UNITED
NATIONS
E
Economic and Social
Council
Distr.
GENERAL
E/C.12/1997/4
20 May 1997
Original:
ENGLISH
COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL
AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
Sixteenth session
28 April-16 May 1997
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT
ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
General Comment No. 7 (1997)
The right to adequate housing (art. 11.1 of the Covenant):
forced evictions
1.
In its General Comment No. 4 (1991), the Committee observed that all
persons should possess a degree of security of tenure which guarantees legal
protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats. It
concluded that forced evictions are prima facie incompatible with the
requirements of the Covenant. Having considered a significant number of
reports of forced evictions in recent years, including instances in which it
has determined that the obligations of States Parties were being violated, the
Committee is now in a position to seek to provide further clarification as to
the implications of such practices in terms of the obligations contained in
the Covenant.
2.
The international community has long recognized that the issue of forced
evictions is a serious one. In 1976, the United Nations Conference on Human
Settlements noted that special attention should be paid to “undertaking major
clearance operations should take place only when conservation and
rehabilitation are not feasible and relocation measures are made”. 1 In 1988,
in the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000, adopted by the General
Assembly in its resolution 43/181, the “fundamental obligation [of
Governments] to protect and improve houses and neighbourhoods, rather than
GE.97-16712
(E)