

Rolnik escuchó decenas de testimonios de afectados por procesos de desahucio después de haberse quedado sin trabajo y no poder pagar la hipoteca. Como el de familias de origen africano que viven en Salt (Gironès), donde han denunciado una “estafa masiva de hipotecas con avales cruzados”.

La relatora escuchó los reproches de varios afectados por las inyecciones de dinero a los bancos por parte de los Gobiernos y el Banco Central Europeo: “Que nos den dinero para pagar la hipoteca al 1% de interés como a ellos”. “Quitémonos la culpa, no tenemos la culpa de habernos quedado sin trabajo, no somos morosos ni irresponsables, somos pobres”, terció otra asistente.

Source: El País ^[587]

GENEVA (28 February 2012) – “The Government of Bangladesh must ensure that any policy concerning open-pit coal mining includes robust safeguards to protect human rights. In the interim, the Phulbari coal mine should not be allowed to proceed because of the massive disruptions it is expected to cause,” said today a group of United Nations independent experts. They warned that if this open-pit mine is permitted, it could displace hundreds of thousands of people and lead to the violation of fundamental human rights.

“The Phulbari development would displace vulnerable farming communities, and threaten the livelihoods of thousands more by doing irreversible damage to water sources and ecosystems in the region,” the experts said, noting that an estimated 50,000 to 130,000 people would be immediately displaced by the project, with up to 220,000 potentially affected over time as irrigation channels and wells dry up.

A national coal policy is pending in a parliamentary committee, with early indications suggesting that open-pit coal mining will be permitted and, thus, would allow development of the Phulbari coal mine in north-western Bangladesh. The mine reportedly would extract 572 million tonnes of coal over the next 36 years from a site covering nearly 6,000 hectares and destroy approximately 12,000 hectares of productive agricultural land.

“We welcome Prime Minister Hasina’s acknowledgement that coal extraction in Bangladesh would threaten densely populated areas. Mixed messages, however, are emerging and investors continue to push forward,” warned the independent human rights experts.

Food and water

“Nearly half the Bangladeshi population is food insecure, and nearly one quarter severely food insecure. Local food production should be strengthened, not sacrificed for industrial projects,” said the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter. The land under threat is located in Bangladesh’s most fertile agricultural region where production of staple crops such as rice and wheat allows subsistence farmers to feed their families, and supports the entire country’s food needs.

In addition to the destruction of agricultural land, waterways supporting over 1,000 fisheries and nearly 50,000 fruit trees may be destroyed. The water table may be lowered by 15-25 metres over the life span of the mine. “Access to safe drinking water for some 220,000 people is at stake,” stated Catarina de Albuquerque, the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Displacement and indigenous rights

Those likely to be affected include entire villages of Santal, Munda, Mahili and Pahan indigenous peoples. “Displacement on this scale, particularly of indigenous peoples, is unacceptable without the indigenous peoples’ free, prior and informed consent, and poses an immediate threat to safety and standards of living,” warned the Special Rapporteurs Raquel Rolnik (adequate housing) and James Anaya (indigenous peoples).

Democratic rights

Concerns have also arisen over repression of human rights defenders peacefully protesting the Phulbari Coal Mine and other energy sector developments. “The legitimacy of the process is highly questionable,” noted the Special Rapporteurs Frank La Rue (freedom of opinion and expression) and Maina Kiai (freedom of peaceful assembly and of
association). “People must be informed throughout, and must not be intimidated out of exercising their rights to express their opinions and peacefully assemble.”

“By incorporating human rights principles into the national development strategy and fulfilling their human rights obligations, the Government is more likely to reduce poverty. Human rights and development policies are mutually reinforcing,” noted the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda. “The Phulbari coal mine may entice developers. But for many Bangladeshis the wholesale environmental degradation of the Phulbari region will exacerbate food insecurity, poverty and vulnerability to climate events for generations to come,” warned the UN independent experts.

END

Since December last year, the Rapporteur’s site has made available a booklet and brochure about women and the right to housing in four languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic).

The material aims to show how violations to the right to housing especially affect women. To download this and other material, visit section “booklets and teaching material ^[593]“. You or your organisation may also print and distribute it freely.

Since 2002, during the term of Miloon Kothari, the Rapporteur has been dedicating itself to the matter. Last year, aiming at monitoring the situation of women’s right to housing all over the world, rapporteur Raquel Rolnik returned to the theme, this time through a virtual debate platform, which made possible the participation of around 300 people from over 60 countries.

A general coordinator and seven regional coordinators helped foster the virtual debates. The regional coordinators also contributed with local research on the situation of women’s right to housing in their regions. All these contributions were fundamental for development of material and also the report on the theme.

Next March, Raquel Rolnik should present her report on women and the right to housing to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.. The report is already available on the women’s theme page ^[385].

27 January 2012

GENEVA – The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, on Friday called on Brazilian authorities to find a peaceful and appropriate solution, including housing alternatives, for those evicted this week from the Pinheirinho settlement in São Jose dos Campos city, São Paulo. About 6000 residents have been affected by the eviction order dictated by a judge in late December last year.

“I’m appalled by the excessive use of force reportedly used during the evictions on 22 January,” the Special Rapporteur said. She cited information she has received suggesting that the military police of São Paulo used tear gas and rubber bullets against the residents, including children and the elderly. Twenty residents were reportedly injured, one severely, and 30 arrested.

“I’m told Pinheirinho is still under siege and that nobody is allowed to enter the area,” Rolnik said. “The current situation of the evictees is extremely worrying; with no housing alternatives they are vulnerable to other human rights violations.”

The Special Rapporteur appealed to the authorities of the State of São Paulo to suspend the eviction order and the police action in Pinheirinho.

“Suspending the eviction order would allow the authorities to resume negotiations with residents in order to find a peaceful and definitive solution to the case, in full compliance with international human rights standards”, Rolnik stressed.

May 28, 2014

Hundreds of migrants are being evicted from their camps in Calais by French riot police

^[596]

Eritrean migrants at a food distribution centre after fleeing their makeshift camp in Calais (REUTERS)

Denis Robin, the prefect for the Pas de Calais region, said that the migrants were not being detained.

“The most important thing for me is the sanitation system,” he said. “There is a scabies outbreak that is worsening in Calais.”

He said that the authorities were working with the Red Cross to offer health screenings, clean showers and fresh clothes.

“I can promise that there will be no detention or checks on residency if the migrants agree to the health screenings. No checks – unless there is a rebellion.”

The 200 riot police and gendarmes were met with protests at the Batellerie camp, where activists from the No Border rights group blocked the road.

A second camp, on Rue Lamy, was the scene of disturbances among the Syrian migrants, La Voix du Nord newspaper reported ^[597].

Earlier this month, Asif Hussainkhil, an Afghan asylum seeker, was picked up by the French coastguard two miles off Sangatte, near Calais, after he was spotted from a ferry as he tried to make the 21-mile Channel crossing.

Floating on a flimsy wooden raft, the 33-year-old was trying to reach Britain.

Mr Hussainkhil was taken back to France – but told The Telegraph that he was planning on making another attempt at crossing ^[598].

Illegal camps of would-be channel-hoppers have sprung up in the Calais area since the French authorities closed down the infamous nearby Sangatte immigrant detention centre in 2002.

Manuel Valls, who was recently appointed prime minister, took a tougher line on immigration than most of his Socialist party colleagues during his high-profile stint as interior minister.

Immigration and borders featured prominently in the campaign for last week’s European Parliament elections, which saw far-right anti-immigration candidates score historic victories, including in France and Britain.

As the expulsion unfolded in Calais, about 400 migrants stormed across a towering, triple-layer border fence from Morocco into the tiny Spanish territory of Melilla – one of the biggest crossings in nearly a decade.

Source: The Telegraph ^[599]

May 28, 2014

By Jessica Kwong ^[600]

Bay Area residents who are experiencing eviction or another form of displacement due to gentrification are encouraged to contribute their stories to a crowdsourcing map, the latest effort by the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project.

The Narratives of Displacement and Loss project ^[601], launched Tuesday, allows community members to post their audio, video or picture-based stories directly on the crowdsourcing website and pinpoint their locations on the map. They can also contribute through email or text message at (777) 200-4233.

“We wanted to create a platform in which not only eviction stories, but other stories related to loss, results of gentrification, could be documented,” said Erin McElroy, director of the volunteer-fueled project.

More than a dozen stories have already been added to the app, including a cook who was evicted from her home in Precita Park and moved to Oakland, and a San Francisco tech worker with AIDS who was displaced from his home in the Castro but found nearby housing in the neighborhood.

“We’re interested in memorializing and remembrance, and of course creating fuel for a direct action and political shift,” McElroy said of The City’s housing troubles.

Submissions are reviewed by project members before going live in case landlords or others against the anti-displacement movement make threatening comments, she said. Within a month, the project hopes to release a map with oral histories of loss and displacement.

Source: The Examiner ^[602]

May 27, 2014

The sweeping, nationwide foreclosure crisis was a hallmark of the recession, and as the worst of the crash recedes, researchers are learning more about the economic and social ramifications of losing a home. Research has already established connections between foreclosures and a host of physical and psychological problems, as well as the relationship between unemployment and the suicide rate.

A new study by two sociology professors, Jason Houle ^[603] at Dartmouth College ^[604] and Michael Light at Purdue University ^[605], combines the two approaches for the first time.

The paper, from the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health ^[606], found that even when taking into account other socioeconomic factors such as unemployment, the higher a state’s foreclosure rate, the higher the suicide rate.

The analysis shows a particularly strong connection between foreclosures and the suicide rates of the middle-aged, considered 46 to 64 years old in the study. That helps explain some changes that have been unique to the recent downturn.

“We have seen suicide rates go up in the recession, but that’s not the big news,” says Houle. He says the “real public health puzzle” is that the increase was really driven by the rise of suicide rates of the middle-aged.

Historically, the elderly were most likely to commit suicide, but for the first time since the data have been collected, the middle-aged recently surpassed the older group.

“It does look like rising home foreclosures explain a little less than 20 percent of the rise in suicide rates among the middle-aged,” Houle says. That may be because that age group has the highest levels of homeownership, and “losing key assets and wealth close to retirement age is likely to have a profound effect on the mental health and well-being” of the middle-aged, the researchers wrote.

Houle and Light also looked at the effects of when homes are repossessed by banks. Repossessed properties can be a greater indicator of distress than the overall foreclosure rate, which can include less punitive resolutions like short sales.

When banks take back foreclosed homes, they’re also responsible for maintaining the properties – which they have done with mixed success. If the bank-owned properties are poorly maintained, that could also have a stronger negative effect on the surrounding community, Houle says.

The connections between the repossession rate and the suicide rate are particularly strong. The analysis found a 5 percent increase in the rate of repossessions corresponds to a 25 percent increase in the suicide rates of the middle-aged.

For researchers, the crisis provides an ongoing – if unfortunate – source to learn from. Although the foreclosure rate is the lowest it’s been since late 2008, it’s still higher than normal.

(*)Karen Weise ^[607] is a Bloomberg writer

Source: SFGate ^[608]

May 28, 2014

by SORAYA NADIA MCDONALD ^[609]

What do you do when you’ve spent billions building bobsled tracks and ski jumps no one will use, save for the few weeks you host the biggest international party in sports? You let them become overgrown, unattended relics ^[610], that’s what.

It appears that nobody wants to be Athens ^[611]. Or Beijing. Or Sarajevo. Athens hosted one heck of a party when the Olympics returned to its birthplace in 2004. It’s still nursing the hangover: upward of $11 billion spent for what’s turned into dandelion-pocked modern ruins.

Jon Frankel, a reporter for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” recently did a report ^[612] on the “white elephants ^[613]” left behind after a country hosts an international sporting event such as the World Cup or the Olympics.

“You don’t have to obtain a post-doc in finance to understand that this is a white elephant,” Rena Duru, who is running for mayor of Athens, told Frankel.

“There was no plan,” said Spyros Capralos, president of the Greek Olympic Committee. “Nobody has thought about post-Games usage of the facilities. And this, together with the not having more temporary facilities, was the biggest problem of Athens.”

Now, it appears that more countries are saying “no thanks” to the chance to own the world’s biggest stage in sports.

Krakow, Poland ^[614], Stockholm ^[615], St. Moritz and Davos, Switzerland ^[616], and Munich ^[617], all former candidates to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, have taken themselves out of the running. Munich’s no surprise, given that it has yet to deal with the weed-infested, graffiti-marked architectural tattoos that followed when it hosted the 1972 Olympics. Why would it sign up to build another round of useless stadiums when Germany’s chancellor was one of the ringleaders calling for austerity in Greece after it splurged billions ^[618] to host the games?

Stockholm just came out and said it ^[615]: “Arranging a Winter Olympics would mean a big investment in new sports facilities, for example for the bobsleigh and luge,” Sweden’s Moderate Party said in a statement to Reuters. “There isn’t any need for that type of that kind of facility after an Olympics.” St. Moritz and Davos, which were going to host jointly, and Krakow cited similar reasoning.

A Greek sports writer told Frankel: “The Greek economy couldn’t stand the Olympic Games. I’m not saying the crisis was caused by the Olympic Games, but the Olympic Games has a part of responsibility for the Greek economic crisis.”

Yahoo’s Jay Busbee ^[619] noted the astronomical costs of hosting — money that cities are finding they don’t recoup:

Why the sudden mass exodus from hosting? Because cities with an eye for financial reality have seen the results: Russia spent $51 billion on the Sochi Olympics, an incomprehensible sum for any nation but particularly one teetering on the edge of political turmoil. China spent $40 billion for the 2008 Beijing Games. Montreal lost nearly a billion dollars hosting the 1976 Games, and it took 30 years to pay off that debt. Nagano, Japan, which hosted the Olympics in 1998, apparently still hasn’t paid off its debt.

Last month, Vietnam withdrew ^[620] as host of the 2019 Asian Games, saying that the country’s economy is still recovering from the global financial crisis.

Flavorwire has a gallery ^[610] of past Olympic white elephants, not just from Athens, but from all over the world. It’s a sobering look at hosting hangovers.

Source: The Washington Post ^[621]

May 28, 2014

by Emma Batha ^[622]

Europe’s leaders must take action to end the plight of some 600,000 stateless people who are stuck in a nightmarish legal limbo within its borders, campaigners said on Wednesday as they launched a petition calling for governments to consign statelessness to the history books.

A stateless person is someone who is not recognised as a citizen by any country and consequently denied the basic rights most people take for granted. They have little or no access to education, healthcare, formal jobs and accommodation. They cannot travel overseas, buy property, open a bank account, get a driving license or even marry. In many cases their children will inherit their statelessness.

As a result, many live in destitution, separated from loved ones and vulnerable to exploitation and detention.

“It’s often said that stateless people lack the right to have rights,” said Chris Nash, coordinator of the European Network on Statelessness (ENS), which is launching the petition ^[623] as part of a wider campaign. “We need to bring Europe’s legal ghosts out of the shadows and ensure that stateless people are treated with respect and dignity.”

ENS, which brings together charities, lawyers and academics in 30 countries, is calling for every European country to set up a system for recognising stateless people and granting them a legal residence status similar to that enjoyed by refugees. This would allow them to access basic services so they can rebuild their lives.

Large-scale statelessness first emerged in Europe after World War II. Nobel laureates Albert Einstein and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn were both stateless for a while. But Nash said the problem remains hidden and little understood.

“I’ve met many stateless people and what strikes you is their desperate desire to have an identity and to be able to undertake daily life in the way most us take for granted,” Nash said. “Some stateless people find themselves in particularly acute situations because they are destitute and face a daily struggle to exist.”

“I’M NOT A CRIMINAL”

The ENS campaign, timed to coincide with the 60^th anniversary of the 1954 U.N. Statelessness Convention, highlights the stories of a handful of stateless people ^[624] like Isa, who lives in Serbia after fleeing Kosovo during the 1999 conflict. Lack of an ID card has left him living in constant fear.

“People surely see me in a different way because of it. They think I do not exist or that I am a criminal,” he said.

The biggest stateless populations in Europe are hangovers from the breakup of the Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia. Another significant population is the Roma who are scattered throughout Europe but are frequently denied citizenship by the country they live in.

Many other stateless people are migrants from outside Europe who, through no fault of their own, are not recognised by the country they call home. With no documents they often end up sleeping rough or in detention centres.

The petition calls on European leaders to:

• Ratify the 1954 U.N. convention, which obliges signatories to protect and support stateless people in their territory
• Set up a mechanism to help stateless people legalise their presence

Britain, Georgia and Moldova are among a handful of European countries that have recently set up stateless determination procedures ^[625], but the vast majority of states still lack such mechanisms.

Campaigners say stateless people often end up in detention even though there is no country they can be deported to.

Rashid, whose story is also highlighted in the campaign, was born in Myanmar and fled to Bangladesh with his mother after his father, a Muslim rights activist, was killed and his sister arrested. He now lives in the Netherlands.

“I cannot go anywhere,” said Rashid, a member of the ethnic Rohingya population who are not recognised in Myanmar where they face persecution ^[626]. “I cannot go back to Myanmar because my nationality has been withdrawn. I am asking for help in the Netherlands and as a result I am being kept in detention with criminals. I have not done anything wrong, I am not a criminal.”

Source: Thompson Reuters Foundation ^[627]

May 25, 2014

Many of those forced from their homes in preparation for the football tournament are asking: ‘World Cup for whom?’

Every four years, Brazilians decorate their streets in green and yellow, celebrating the arrival of the most anticipated sports tournament in the country.

With the kick-off for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil less than one month away, the country’s passion for football should be pulsating more than ever.

But there are some signs to the contrary. “World Cup for whom?” read the words painted on a wall on a street in Sao Paulo.

Many in Brazil’s middle class are unhappy with the effects the World Cup has already had on their lives. The cost of living has risen in the cities hosting the games, traffic jams have worsened, and a construction boom aimed at improving urban mobility has only compounded problems, they say.

But it is the poorest Brazilians who have borne the brunt of the World Cup preparations. According to the Popular Committee for the World Cup and Olympics, a group opposed to how the games’ preparations have been handled, 250,000 people across Brazil have been forcefully removed from their houses or are being threatened with eviction. Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre are the most affected cities, it says ^[628].

Marli Nascimento’s family and 117 others had been living in the low-income Parque Sao Francisco area in the town of Camaragibe, just outside of Recife, for more than 60 years. Between February 2013 and March 2014, her whole community was levelled to make room for a highway leading to Arena Pernambuco stadium, where Germany, Italy, Mexico, Japan and the US teams will play.

‘Some people didn’t have a place to go’

In a firm tone, Marli, 61, told Al Jazeera that her sister-in-law has developed depression brought on by the first eviction notice in 2011. The stress of the process, she said, has been too much for her.

“The government didn’t want to negotiate. There was one public meeting and then the official said we had five days to leave. We were a community of mostly elderly people, and were afraid they would send the police in. Some people didn’t have a place to go.”

Henrique Frota, the executive secretary of the Brazilian Institute for Urbanistic Law, based in Fortaleza, told Al Jazeera that although Brazil has some of the most advanced urban policy legislation in the world, and is signatory to many international treaties protecting the right to adequate housing, there have been violations in every eviction case he’s been following in the World Cup’s host cities.

Similarly, Raquel Rolnik, the UN rapporteur on adequate housing, told Al Jazeera: “According to international norms about the right to housing, when an eviction occurs, the housing condition for the [affected] people needs to improve or at least remain the same. What we have been seeing in Brazil, in general, is conditions getting worse.”

Demian Castro, an urban planning researcher at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, added that even families that agreed to move to other areas, hoping for an improvement in their precarious life conditions, have had their rights violated at some point.

“Authorities are required to present and previously discuss alternatives with affected families to the projects justifying their forced displacements, which didn’t happen. The right to stay should have been respected, like the right to leave was in some cases,” Castro told Al Jazeera.

He also criticised the fact that families are being resettled in faraway areas, with worse access to services and infrastructure than they had previously had, or receiving indemnities lower than the market price for their property.

“We’ve also received countless reports of physical aggression, psychological pressures and blackmailing by public and private agents involved in the projects,” added Frota.

Scanty compensation

Marli was compensated with an amount equivalent to just half the value of her old home. She has now bought another piece of land and is building a smaller house.

Other residents have been less fortunate: Marli said some people received only 20-40 percent of the value of their former houses, or have not been granted anything yet.

Pernambuco state prosecutor Francisco Nogueira said he guaranteed that all of the affected families would be granted indemnities, but did not clarify how those values are being calculated.

“The amount provided by the state of Pernambuco has been fully deposited. The delivery of [individual] amounts depends only on legal procedures. It is important to note that a work force has been formed to help overcome legal obstacles that families might face,” Nogueira told Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, Marli’s relatives have been paying high rents or living with other family members. “We won’t celebrate this World Cup that only came to harm poor people’s lives. I worked 27 years at a hospital and built my old house with a lot of sacrifice. I couldn’t even watch the machines destroying it,” said Marli.

Frota told Al Jazeera that evicted families are victims of a city model that the Brazilian government is selling to business interests. “Under the pretext that life will be better after World Cup urban mobility projects are finalised, for example, the governments are expelling vulnerable and poor populations to make room for new real estate frontiers.”

‘My roots are here’

Maria do Socorro is a 47-year-old resident of Indiana, a small slum located in Tijuca, a neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. Real estate prices have risen in the last few years following the renovation of the Maracana stadium and the installation of police units in many of the favelas here. She says no money in the world would make her want to leave the favela she’s been living in for over 40 years.

According to Rio’s Housing Office, 110 of Indiana’s 443 registered families have already been displaced. Of those, 107 were relocated to federal government housing facilities in an area 10kms away. Three others chose to receive indemnities.

Another 78 families have agreed to be relocated, and Socorro fears that these houses might be demolished as soon as their residents move away, leaving construction and piles of rubble that would make life impossible in Indiana, and force her to move. “My roots are here. I have built my life around my community. I wish the mayor would come to discuss improvements for our favela, not remove us.”

Celia Abend, the press agent for Rio de Janeiro’s housing office, told Al Jazeera that the government has been holding meetings with Indiana residents and representatives of the public defender to ensure that people who want to stay will have their rights respected, according to a commitment signed by Mayor Eduardo Paes last August.

Castro agrees that there are areas in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas built irregularly or precariously. He questions, however, the motive behind using this argument to justify mass evictions.

“Why is this justification suddenly used for areas in which there are strong real estate interests and not for other areas? If the risks are real, they can be minimised and measures can be taken to prevent mudslides,” he said, adding that the government should rename “areas at risk” to “areas for the rich”.

Socorro likely speaks for many when she says she wishes the World Cup wasn’t taking place in Brazil.

“If Brazil wins, I won’t even be happy, only sad, fighting not to be removed from where I live.”

Source: Al Jazeera ^[629]

May 23, 2014

by SIMON READ ^[630]

Source: The Independent ^[631]

May 13, 2014

Tens of thousands of western Côte d’Ivoire residents who fled deadly election turmoil three years ago have returned home, where survival is a daily struggle as more than half of them remain homeless.

Voluntary repatriation by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has brought home 33,702 people from neighbouring Liberia since 2011. Around 400 have also returned from Guinea and an unknown number have come back on their own. The 2010-2011 post-election conflict forced some 220,000 people to flee western Côte d’Ivoire to Liberia.

UNHCR’s deputy representative in Côte d’Ivoire, Serge Ruso, told IRIN that 52 percent of the former refugees have no houses. Violence ignited by the disputed outcome of the November 2010 presidential run-off first broke out in the country’s west, where armed gangs supporting then opposition candidate and now President Alassane Ouattara raided villages, killed and drove out people seen as supporters of then incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo.

Many of the former refugees restarting life at home without a roof over their heads have sought shelter with friends or relatives. Those whose land has not been illegally seized by their ethnic or political foes are slowly rebuilding, while the loss of both homes and farms to rivals has deepened desperation and longstanding rancour for others.

The government’s Post-Crisis Assistance Programme (PAPC) says 2,243 houses need reconstruction or refurbishment in the crisis-riven west, and that it rebuilt or restored 687 houses in 2012 thanks to World Bank funding.

“Every night we go to bed very afraid because strong winds during the rainy season may blow away the straw roofs or crush our mud houses,” said Georges Nonzi, now living in a small village near the western town of Duékoué

Land tenure disputes

Land has been at the centre of conflict in the region, and with the looming 2015 elections, lingering tensions over access to land could trigger violence.

Nonzi, 66, and his family survived the July 2012 attack on a camp outside Duékoué housing some 5,000 people who had been displaced by the 2010-2011 poll violence. The attack was seen as ethnically driven, as it was blamed on armed Malinké men backed by traditional hunters known as dozo who support Ouattara. The camp was home to mainly Guéré people who are Gbagbo sympathizers.

“Housing is quite critical, but there are underlying problems that should be urgently resolved,” said a senior NGO official on condition of anonymity. “All those returning have nowhere to go. The land ownership problems still remain. Every returning refugee or displaced person is an additional land problem that needs resolving.”

Land tenure in Côte d’Ivoire is either customary or statutory. Ninety-eight percent of land in rural Côte d’Ivoire is owned through customary law. The statutory system is applicable only when land is registered. The government in 1998 passed a rural land law aiming to recognize and formalize customary land rights by setting out procedures and conditions for them to be transformed into title deeds. But land ownership agreements are still predominantly verbal, a matter that has contributed to the recurrent disputes.

The land disputes add to political rivalries that often take on an ethnic dimension. Observers have criticized the government for failing to carry out far-reaching reconciliation and fair justice in the aftermath of the violent 2010-2011 election crisis. Côte d’Ivoire’s west is seen as having borne the brunt of the country’s years of crisis since the 1999 toppling of President Henri Konan Bédié.

Ivoirian political analyst Lamine Kourouma says the authorities now give attention to the western region only when there are armed raids, which have been most frequent in the west than any other region in the country since the tumultuous election.

“Today problems about land, community rehabilitation, improving infrastructure, development and reintegration of former fighters are a low priority,” Kourouma.

More returnees

Still, many Ivoirians in refuge want to return home. The UNHCR plans to repatriate 16,000 refugees from neighbouring Liberia this year. In March, the agency and the Liberian government closed down the third camp in southeastern Liberia as more Ivoirians returned home.

UNHCR’s Ruso said they will rehabilitate 380 houses in western Côte d’Ivoire to ease refugee resettlement.

“Those who are returning have no houses to go to. Some have benefited from community projects by aid groups, but considering the losses during all these years of crisis, this assistance is very little,” said Albert Gbahou, head of Yrozon village in the country’s west.

“Everyone is looking at the government for solutions to the problems. The refugees, the displaced who were dispossessed of their land need to get it back in order to settle. Since the returns begun, we have been working with families to help out those returning, but this is quite insufficient,” Gbahou added.

Land dispossession has deprived families of livelihoods in the agriculturally rich western Côte d’Ivoire, Human Rights Watch found in an October 2013 study.

“The current pre-election atmosphere does not favour peaceful return of refugees. As long as the problems they are facing are not resolved, there’s always a risk of a crisis,” said Ivoirian lawyer and political analyst Julien Kouao.

“We know that since 2000 we have been repeating our political mistakes and our misfortunes too. This is what confirms the fears of renewed crisis.”

Source: IRIN ^[632]

May 14, 2014

The world is experiencing a record number of people displaced within their own countries by armed conflict. In Syria alone, one family is displaced every 60 minutes, according to a UN report.

A report released Wednesday at the United Nations in Geneva has found that 33.3 million people were displaced within their own countries at the end of 2013 – 4.5 million more than in 2012. The report was compiled by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), a part of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

“This record number of people forced to flee inside their own countries confirms a disturbing upward trend of internal displacement since IDMC first began monitoring and analyzing displacement back in the late 1990s,” said Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. “The dramatic increase in forced displacement in 2013 and the fact that the average amount of time people worldwide are living in displacement is now a staggering 17 years, all suggest that something is going terribly wrong in how we are responding and dealing with this issue,” he added.

^[633]

In cooperation with the UNHCR refugee agency, the IDMC also reported Wednesday that 8.2 million people had fled their homes in 2013, including about 3.5 million in Syria alone, to bring the total of internally displaced people there to 6.5 million. The other two-thirds of the cumulative 33.3 million displaced by war worldwide had fled in previous years and have not yet been able to return to their homes.

The figures show that 63 percent of those internally displaced worldwide find themselves torn from their homes in just five countries: Syria, Colombia, Nigeria, Congo and Sudan. Displacement in the Central African Republic ^[634] is also on the rise.

Source: Deutsche Welle ^[635]