Tribunal on Evictions: Affected Communities Accuse Governments and UN-Habitat

September 05, 2012

Following the Salzano-Roussopulos dialogue on the right to the city and common goods, the workshop on zero evictions, and the international meeting of those negatively affected by real estate markets, the first day of the Urban Social Forum (which brings together social movements and organizations from various countries) came to a close with the Tribunal on evictions and land grabbing, held opposite the exhibition grounds where UN-Habitat’s World Urban Forum (WUF 6) is being held in Naples, Italy.

Photos from the HIC website.

The USF Tribunal demanded governments and UN-Habitat to “Stop evictions all over the world” and stop ignoring this highly dramatic issue which has aggravated by the crisis not only in Europe but all over the world. Facing the doors of the WUF6, participants held up banners which documented 18 case studies of an unprecedented global crisis that has affected between 60 and 70 million people around the world.

Country case studies included Angola,  Azerbaijan,  Brazil,  Burkina Faso,  Cambodia,  Egypt,  Germany,  Honduras,  Italy,  Japan,  Mexico,  Mozambique,  Peru,  Spain,  Portugal,  Turkey and highlighted the tremendous impact provoked by mega-projects,mega-events, land grabbing, monocultures, and unsustainable rent and mortgages. UN-Habitat did not include these uncomfortable issues from their official agenda.

However, Raquel Rolnik, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing (who has an independent mandate, much more closely aligned to the reality of the people than to UN-Habitat), emphasized that evictions are serious violations of the right to housing and the legal obligations of states that have signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The right to housing presents a strong case on the incompatibility of the crisis and neoliberal recipes for human rights.

Speeches were made by representatives of several of the case studies, and included a strong accusation of Italian institutions for the 250,000 families that are facing a threat of eviction, the majority for default on payments as well as due to the demolition of “le Vele di Scampia”, a housing complex built in Naples during the 1970s and considered a ghetto beyond repair by the complex’s own inhabitants.

The Tribunal concluded with a call to mobilize around rights related to habitat for World Habitat Day in October.

The video of the Tribunal is available below:

Source: Habitat International Coalition