Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

Enhancing tenure security and ending forced evictions
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closely related to one another and, to a certain degree,
overlap. In general terms:
• Housing rights are the rights of ‘everyone’ to have
access to a safe, secure, affordable and habitable home.
• Land rights cover those rights related directly to the
land itself as distinct from purely the structure built on
the land in question.
• Property rights concern the exclusive user and ownership
rights over a particular dwelling or land parcel.
Each of these terms is important; but none of them captures
in their entirety the full spectrum of rights associated with
the right to a place to live in peace and dignity, including the
right to security of tenure. For the purposes of the security
of tenure process, therefore – and because historical, political,
cultural and other distinctions between countries with
respect to what have also more broadly been called ‘residential’
rights are so extensive – HLP rights seems a more
comprehensive term for describing the numerous residential
dimensions of these questions from the perspective of
human rights law. What people in one country label as ‘land
rights’ may be precisely the same thing as what citizens of
another country call ‘housing rights’. ‘Property rights’ in one
area may greatly assist in protecting the rights of tenants,
while in another place property rights are used to justify
mass forced evictions. Many more examples could be given;
but the important point here is simply that the composite
term HLP rights probably captures the notion of ‘home’ or
‘place of habitual residence’ better than other possible
terms.
A term such as HLP rights may confuse some and
frustrate others; but it is difficult to imagine how an integral
approach to security of tenure can emerge within human
rights law unless the impasse between housing rights,
property rights and land rights is broken and allowed to
properly evolve. This new terminology embraces all of the
different approaches to this question, not necessarily favouring
one or the other, but incorporating the best, most
pro-human rights elements of each into a new vision of
human rights as they relate to the places and conditions in
which people live. The new terminology may assist greatly in
finding new ways to integrate rights with security of tenure.
In addition and, more specifically, linked to the
question of eviction, it may also be time to consider looking
for new ways to define people’s rights not to be evicted in a
more positive and affirmative manner. Since all human rights
are to be treated equally, in an interdependent and indivisible
manner (see Box 11.5), it may be useful to expand
discussions on what could be called a right to security of
place. This right exemplifies the convergence of civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights and places three
forms of security into an indispensable human rights framework:
• It encapsulates the notion of physical security, protection
of physical integrity and safety from harm, and
guarantees that basic rights will be respected.
• It incorporates all dimensions of human security – or
the economic and social side of the security equation.
• It recognizes the importance of tenure rights (for
tenants, owners and those too poor to afford to rent or
buy a home) and the crucial right to be protected
against any arbitrary or forced eviction from one’s
home.
This manifestation of security intrinsically links to housing
rights concerns during times of peace and to housing rights
issues arising in the midst of armed conflict and humanitarian
disasters. It recognizes that everyone has an enforceable
and defendable right to physical security and rights to
housing, property and land, including rights to security of
tenure. As with ‘HLP rights’, a right to security of place
makes no presumption that one form of tenure is to be
necessarily preferred over another, but the ‘right to security
of place’ would go beyond security of tenure alone. The
stability of the home would form the starting point from
which supplementary rights emerge. Such a right to security
of place would strengthen the rights of all dwellers within
the informal sector by providing a conceptual means to plug
the gap in the attention and institutional protection given to
those forced from their homes due to forced evictions and
development-induced displacement.
An integral, comprehensive approach based on the
notion of HLP rights holds the best promise for marshalling
resources and assets towards improving the lives of lowerincome
groups. Treating HLP rights simultaneously as human
rights concerns and development concerns is both practical
and has universal applicability. In fact, this approach can
provide one of the clearest examples of how a rights-based
approach to development actually looks in practice and how
security of tenure can be treated increasingly as a core
human rights issue. A human rights–human security
approach to secure tenure has the potential to significantly
improve the prospects of security of tenure being an attribute
of everyone’s life. The essential issue, however, is that
the approach has to be applied seriously and wisely by
governments – both local and national – and must be
supported solidly by the international community and civil
society. To achieve this will be no small feat, as few rights, if
any, are as widely denied as the right to security of tenure.
This view, though perhaps seemingly distant from a
human rights perspective on the issue, in fact reflects the
key point. At the end of the day, what matters most is not
necessarily the formality associated with the tenure levels
enjoyed by dwellers, but the perception of security, both de
facto and de jure, that comes with that tenure. By treating
security of tenure as part of the broader human rights
equation, we automatically incorporate dimensions of
security, rights, remedies and justice to the analysis.
Box 11.5 The indivisibility of human rights
Treating HLP rights
simultaneously as
human rights
concerns and development
concerns is
both practical and
has universally
applicability
By treating security
of tenure as part of
the broader human
rights equation, we
automatically
incorporate dimensions
of security,
rights, remedies and
justice
All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated … it is the duty
of States, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect
all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Source: Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, para 5