June 1 , 2001

Right to Adequate Housing in Occupied Territories in the World!

A joint statement of representatives of Tibet, Palestine & Kurdistan in conjunction with Habitat International Coalition (HIC). 

During the plenary session “The Right to Adequate Housing: A major
commitment of the Habitat Agenda”. Organized by UNCHS (Habitat), OCHCHR and the Global Parliamentarians on Habitat (GPH). Conference room 4 on the 6th June 2001 the following statement was made. 

Realization of the right to adequate housing is critical to the realization of UN’s
Conventions on Human Rights and particularly the Covenant on Economic,
Social & cultural Rights (CESCR). The report of the UN Special Rapporteur and the chairperson of the CESCR supported the statement and reminded the session on the shortcomings in the current draft. 

If the Habitat Agenda’s core principle is to provide adequate shelter to all and
institute sustainable human settlement development in an rapidly urbanizing world as it is mentioned right in the beginning of the preamble of the agenda, we the people under the occupied territories feel completely excluded from the draft agenda.

It is a grief injustice to the indigenous population living in those territories. The
forceful eviction/expulsion, demolition of traditional housing spheres, population transfer and land confiscation takes place at a national and regional level. 

The governments of the Peoples Republic of China and Israel and Turkey who
freely ratified all UN conventions and declarations are directly responsible for this dismal situation. 


PLANNING COUNCIL, Central Tibetan Administration, Gangchen Kyishong,
Dharansaka, (H.P.) India.

AL-HAQ, Law in the Service of Man, Rammallah, Palestine

KURDISH MOVEMENT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 

LAND & HOUSING RESEARCH CENTER, Jerusalem