COHRE Mission Report Housing Rights East Timor 2000

Housing rights in

M I S S I O N

R E P O R T

E a s t T i m o r

Better Late Than Never

C O H R E

Better Late Than Never Housing rights in

E a s t T i m o r ‘We are slowly re-building our lives’ In September last year after the militia began to burn houses we fled the city with whatever we could carry. We first went to the hills, from there we could see the city burning. It was terrifying and I was so scared for my children. I don’t know how, but we managed to get to Kupang. All I can say is thank God we are all alive. I have seven children and the youngest is less than two years old. We came back in October because it was very difficult in Kupang, and when we heard that the UN army was here. We found our house absolutely empty. There was nothing in it. Everything was taken or destroyed. Fortunately for us only a small part of our house was burnt. The UN gave us rice and food. We started to slowly rebuild the damaged part of the house. My husband worked in the government office. He is now jobless. One son is studying in the university and my daughters are studying. We had some money with us and my husband bought some goods from across the border and we started selling it in the market.

First I was worried that we would not sell anything because everyone has become poor like us. But I am happy we invested this money, because we have slowly increased the volume of goods and the number of items we sell. When we began, we hardly had any food to eat. The UN helped us and with the money we saved on food we could purchase mats and pillows to sleep on.

Today we have a few things in the house and slowly we are rebuilding the part that is damaged. My children now go to school. Slowly we are rebuilding our lives, at least now in our own free country.

Maria de Santos Pereira CO H R E M i s s i o n Re p o r t , S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 0

Š Copyright 2000 Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) Better Late than Never, Housing Rights in East Timor Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Geneva, Switzerland All rights reserved The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions is a not-for-profit organization registered in the Netherlands.

Copies are available from: COHRE 83 Rue de Montbrillant 1202 Geneva Switzerland tel: + 41.22.7341028, 7341052, 7341057 fax: + 41.22.7341028 email: sleckie@attglobal.net, cohre@yahoo.com www.cohre.org ISBN 92-95004-08-6

Graphic design: Ontwerpburo Suggestie & illusie, www.illusie.nl Print: Primavera, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Photos: Scott Leckie and Ken Fernandes

Contents

Executive Summary

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1

I n t ro d u c t i o n

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2

H o u s i n g a n d L i v i n g Co n d i t i o n s i n E a s t T i m o r To d a y

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3

U N TA E T ’ s R e s p o n s e t o t h e H o u s i n g Cr i s i s

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4

A p p a re n t C N RT P o l i c y

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5

T h e P o p u l a r R e s p o n s e t o t h e H o u s i n g Cr i s i s

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6

R e co m m e n d a t i o n s

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7

Co n c l u s i o n s

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8

Annexes

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CO H R E P u b l i ca t i o n s

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Housing rights in East Timor

An all too common site in East Timor today

Executive Summary East Timor faces an unprecedented housing crisis that has not yet been adequately addressed by either the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET) or by the emerging domestic political institutions in East Timor. Although the United Nations estimates that 85,000 houses (over 70 percent of the national housing stock) were destroyed by armed militias backed by the Indonesian military in September 1999, over one year later UNTAET has yet to formally incorporate housing rights competencies into its overall administrative structures. To date housing has been treated only as an ‘unbudgeted priority’. No housing policy has been adopted and no officials have been appointed with responsibilities for implementing the housing rights of the population of East Timor.

Several thousand shelter kits have been distributed to a portion of those in need and certain branches of UNTAET have made considerable advances in the allocation of public land, re-creating the property registration system and in creating mechanisms for the equitable resolution of land and property disputes. In spite of these important efforts, however, the housing rights of the people of East Timor have not received the attention they deserve. Unless they do, the vital work of the proposed Land and Property Commission will be severely undermined, and housing rights in East Timor will remain denied.

This report urges both UNTAET and the emerging political structures of the nascent Government of an independent East Timor, including the CNRT (National Council for Timorese Resistance) and the National Council (formerly the National Consultative Council), to begin treating housing as an issue of human rights, rather than how it has been treated to date - purely as a humanitarian emergency issue of temporary shelter or, when it comes to housing, an unattainable, unaffordable, lofty long-term dream too daunting to tackle head-on.

Housing rights in East Timor

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While the scale of housing destruction in East Timor is exceptional, the issues raised in this study are of wider implication and concern all territories where the United Nations is entrusted with transitional administrative responsibilities. Unless current approaches to housing by those governing East Timor change soon, the same mistakes committed in Cambodia, Kosovo and elsewhere will be repeated and longer-term instability will ensue. This report argues that the protection and promotion of housing rights should always form a central function of any United Nations governing institutions in the future. In this respect, the role of the UN’s housing agency – the UN Centre on Human Settlements (Habitat) – in UN governance operations such as UNTAC (Cambodia), UNMIK (Kosovo) or UNTAET must be considerably larger than at present. In the future Habitat should regularly play a central role within the mandate of UN administered territories.

The housing crisis in East Timor needs to be addressed in an immediate and comprehensive manner, fully consistent with the housing rights standards enshrined under international human rights law. At the moment UNTAET is the effective government of East Timor and were it to fail to take housing rights seriously, it will be judged critically by history and by the people of independent East Timor.

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Housing rights in East Timor

1

Downtown Dili, July 2000

Introduction

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On the verge of becoming the world’s newest country, East Timor is a small territory of 19,000 km2 located between northern Australia and Indonesia and currently home to a population of 850,000. Throughout its turbulent history, East Timor has endured excruciatingly high levels of politically-motivated killing, devastation and displacement.

Portugal colonized the eastern half of the island of Timor from the mid-16th century until 1975. In November 1975, after a long struggle, the Revolutionary Front for the Independence of East Timor Party (Fretlin) declared independence. This was short lived and Indonesia - its giant neighbour invaded the territory by air and sea. In 1976, Timor was incorporated as Indonesia’s 27th province, however, with the exception of Indonesia and Australia, no Member State of the United Nations ever recognized the illegal Indonesian occupation.

As is well known, Indonesia ruled East Timor ruthlessly, crushing any form of dissent2. To promote integration and manipulate the demographic makeup of East Timor, Indonesia embarked on a transmigration program, transferring thousands of Indonesian settlers from other islands to occupied East Timor. In their struggle against Indonesian occupation, over one hundred thousand East 1 In the preparation of this report COHRE met with a number of people from various organizations and communities in East Timor throughout May 2000 and from 12-20 July 2000. These included Pat Walsh, coordinator Human Rights office of Australian Council for Overseas Aid and consultant to UNDP, Dili and Sally Gregory, UN NGO Information Centre; both gave a number of names of people to contact. Zhao Yongge, Planning and Development Unit, Dili; Jean du Plessis, Michael Brown, Land Property Unit, UNTAET; Stephano Tsukamoto and Marlon Butler, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADHRA); Lucielo Ramirez, Caritas Australia; Brian Walker and Dennis, International Rescue Committee; Fr. Peter Hosking, Jesuit Relief Services; Vanessa Hearman, Asia Pacific Coalition for East Timor; Marsio Lay, East Timor Adventure Club (a Youth and Environment group), Arsenio Bano, NGO Forum; Joe Nevins, Lao Hamutuk; Caetano De Sousa Guterres, Halibur Oan Timor Fo Liman b Malu (HOTFLIMA); Laka Bernadino; Emelia Pires, CNRT; and Eddie. Focus group discussion with a women’s group called the Widows of 4th September; with the community in Santana; in Culhuon, Bairo Pite, twenty families along the waterfront across the UNTAET office, on either side of the Olympia Barge and families along the waterfront towards Christo Rai; The Peter Braga Block Makers Cooperative; the women from HADADI (traditional handicrafts centre) and men from Kaidautura group (Block Makers). We spoke to a group in Liquica. We also spoke to families in the surrounding rural areas. Br. Andre Belo and Laka Bernandino assisted in translations. This report was prepared by Ken Fernandes and Scott Leckie.

2 See, for instance, Matthew Jardine (1999) East Timor: Genocide in Paradise.

Housing rights in East Timor

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Timorese were killed.3 Others escaped to the mountains for safety, and an organized resistance movement (Falintil) was formed to rid East Timor of the Indonesian occupation. In the wake of continual international pressure, a debilitated economy and the ouster of the corrupt Suharto regime (which ruled Indonesia for three decades), Indonesia agreed to a UN organized referendum to determine the future political status of East Timor. On 30 August 1999, 98.6 percent of registered voters, under UN supervision, exercised their democratic right; 78.5 percent chose independence.

On 4 September, however, soon after the United Nations Assistance Mission to East Timor (UNAMET) announced the referendum results, pro-Indonesian armed militiamen went on a coordinated, well-planned pathological loot and burn rampage throughout the country. Most residents fled for their lives, many seeking refuge in the mountains or West Timor. In Dili, militias would typically steal what they could, then throw petrol and grenades into the looted homes, destroying the home and everything in it. In rural areas the militias simply torched the easily inflammable houses, in the process razing whole villages to the ground. Families hiding in the mountains often watched helplessly as their homes and life savings went up in smoke.

In response to this terror, the United Nations agreed to send in a peacekeeping force to avert another genocide against the people of East Timor. In the third week of September 1999, the International Force in East Timor (INTERFET), a UN-sponsored peacekeeping force led by Australian troops arrived in Dili and began restoring law and order. Once INTERFET was able to stabilise the situation, the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET) was entrusted with the gargantuan task of governing the decimated territory prior to the establishment of democratic institutions and the holding of free elections. While UNTAET faces a series of extremely difficult and certainly unenviable challenges in carrying out the mandate given to it by the UN Security Council in resolution 1272, it has registered many valuable successes in the year since its inception, for which it must be given due credit.4 This short paper is based on on-site visits to East Timor by COHRE. While acknowledging the many advances made by UNTAET, this report examines one area that thus far has been overly neglected: Housing rights. In the context of the current housing crisis in East Timor, this report explores responses to housing rights in East Timor over the past year. It does not look solely at ‘shelter programmes’ or the mechanisms currently under creation for the resolution of land and property disputes. Rather, this study outlines suggestions as to how the widely recognized human right to adequate housing could be taken more seriously by all political forces in the country. All governments maintain some form of official involvement in the housing sphere, and the current and future government of East Timor should be no exception. In fact, given the extraordinary scale of housing destruction, homelessness and the overall non-enjoyment of housing rights, the continued lack of emphasis placed on securing housing rights for the people of East Timor would seem difficult to justify.

3 Most estimate that over 200,000 East Timorese died as a result of the occupation.

4 See the UNTAET website at: www.un.org/peace/etimor/etimor.htm

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Housing rights in East Timor

Former Indonesian Military Barracks: Doors, windows and roofs taken back to Indonesia by the fleeing Indonesian Troops (Dili, June 2000)

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Housing and Living Conditions in East T i m o r To day Dili, the capital city of East Timor, is located on the northern coast of the country. Prior to the September 1999 rampage by the pro-Indonesian militia, Dili’s population was approximately 120,000.

Currently, anywhere between 150,000-200,000 people reside in what is by far East Timor’s largest urban area.5 Though reliable figures are difficult to discern, an estimated 130,000 refugees remain in West Timor. The eventual number of possible returnees is not known, but it is expected that many will return to Dili or elsewhere in the country once the militia groups, which have terrorized the camps in West Timor over the last year and killed international aid workers and others, are finally brought under control and held responsible for their crimes, both in East and in West Timor.

East Timor’s overall housing conditions are nothing short of deplorable. In Dili, Baucau, Alieu and other urban areas and towns which suffered damage, where concrete was used as a primary building material, all that remains standing in most houses are the four charred walls; the roof, doors, windows and contents have all been destroyed or looted. In Dili, approximately 70 per cent of the buildings, both public and private, were destroyed and made uninhabitable. The scale of the damage is difficult to imagine. Even compared to other post-conflict situations, the housing stock of East Timor has been utterly decimated. Although many have flocked to Dili in search of work and economic opportunities, much of the town itself still resembles a wasteland even a full year after the destruction.

5 Estimates given by the Dili Planning Department and local and international NGOs.

Housing rights in East Timor

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Mary’s Story We have lived here for many years. We rent this house from our neighbour for 70,000 Rupiah (approx. US$9) a month. Before we paid between 25,000 to 30,000 Rupiah per month for electricity, now we don’t. Water we get from the hand pump, nearby. Each house here has a pit latrine. Before we would get it emptied and pay for it. Now we don’t have money so when it gets full we just have to dig a new one. Our house is small with just two rooms. None of the houses were damaged, probably because they are poor people’s houses. My husband repairs radios and TVs. We have two children. We had no assistance from any organizations. We earned some money from the UN who paid us US$3 a day for two weeks for sweeping the streets. I saved this money and began selling vegetables in front of our house on the mat. In this way we can eat a little food. Sometimes my husband has something to repair and we have extra money. The common diseases in this area are malaria, stomach illness and fever. We usually go to our local doctor here who doesn’t charge too much. We have some land in Tibar, but we cannot earn a living there and to commute every day is so expensive so it’s easier for us to live here in Dili.

Mary from Bairo Pité

In some neighbourhoods, street after street are comprised of nothing more than destroyed, burned out shells of buildings which were once home to thousands of Dili residents. Despite the destruction, however, where possible people have returned to their own houses even when heavily damaged. Others have occupied houses previously inhabited by Indonesian settlers or soldiers who have fled.

The occupation of abandoned homes is widespread throughout East Timor, and especially so in Dili given the scale of housing destruction there. The takeover of homes can create serious tensions, and if not handled properly by the authorities can result in unpleasant episodes when the original owner or tenant returns home to find their homes occupied by others with nowhere else to go. While it is accepted that original owners or tenants (insofar as they are officially recognised as such) must have a right to the eventual restitution of their homes, the occupation of their homes now is essentially humanitarian in nature, and a side-effect of a much larger problem that needs desperately to be addressed. Although there has been some abuse (some reports assert that a single family may be occupying up to five (or more) houses in the hope of eventually ‘selling’ or ‘renting’ the premises to persons and families in need), there is little malicious about most of the housing occupations that have taken place over the past year. People are simply creating their own housing solutions in an environment of severe housing shortages. Above all, it provides graphic evidence of a massive shortage of affordable, adequate and accessible housing. As in all other parts of the world, when affordable and adequate housing is not available people solve their own housing needs by whichever method they can. In East Timor this is done through one of the only means of self-help - occupying abandoned homes.

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Housing rights in East Timor

“We will stay despite the eviction notice” I am from Viqueque. I came with my family to Dili six months ago, looking for a job, to earn a living. There is nothing to do in Viqueque. We brought our meager furniture and wooden posts. We got plastic sheets from an INGO. I have set up this stall here on the beachfront because this is a good location. The Olympia Hotel is here. There are many foreigners passing by. I sell food (satay), cigarettes, local drinks, beer, coke and other drinks. We invested about 2 million Rupiahs to set this up. When we first started there were few things we had to sell. Slowly we saved and added more goods. The foreigners usually buy cigarettes, beer and coke. The locals buy food, local drinks and cigarettes. We are able to earn 70,000 to 80,000 Rupiahs (US$ 8 -10) a day. We are eight of us in the family and we sleep here too, as we have nowhere else to go. We get water from the building across the street. We have an electricity connection and this is free. We did not occupy an empty building because we were told by FALINTIL (the East Timorese resistance group) that we should not, as it does not belong to us. In the last week of June the CIVPOL (UN Civilian Police) issued us an eviction notice and a form for us to fill about where we want to go.

They have to provide an appropriate alternative where we can also earn a decent living. If not, we will stay despite the eviction notice, we will not move from here. This is a good place to earn a living. The Olympia Hotel is here, the UN office is in front, so we get a lot of business. If they send us to back Viqueque we will go, but only if we can earn a decent living there. If not we will return, we have to survive.

Agasio Soares

The massive shortage of adequate housing in East Timor is not only resulting in an overall national housing crisis, but it is also a serious threat to peace and stability. Many allegations have been made by returning families that large (and unaffordable) payment demands are commonly made by those currently occupying housing belonging to the returning owners for ‘caring for the house’ or for ‘improvements made’. Some are taking an advance rent for two years from foreigners, who in turn are expected to repair and renovate the house, and use it as offices or residences. If the returning family either does not or cannot pay, the secondary occupants often refuse to leave.

Finding a fair and sustainable way of dealing with these issues before they become serious is a major challenge facing UNTAET. Under the proposed Land and Property Commission claimants can invoke legal procedures to secure the restitution of their homes and official recognition of residency rights. However, enforcing restitution decisions will be very difficult unless UNTAET embraces its housing rights duties and includes official competencies in the area of housing, and acts as the guarantor of housing rights in the country. Many current occupants told COHRE that they will be willing to move from homes claimed by the original occupants if they can maintain their dignity and are guaranteed by UNTAET some form of re-housing, resettlement to alternative land or the provision of compensation.

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There are many policy options open to UNTAET for dealing effectively with the occupation of homes by squatters. To cite but one of many alternatives, when houses occupied by new occupants or where the housing in question was formerly utilised as military housing goes unclaimed, the dwelling could reasonably be treated by UNTAET as public property, with the occupants allowed to remain and eventually conferred tenure or ownership rights.

No Money, No Housing In Dili and throughout East Timor, unemployment is widespread. In urban centres, most street corners are occupied by groups of men desperate for work. Those that are fortunate enough to be employed are either vending, driving taxis, working with NGOs or the UN. In the urban centres the UN has coordinated an employment generation programme to keep the streets clean. Groups in each Suco (neighbourhood) are organized to clean the area for two weeks and paid US$3 per day. After two weeks a new group is appointed. This is rotated until everyone in the district has had a turn. Some have saved this amount to start small stores in their house, where they sell daily goods, like oil, sugar, cigarettes, bananas and rice, all neatly packed in small affordable packages for daily use. There are two markets on the eastern and western side of Dili: Comoro and Becora. Goods from the surrounding areas usually pass through the two markets and these are then supplied to the Central Market. Many of the families trading in the central market have come from other regions, are homeless and sleep in the stall or space they use for vending.

In rural areas the housing issues are somewhat different from those plaguing Dili and other small towns. Throughout the countryside of East Timor, where the majority of the population live without basic services and largely within a subsistence economy, houses are generally made from traditional building materials – bamboo, wood, and thatch. Such materials remain abundant and people generally repair their houses every few years, as they see fit. Traditional slash and burn farming, logging and use of trees for shelter and fuel have slowly depleted primary forests, however, and reforestation projects are clearly required in the country. Given the nature of the building materials used in rural areas, the militias had little trouble torching the easily inflammable houses of many tens of thousands of people. The first form of international assistance came in the form of plastic sheets and food. These measures were then followed by steps by UNHCR and others to provide emergency shelter kits to those who lost their homes during the militia rampage. Due to supply and accessibility problems, however, many people are still waiting for shelter kits . As a result, in some areas people have already rebuilt their houses using thatch and bamboo.

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Housing rights in East Timor

More destroyed homes on the road to Baccau (May 2000)

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UNTAET’s Response to the Housing Crisis While emergency shelter and resolving land and housing disputes are key components of UNTAET’s work, the very distinct and additional issues of housing and housing rights are simply not priorities within the current UNTAET administration.6 Despite the fact that the destruction of private residences, public buildings and essential utilities was clearly recognized in the UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for the East Timor Crisis, issued immediately following the destruction in October 1999, housing has remained remarkably under-emphasised.7 At present, the administrative structures of UNTAET lack a housing component or even any mention of the term ‘housing’ within the agencies’ organizational structures. UNTAET now officially considers housing as an ‘unbudgeted priority’. Agencies accountable to UNTAET, including the Land and Property Unit and UNHCR, of course, maintain a range of activities concerning ‘shelter’ (as distinct from housing), land and property. Their mandates and activities, however, cover only a portion of the much wider issue of housing policy, housing reconstruction and rehabilitation and, ultimately, housing rights.

Consequently, at present the institution as a whole lacks official competence and willingness to issue a housing policy, allocate sufficient funds to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of housing and to act as the guarantor of housing rights in East Timor. The absence of an official housing policy component within the UNTAET Administration poses a serious threat to the successful implementation of the emerging housing, land and property dispute resolution mechanism currently under preparation by UNTAET’s Land and Property Unit and raises larger issues of the basic 6 There are an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 expatriates working with the UN, International NGOs and various commercial enterprises in East Timor today. These include approximately 9,000 uniformed Peacekeeping Force members.

7 Within the Consolidated Appeal, the required budget for ‘Return and Reintegration (including shelter)’ was put at over US$ 73 million.

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model used by the UN to design the structures of their transitional administrations. While the Land and Property Unit and UNHCR have and will go some way in addressing some of the key housing and land challenges facing East Timor, a third form of official intervention is needed to ensure the full protection of the housing rights of the people of East Timor. Cambodia has some important lessons to offer in this regard. The lack of attention given by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) to land and housing issues, for instance, is widely viewed as a key reason why these constitute some of the most difficult and contentious political and social issues facing the country today, a full ten years after the transitional period.8 In addition to physical housing problems throughout East Timor, there are troubling signs that some of the unresolved land conflicts of the past are re-emerging. Care must be taken to ensure that solving these disputes does not create new, perhaps even more difficult, problems in the housing domain. As these disputes are (hopefully) resolved, and rightful owners are given their property back, those currently residing there will need to be rehoused. In order to ensure that these situations do not result in instability, persons and families facing displacement must be provided with an adequate alternative place to reside. A housing policy involving the provision of land, credit facilities and possibly technical guidance will be required to augment a land dispute mechanism. In rural areas the policy may require agricultural and livestock support as part of the alternative package for both parties.

The UNHCR Shelter Programme As is common in many large-scale UN operations, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is responsible for providing emergency shelter kits to returning refugees and displaced persons as an element of their work in support of voluntary repatriation.9 Some, including employees of other UN agencies, have blamed UNHCR for the growth in Dili’s population because UNHCR actually bothered to ask returning refugees and IDPs where they would like to go.

Such perspectives, however, are both naïve and fail to understand the experiences of other postconflict nations. Given the almost total absence of economic opportunities, basic social and other services and even food in rural areas, bringing people to Dili instead of their home villages, if people request this, does not appear unreasonable. For that matter, they would have come to Dili whether or not UNHCR provided the initial transport.

The shelter kits used in East Timor consist of 10 bags of cement, assorted sizes of timber, 40 tin roofing sheets, ridge strips, steel bands, nails and tools. Using aerial surveys, UNHCR initially estimated that some 35,000 houses had been destroyed and made provisions to distribute emergency shelter kits based on this estimate. As subsequent information became available, however, UNHCR revised its earlier estimates of destroyed homes to, more than twice the original estimate, some 85,000.

8 See, for instance, the paper “Where Has All the Land Gone? Land Rights and Access in Cambodia” and the various NGO Forum in Cambodia sectoral papers on Land, available at: http://www.bigpond.com.kh/users/ngoforum/.

9 UNHCR policy in this regard is addressed in their document ‘East Timor Technical Assistance for Housing Assessment: Terms of Reference’ (28 February 2000). “The objective of the shelter program was to support the reintegration of the displaced population of East Timor, through the provision of appropriate shelter assistance in the form of construction materials and technical guidance towards the reconstruction of their houses in their places of origin. Housing construction work was to be based on the principle of self-construction, with the beneficiaries providing their labor for construction”.

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Housing rights in East Timor

Shelter kits are not constructed by UNHCR, but are distributed to designated regions in East Timor by international NGOs (INGOs), such as the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children Fund, Timor Aid and others. Other INGOs such as CARE, Caritas Australia and World Vision maintain their own separate shelter programmes as well. Each INGO has its own way and mechanisms of distributing the kits. Some consult local leaders and determine who require the kits. Some conduct surveys with local NGOs and then distribute the kits at the village level. UNHCR kits cost between US$350-400 each, which does not include the often substantial transportation costs to actually get the materials to East Timor – given that they are produced elsewhere. Transport costs can be as high as 15-20 percent of the total shelter budget. Somewhat paradoxically given the destruction of the housing stock by the Indonesian-backed militias, the kits used in East Timor are mainly imported from no place other than Indonesia itself.

Between January-July 2000, UNHCR along with the INGOs distributed about 17,000 shelter kits, of which just under two-thirds have been constructed.10 Between August and December 2000 they hope to distribute a further 17,000 shelter kits. Given the scale of housing destruction, therefore, there is a considerable shortfall of shelter kits; a shortfall which it seems has not been adequately budgeted for. The slow arrival of the emergency shelter kits and the accessibility problems related to many villages have posed considerable problems. According to some, the initial consignment was allegedly produced with inferior materials, and several communities rejected these kits, which proved embarrassing to the INGOs and even the local CNRT leadership. In urban centres, many observers and dwellers found the emergency shelter kits inadequate, given that most structures are concrete.

The Land and Property Unit In addition to UNHCR, UNTAET’s Land and Property Unit (LPU) carries out a variety of crucial activities including the allocation and administration of public and abandoned properties, the reestablishment of a land cadastre system and work towards the establishment of mechanisms to resolve simmering land and property disputes by setting up a land and property commission comprised of bodies addressing land claims, mediation and a tribunal for the judicial resolution of disputes. There are a range of difficult legal and other issues with which the LPU has had to grapple that have also made their work extremely challenging. Assisted by what is by far the largest proportion of East Timorese staff of any UNTAET programme, the LPU has drafted an Interim Policy for Land in East Timor (Foreign Investor Guide), an Interim Policy for Land and Housing in East Timor, Guidelines for the Administration of Public and Abandoned Property by District Administrations and a range of other helpful documents.

In accordance with the powers granted under section 7 of Regulation 1999/111, the LPU has temporarily allocated several hundred abandoned public properties over the past year to companies,

10 UNTAET Humanitarian Pillar Situation Report 17-24 August 2000.

11 UNTAET Regulation 1999/1, section 7 provides: 7.1 UNTAET shall administer immovable or movable property, including monies, bank accounts, and other property of, or registered in the name of the Republic of Indonesia, or any of its subsidiary organs and agencies, which is in the territory of East Timor. 7.2 UNTAET shall also administer any property, both as specified in section 7.1 of the present regulation and privately owned that was abandoned after 30 August 1999, the date of the popular consultation, until such time as the lawful owners are determined.

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INGOs and governments. According to LPU policies, the priority beneficiaries of UNTAET allocation decisions include: humanitarian relief agencies, UNTAET administration, Timorese civil service, Timorese NGOs and community organizations, internally displaced persons, refugees and commercial enterprises. While most of these allocations have gone smoothly, some (including those agreed to by CNRT officials) have been criticized as far more beneficial to foreign interests or largescale landowners than the population at large.12 This is particularly true of the prime beachfront land allocated to the Government of Australia; land which had to be cleared of farmers before the allocation could be made.

The LPU now administers various public and abandoned buildings, most of which are under temporary use agreements for periods varying from several months to several years. Given the lack of legal clarity as to ownership and related rights, and the fact that people are returning to buildings they fled from during the violence of September 1999 and which may have been allocated by UNTAET, many ‘public’ and ‘abandoned’ buildings are currently facing informal claims by those who believe their rights are being interfered with by the allocations.

Under the able leadership of Australian lawyer Ian Gray, the LPU has long recognized its own institutional limitations in the broader housing area and for this reason sponsored the preparation of a ‘Proposal to Develop a Housing and Human Settlements Institution in East Timor (May 2000)’ which would provide a good framework for developing wider UNTAET housing policy. However, as of September 2000, despite the LPU’s continued requests to the UNTAET administrators to develop a housing policy, no progress had been made.

The Proposed Land and Proper ty Commission One of the LPU’s most important tasks revolves around the establishment of a land and property commission to deal with land and property claims and to provide a structured means of resolving land and property disputes. The current plans are based on a report prepared on behalf of the UNCHS (Habitat) in June 2000.13 The proposed commission provides for the submission of land, housing and property ownership or tenure disputes and claims for verification of land title. Bodies dealing with land disputes, mediation and a judicial body will be responsible for these functions.

The design of the proposed mechanism necessarily presumes that UNTAET will in fact develop a housing competence in the near future. The entire design of the commission is premised on ensuring that no persons become homeless or suffer any other housing rights violations as a result of involvement in the process. However, as the Habitat report repeatedly states, only the broader UNTAET Administration can provide these guarantees - as the Government of the moment - to all persons invoking the dispute resolution mechanism. With UNTAET so far failing to embrace these responsibilities and refraining from adopting a housing policy, however, the prospects for the establishment of truly effective mechanisms are sorely undermined.

12 Recently, UNTAET approved ‘Regulation No. 2000/27 on the Temporary Prohibition of Transactions in Land in East Timor by Indonesian Citizens Not Habitually Resident in East Timor and by Indonesian Corporations’, which should go some way towards preventing abuses of the highly unregulated land and property market at the moment.

13 UNCHS (Habitat) Housing, Property and Land Rights in East Timor: Proposals for an Effective Dispute Resolution and Claim Verification Mechanism (June 2000).

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4

Rebuilding with what’s available

Apparent CNRT Policy

According to CNRT officials, Xanana Gusmao the President of CNRT, has declared that every citizen has a right to a decent house as the least the people should be able to expect from a new government, considering the sacrifices they made to achieve independence. The East Timor Jurists Association has recommended to the CNRT the inclusion of economic, social and cultural rights within the future national Constitution of East Timor, presumably including housing rights as well. The CNRT Congress approved this recommendation in August 2000.

The support for housing rights given by Gusmao and others is surely a positive sign, yet the current proposals for implementing these rights raise many concerns. One plan envisages a coordinated policy urging people to live together in hamlets, with their farmlands around the village, as opposed to the present practice of each family living on their own land in accordance with customary law and practice. Supporters of this approach argue that this would make the provision of amenities and infrastructure (roads, electricity, sanitation and water supply) cost effective, as well as expanding access to more people.

Housing rights in East Timor

17

“There are facilities here, we can survive” We come from Laga. We came eight months ago. There is no food in Laga. We have land there and grew corn and rice. We fled our village because the Indonesian militia were killing people. When we went back everything was destroyed. We then decided to come to Dili. We twice got rice – a kilogram per person. I have eighteen children. Altogether twenty-four people live in this house. We built the house by using old materials from other houses. We have to walk at least a kilometer for water because the water from the well is salty. The hotel nearby doesn’t allow us to fill water so we have to go further. We collected sticks from the mountains and make bundles of five or six sticks and sell them for about 3000 Rupiah each. In this way we slowly save money and then buy fruit and vegetables which five of my children sell in the market. It is difficult to make ends meet. Rice costs between 10,000 to 15,000 a kilogram. Some of the children go to school. They have to walk quite far. In front there is the sea and my husband fishes there; some we eat, some we sell. In this way we survive. I don’t think we want to go back to Laga. The land is destroyed and there is nothing to do there. There are no facilities, no transportation. At least here there are some facilities and we can survive.

Maria Soares Baretto

While the proposal to house people in hamlets may seem to make good economic sense, it would mean a radical re-structuring of rural society, especially since many people are tied so closely to their land, and the fact that much of their identity is defined by it. Given that anywhere between 60-80 percent of East Timorese were forced to reside in so-called ‘resettlement villages’ during the Indonesian occupation, the hamlet plan seems a strange proposal which will surely conjure up painful memories of the past.14 Before such drastic proposals are considered further, an effort should be made to develop housing policies and programmes which are not so potentially disruptive to existing communities. Implementing the hamlet plan would almost surely involve considerable coercion, whether overt or covert, and almost as likely a large number of forced evictions, which in turn would violate the housing rights of the very people the plan is ostensibly designed to protect. Whatever housing rights implementation plan is chosen by the future Government of East Timor, it should ensure that people and communities give their approval and receive assurances the implementation of the plan be based on the consensus and participation of all those affected.

The CNRT leadership also apparently intends to develop a Master Plan for Dili, ostensibly to ensure that squatter and slum settlements do not emerge and that everyone will eventually have access to decent housing. While master plans can assist in determining the future shape cities take, the experience in most Asian cities is that master plans have generally been violated by the very agencies that have designed them, and even where complied with in full, have rarely succeeded in providing housing for lower-income groups.15 Planners often make master plans with good intentions; presumably for the good of all people and for the greater good of society. Howev-

14 See, John Taylor (August 1999) ‘East Timor: forced resettlement’ in Forced Migration Review (No. 5), 31-33.

15 See: Arif Hasan (1997) Urban Housing Policies and Approaches in a Changing Asia Context, City Press, Karachi, Pakistan.

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er, in implementing such plans, it is often the poor and vulnerable who lose out. Most master plans do not give sufficient consideration to the rights of urban poor communities. As a result, infrastructure projects, such as buildings, bridges, expressways, roads, or mass transit systems are often superimposed onto the city ignoring the homes and lives of those living in informal lowincome settlements.16 These plans invariably involve little or no participation by the cities’ inhabitants and often have little relation to the actual needs of a city. Although they are frequently supported by financial institutions such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and bi-lateral agencies, they have been known to cause more harm than good. Indeed, most forced evictions in Asian cities during the past decade have occurred because of such plans, with the poor definitely not ending up better off in the end.17 In the light of these plans, programmes involving the construction or reconstruction of housing of any permanent nature are being postponed by the CNRT until an elected government comes to power. In the mistaken belief that if no assistance is given to people, they will return to their villages, virtually no assistance, emergency or otherwise, is given to persons migrating into Dili despite the fact that there are thousands already there from different regions of the country, living in makeshift houses. Speaking to people who have come to Dili, however, one gets a very different perspective. Indeed, all of those interviewed said that if adequate jobs were provided to them in their villages they would happily return. In the meantime they have to earn a living and survive and this is why they are in Dili.

If realistic planning were to be developed for the few urban centres in East Timor, these would need to be developed by sensitive planners who take into account the various processes that have already developed and are being developed by the people and communities of East Timor. Those familiar with the urban dynamics of Dili - both local and foreigners - have noted the rapid rise in the population of Dili and the emergence of informal settlements which are so commonplace throughout other Asian cities. If the history of urban growth in Asia repeats itself in East Timor (and there is little reason to believe it will not), these new settlements will become permanent features in the urban landscape of the cities, as more and more people try to create housing solutions on their own. Proper urban planning does need to take place. However, care should be exercised to ensure the full consultation with the various actors in the city as well as being based on some form of consensus by these groups. If consultation and consensus building at the planning stage does not happen, East Timor is most likely to get unrealistic plans that are donor-driven, disproportionately beneficial to higher income groups and ultimately undemocratic and undermining the rights of the poor majority.

16 See: Patrick Wakely and Adanan Aliani (1996) Where we have come from: Historical perspective and major trends and Arif Hasan Raising the curtain on the urban drama: the need for a new approach in Living in Asian Cities, Report of the second Asia-Pacific Urban Forum, United Nations, New York.

17 See, for instance, Eviction Watch Asia (1998) Forced Evictions and Housing Rights Abuses in Asia (Kenneth Fernandes, ed.), City Press, Karachi and COHRE (1998) Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights No. 7, COHRE, Geneva.

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19

5

Local building materials under production in East Timor

The Popular Response to the Housing Crisis Although inadequate attention is being paid to the housing reconstruction process by UNTAET or Timorese political groupings, the sounds of individual reconstruction efforts are common. In creating their own unassisted housing solutions, families typically use just one room of a damaged house, which they have fixed with rusty or burned tin or plastic sheets for roofing. Electricity is currently free and many people seem somehow to have access to a connection, even if supply is sporadic in many areas. Water is also provided free to everyone. Between Dili and Liquica and Dili and Baucau, there are many manufacturers of traditional building materials. Wall panels are made of the stalk of the abundant palms and leaves are used for roofing. There is a high demand for them in the city given both the scale of the destruction faced as well as the limited supply of other building materials. Because of the lack of an official UNTAET housing policy and problems with the emergency shelter kit process, people are not waiting for others to house them - they have begun re-building their own houses.

While most reconstruction efforts seem to be of an individual nature, there are small groups of people trying to rebuild their lives.18 Some of these groups are documented here: W i d o w s o f 4 t h S e p te m b e r This is a group of fifteen widows organized by Caetano de Souza Guterres, from Halbur Oan Timor Fo Liman ba Malu (HOTFLIMA). The militia killed their husbands in September 1999. Their houses 18 At last count there were over 150 Timorese NGOs and 57 international NGOs operating in East Timor, all of which have their offices in Dili. Many of the NGOs have similar areas of operation. Some of them cover a very wide range of activities, in the hope they are consulted and contracted to do some work for the international NGOs. The high number of NGOs, according to the local NGO activists, is a sign that people want to take part in the reconstruction process of East Timor. Most operate without any funds and from their homes. Some are contracted to assist in the distribution of emergency goods such as food, medicines, and shelter kits.

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More local building materials under production

were destroyed, along with all their household goods. After looting their houses, rampaging militias typically threw petrol around a targeted house followed by a grenade. On their return from the mountains or the refugee camps they had to rebuild their lives from scratch. The women have six to nine children each. With their breadwinners gone they had to learn to survive.

HOTFLIMA organized them and with a small grant from AUSAID they are learning cutting and sewing from a tailor and seamstress, who teaches them how to make men’s and women’s clothing.

They have rented three sewing machines, and pay 50,000 Rupiah per month per machine. They do not have funds to purchase machines on their own. They recently agreed to a contract with a local Catholic school to sew a hundred school uniforms. The profit will be divided between the women and is just enough for them to buy rice and vegetables. Once they slowly get their basic household goods they hope they can save to buy machines, so the cost of rent doesn’t eat up profits.

Traditional Building Materials Domingus Pereira and his family produce traditional building materials from the palm trees that grow in abundance in East Timor. They have been doing this for years. He came here when he was little boy, during the Portuguese time. His father began making this material and he too started doing the same. They make four panels a day. Each panel is about 30 cm x 180 cm. It is made from the middle stalk (pico) of the palm frond. This is cut into strips, trimmed and dried. Three strips of stalk – two at the end and one in the middle – are pierced through ten strips to hold the panel together. Each panel costs 15,000 Rupiah (Approx. US$2). These days, Domingus sells a lot of panels as there is quite a big demand for them especially from the people in Dili. The panels are usually joined together to make walls. He also sells the palm leaves which is used for roofing. Ten sets of leaves cost 5000 Rupiah.

Housing rights in East Timor

21

Ka i d a u t u r a B l o ck M a ke r s This group received a small grant of A$100 from HOTFLIMA to buy cement, and some hand tools and moulds to make handmade blocks. They got in touch with a person who had a block-making machine, who rented it out to them. The person has now given them two machines. He provides them with orders to make blocks and supplies them with the cement and sand. They are able to produce about 500 to 700 blocks a day. Fifty percent of their profits goes to the owner, who keeps a person in the yard, to monitor their production.

Profile of an Activist Caetano de Sousa Guterres is a former FALINTIL resistance fighter. He was a soldier in the Portuguese army. During the Indonesian occupation he worked in the Department of Employment. He was imprisoned for six years for his political activity. One year was in Dili prison and five in Jakarta. Three of his nine children died while he was in prison from lack of medicines. On his release he continued with his political activity and joined FALINTIL. After the vote for independence, his family fled to the mountains and then to a refugee camp in Kupang. One of his sons was separated, but he met up with Caetano’s sister, a FALINTIL member, in the mountains. He returned home first to find his home partially destroyed and all the household goods either looted or burnt. Caetano and his family returned in January 2000, glad to be alive in a free and independent East Timor. He began Halibur Oan Timor Fo Liman ba Malu (HOTFLIMA) to respond to the situation of so many widows and orphans. He began organizing small groups of fifteen of men and women. He has organized and supported a group of carpenters, block makers, widows and fisher folk. He receives small donations from individuals and gives it to the groups to start them off to earn a living. They have recently been allotted a building with 23 rooms – a former military building. They have received some donation of building materials and have started renovating the building. They want to convert it into a vocational centre. He believes people need to be organized into small cooperatives and they need a little support in the form of machinery and tools to get them started. The skills are there. Small groups are manageable and there is greater support and cooperation amongst the members. His group recently put a bid for a contract to UNDP to renovate a building, but was rejected, even though theirs was the lowest bid. The reason given was the alleged incompetence of the group. A foreign company was eventually granted the contract. He spends most of his time trying to get contracts for the different groups. Recently he got one for the seamstresses from the local Catholic school. Through these contracts he hopes the groups can become self-sufficient.

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The Widows of 4th September

H a d a d i ( To G ro w S l o w l y ) This is a group of fifteen women who are widows and political activists. They formed the group in April 2000 as a way of earning a living by making traditional handicrafts. They have rented two machines and are required to give 25 percent of their income to the owners. Some of the women prepare the handicrafts while others sell them in the market place. They started slowly with just one machine and bought some material to make the handicrafts. Over the course of a few months they were able to increase production and thus afford to rent a second machine.

Pe te r B r a g a B l o ck M a ke r s Co o p e r a t i v e This is a cooperative of fifteen former political activists, also organized by HOTFLIMA. Some had masonry skills and when HOTFLIMA got a donation of A$100 from an individual they gave it to them to buy tools and cement. After getting sand from the riverbed, they started producing cement blocks and selling them. They make between 60-70 blocks a day and sell each for 2000 Rupiah.

There is a limited supply of tools so all the members cannot make blocks. Some work as masons or labourers if they can find work. They would like to purchase a block-making machine. With the machine they would be able to produce more blocks of a higher quality.

Housing rights in East Timor

23

6 Recommendations This brief report has outlined some of the major housing rights challenges facing the political structures active in East Timor today. With a view to improving the housing rights situation in the country, COHRE has developed the following recommendations which are directed both to UNTAET and the East Timorese political institutions.

Recommendations to UNTAET 6.1 Embrace Housing Rights, Don’t Ignore Them Housing is a fundamental right that needs to be treated as such within the overall socio-economic reconstruction of the country. UNTAET should work to ensure full compliance with international human rights law, including the right to adequate housing, protecting people against forced evictions, rights to respect for the home and privacy, the peaceful enjoyment of possessions, general protection against homelessness, freedom of movement and the right to choose one’s residence, the right to housing and property restitution, and non-discrimination, all in a reasonable, proportionate and fair manner.

Virtually all governments of the world maintain official housing competencies, and while the stature of UNTAET as a transitional institution is surely exceptional, there is no valid reason why it cannot incorporate housing responsibilities into its structure. UNTAET has a clear legal mandate and obligation to examine and address housing rights issues in East Timor. This mandate is derived from the contents of UN Security Council Resolution 1272 which emphasizes the duty of UNTAET to protect and promote human rights, one of which is the widely recognised right to adequate housing (See annex 1). UNTAET, therefore, must take into account and apply wherever possible, international human rights standards recognizing the right to adequate housing and related rights. This approach is augmented by Section 3.1 of UNTAET Regulation No. 1999/1.19 Incorporating housing rights responsibilities into the mandate of UNTAET will allow it to carry out vital functions such as the creation of a national land bank which would find and allocate undeveloped land for new self-build housing, the development of simple plans, the large-scale provision of building materials, and promises of eventual full ownership to those currently residing in the new popular settlements of the country.

6.2 Create a Housing Unit Within UNTAET to Implement Housing Rights UNTAET should immediately establish a housing unit within the current administration as a first step towards carrying out comprehensive activities in support of housing rights, and in accordance with its obligations as the administration of East Timor to respect, protect, promote and ful19 Section 3.1 provides that: ‘Until replaced by UNTAET regulations or subsequent legislation of democratically established institutions of East Timor, the laws applied in East Timor prior to 25 October 1999 shall apply in East Timor insofar as they do not conflict with the standards referred to in section 2, the fulfillment of the mandate given to UNTAET under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1272 (1999), or the present or any other regulation and directive issued by the Transitional Administrator.’

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fil housing rights. This should be closely coordinated with the LPU and UNHCR and other relevant UNTAET components. Steps should be taken to develop a housing rights programme based on the framework of housing rights obligations developed under the UN’s own Housing Rights Programme (see box below).

An UNTAET Housing Unit could also play a useful role in providing the CNRT with assistance to enable the future government of East Timor to rapidly and smoothly ratify all human rights treaties recognizing housing rights.

Housing Rights Obligations20 Respect

Protect

Promote

Fulfil

Prevention of Illegal Evictions and Forced Evictions

Preventing Violations of Housing Rights

Security of Tenure

Combating, Preventing and Ending Homelessness

Prevention of All Forms of Discrimination

Domestic Remedies and the Legislative Review and Domestic Application of Int. Recognition of Housing Law Rights

Increase and Properly Target Public Expenditure on Housing

Prevention of any Measures Ensuring Equality Rights for Develop Benchmarks of Full Adequate and Habitable of Retrogressivity All Groups Realization Housing for All Housing-Based Freedoms

Access for All to Affordable Housing and the Development of an Affordability Benchmark

Develop National Housing Rights Strategies

Develop Minimum Physical Housing Standards

Right to Privacy and Respect for the Home

Accessibility of Housing to Focus on the Rights of VulDisadvantaged Groups nerable Groups Requiring Special Measures

Provision of All Necessary Services and Infrastructure

Popular Participation in Housing

Democratic Residential Control of Housing

Access to Housing Informa- Popular Housing Finance tion and Saving Schemes

Respecting the Cultural Attributes of Housing

Regulating Rent Levels and Activities in the Private Housing Sector

Ensuring a Sufficient Supply Social Housing Construcof Affordable Land tion

6.3 Establish a Loan Programme for the Poor There is tremendous resilience amongst all the people interviewed in the preparation of this report. Most people are not waiting for charity. They are getting on with their lives, picking up the pieces and beginning to rebuild their houses. Support mechanisms need to be created that will 20 From the UN Housing Rights Programme (HS/C/17/INF.6).

Housing rights in East Timor

25

assist people in their rehabilitation and support them in whatever they are already doing. In this respect, low-interest and long-term loan programmes are urgently needed, so that people can purchase building materials to repair their damaged houses or to buy land to build new homes. At present, the poor of East Timor have effectively no access to credit for such purposLocally made wall panels es. Given that many people use their homes as places for producing goods for sale or from which products are sold, the importance of credit to job creation and the overall economy is even more evident. There is a wealth of experience in developing credit programmes for lower-income groups, in particular a good number of successful programmes in Asia, whose experiences can be used as models for such initiatives in East Timor.21 6.4 Support the Production of Affordable, Local Building Materials As noted above, a number of people and groups have already begun small-scale production of local building materials. These groups need support in the form of technical advice to improve the quality of the building materials, as well as access to small loans to purchase tools and machinery.

The cooperatives and small groups of people that have come together would benefit greatly from this support. Additional support is needed for groups interested in developing alternative building materials, such as compressed earth blocks.

6.5 Ensure That Housing Rights Violators Are Prosecuted Should the call for an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible for the carnage of September 1999 finally be approved, steps should be taken to ensure that housing rights crimes are included in the list of punishable offences. Such crimes would include: total or partial destruction of homes, movable property or land, forced evictions and theft of property from homes and lands.

6.6 Housing Rights Training Programmes UNTAET should sponsor a series of housing rights training programmes to ensure that people are aware of housing rights, not something that they have to invariably do entirely on their own. It would also help people and groups to participate in the development of future land and housing laws that are in full accordance with international law.

6.7 Convene a National Housing Rights Summit UNTAET should consider convening a National Housing Rights Summit to publicly signal UNTAET’s new approach to treating housing as a human right. Such a gathering could act as the launching point for the development of appropriate Regulations and policies in support of housing rights and provide an open forum for all stakeholders to express their views and ideas about how housing rights could be better respected and protected in East Timor today.

21 The Asian Coalition for Housing Rights has extensive experience in developing settlement improvement programs through a community-based savings and credit mechanisms. They can be contacted at: www.achr.net.

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Recommendations to East Timorese Political Institutions 6.8 Rethink the Hamlet Development Plan and the Proposed Master Plan The CNRT and other Timorese political institutions should reconsider both the hamlet development plan and the idea of a Master Plan for Dili. While such measures may sound effective and affordable, rarely have such top-down approaches to development worked in terms of protecting the basic rights of people. Attempting to socially sculpt and manipulate what are ancient processes of human settlement and development through the instigation of hamlet plans will almost invariably fail in achieving the avowed purposes of cheaply providing basic services to the rural majority of East Timor. This is particularly true in a country such as East Timor where the role of traditional and customary land laws are still so commonplace and considered as wholly legitimate by the vast majority of the population. While virtually every family in East Timor, at one time or another during the past decades, has been arbitrarily displaced, they almost always return to their original villages once it is safe or advantageous to do so.

Master plans in many Asian cities, on the one hand, have often failed to be implemented because a broad section of society and the various stakeholders were not consulted. On the other hand, business interests in connivance with bureaucrats have subverted these plans to develop projects that serve their own interests. Politicians have been known to sell off State land at throwaway prices to maintain party loyalties and patronage. In recent years there has been a greater acceptance of the initiatives poor people have taken to house themselves. Mechanisms are now commonly put in place to support these initiatives. For example in Karachi, a city of ten million, the government has a policy of upgrading squatter settlements. In Thailand, the Urban Community Development Office along with the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority assists groups to be organized through savings and credits and supports settlement improvements through small grants. The community chooses what they want to do and plans and implements it. These types of approaches should also be considered for East Timor.

National development is rarely a speedy process whereby large numbers of people who do not have access to basic requirements are assured access to these overnight. Social and economic development takes time, and it may be the urge to change things quickly that lies behind views supporting the hamlet plan. This urge is understandable given the destruction and decimation that has been wrought on East Timor throughout the past decades. Proceeding with a hamlet development plan or Master Plan for Dili, however, should be rethought in favour of approaches to development – both urban and rural – where natural processes are supported, where people are active participants and where history, culture and values play a key role in any final decisions made.22 6.9 Deal Creatively with Urban Growth Until the 1970s many Asian governments believed that if they did nothing to improve the slums and squatter settlements of rural migrants to the city, they would eventually return to their vil22 On the issue of the continued relevance of customary law in East Timor, see: Dioniso C.B. Soares (1999) ‘A Brief Overview of the Role of Customary Law in East Timor’, presented to the International Conference on ‘East Timor – Towards Self-Determination: The Social and Cultural Questions’, held at Sydney from 15-16 July 1999. (paper on file with COHRE).

Housing rights in East Timor

27

lages. Governments and planners underestimated the creativity and resourcefulness of poor people, combined with the unique draw of the city. As factories and other commercial enterprises developed in urban centres more and more people came to cities looking for economic opportunities. Throughout Asia, and increasingly in East Timor as well, rural migrants to the city have found land, built their own house and generated their own economic activities. In some countries, over the years their settlements have gradually improved through informal networking, and now possess security of tenure, access to all services and a stable residential situation.

Official policies and thinking are often removed from the reality on the ground. This disconnect invariably creates conflicts, especially when officials have in their mind plans that they try to impose upon people. This type of planning philosophy has resulted in the demolition of homes and eviction of people thereby violating their right to adequate housing. When housing policies fail to address the needs of the poor, the poor respond in the best way they know; they survive.

Their houses, simply built often in precarious conditions, are close to their income generating activity. Experiences have demonstrated that when people are evicted from their homes and resettled far from their economic activity, they tend to return and build new shanties. They return because they have to spend on transport and that lowers their income. Housing and economic activities need to be treated as inseparable with each other. Migrants in Dili have settled there to earn a living. Most told COHRE that they would like to go back to their villages and towns if there were sufficient jobs and services. However, there simply are none at the moment. Dili is the economic and administrative center of East Timor, and there are at least facilities in the urban centres and some opportunity to earn a living. This must not be forgotten.

6.10 Ensure Participatory Approaches to Reconstruction Reconstruction of housing and infrastructure can promote community development if the process is participatory. Existing initiatives can be supported, nurtured, developed and scaled up. A few small-scale projects in rural and urban centres need to be initiated, monitored and studied so that these experiences can be replicated throughout East Timor. The process can assist in creating much needed job opportunities in the construction sector and contribute to the development of a whole range of related skills.

6.11 Develop a Popular Housing Policy The process of developing a popular housing policy can be initiated now through local level discussion and action with community representatives and other actors both in the rural and urban areas. The first stage could be a participatory process of local level data gathering related to understanding the situation, processes and initiatives. The second stage could be discussion of the data and a closer look at what needs have emerged and how are they being addressed through people’s initiatives. These mechanisms can be created at the local level to address human settlement issues. An action research methodology could be used in developing and strengthening local level mechanisms which could lead to a housing policy that is based on actual processes and is responsive to people’s needs and aspirations.23 23 For details of such a process see, “Methodology of a Local Participatory Process to Formulate National Urban Land Policy for Low Income Housing” a paper presented by Somsook Boonyabancha, to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, Philippines, 1992. Published in Proceedings of the Consultative Meeting on Participatory Research in Urban Asia, edited by M.W Amarasiri de Silva and K.A Jayaratne, Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, Colombo. April 1975.

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COHRE getting the dweller’s views on housing rights

7

Conclusions The housing problems facing the people of East Timor are clearly daunting. Nevertheless, there is tremendous energy and hope among the citizenry who are eager and excited to rebuild ‘the newest country on Earth’. Despite the large-scale destruction and having to essentially start from scratch, people feel that this was the price they have to pay for their freedom and living in their own country. Problematically, however, among educated people, especially the young, a disturbingly high number of people told COHRE that they feel they are not part and parcel of the reconstruction process. As one person poignantly said: “we fought against the Portuguese, we fought against the Indonesians and now we have to struggle against the UN and International NGOs”.

Few troubles confronting the people of East Timor are more pervasive than those relating to housing. Protecting housing rights constitutes one of the greatest challenges facing both UNTAET and the future political leadership of East Timor. Ensuring mutually satisfactory solutions to the current absence of housing rights will be imperative to ensure social stability, the widespread enjoyment of basic human rights and the transition to full independence.

At the same time, people are getting on with their lives, creating economic opportunities for themselves and creatively finding ways to improve their lot without the direct assistance of INGOs or the UN. These processes are developing very rapidly and need to be understood and supported so that people-centered and community-driven development can take place.

Adequate housing is a basic human right. Even with no support, many people have begun rebuilding their homes and they will continue to do so. To be part of their process and to support their initiatives, it is imperative that support mechanisms are put in place that not only rebuild people’s lives, but also create and enhance skills, resources and community so that everyone in East Timor can enjoy their lawful housing rights.

Housing rights in East Timor

29

8 Annexes: International Legal Sources of Housing Rights UNIVERSAL DECLARATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS (1948), adopted and proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly resolution 217A (III) on 10 December 1948. Article 25(1) states: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS (1966), adopted by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 2200A(XXI), 16 December 1966, entered into force on 3 January 1976. Article 11(1) states: The States Parties to the present Covenant recognise the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realisation of this right, recognising to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent.

INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS (1966), adopted by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 2200A(XXI), 16 December 1966, entered into force on 3 January 1976. Articles 12 & 17 state: (1) Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence. (Art. 12) ‌.

(1) No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation.

(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. (Art. 17).

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (1979), adopted by UNGA resolution 34/180 on 18 December 1979, entered into force on 3 September 1981. Article 14(2)(h) states: States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right...(h) to enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications.

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Housing rights in East Timor

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (1989), adopted by UNGA resolution 44/25 on 20 November 1989, entered into force on 2 September 1990. Article 27(3) states: States Parties in accordance with national conditions and within their means shall take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the child to implement this right and shall in the case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing.

General Comment No. 4 on The Right to Adequate Housing GENERAL COMMENT NO. 4 (1991) THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE HOUSING (ART. 11(1) OF THE COVENANT), adopted by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on 12 December 1991.

1. Pursuant to article 11(1) of the Covenant, States parties “recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions�. The right to adequate housing which is thus derived from the right to an adequate of standard of living, is of central importance for the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights.

2. The Committee has been able to accumulate a large amount of information pertaining to this right. Since 1979 the Committee, and its predecessors have examined 75 reports dealing with the right to adequate housing. The Committee has also devoted a day of general discussion to the issue at each of its third and fourth sessions.1 In addition, the Committee has taken careful note of information generated by the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless (1987), including the Global Strategy for Shelter to the year 2000 endorsed by the General Assembly.2 The Committee has also reviewed relevant reports and other documentation of the Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.3 3. Although a wide variety of international instruments address the different dimensions of the right to adequate housing4, article 11(1) of the Covenant is the most comprehensive and perhaps the most important of the relevant provisions.

1 E/C.12/1990/3, paras. 281-285 2 A/43/8/Add.1; General Assembly resolution 42/191, annex.

3 Commission on Human Rights resolutions 1986/36 and 1987/22; E/CN.4/Sub.2/1990/19, paras. 108-120; E/CN.4/Sub.2/1991/17, paras. 137-139; and see also Sub-Commission resolution 1991/26.

4 See, for example, article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, article 5(e)(iii) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, article 14(2) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, article 27(3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 10 of the Declaration on Social Progress and Development, section III (8) of the UN Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements (1976), article 8(1) of the Declaration on the Right to Development, and International Labour Organization Recommendation No. 115 on Workers Housing (1961).

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4. Despite the fact the international community has frequently reaffirmed the importance of full respect for the right to adequate housing, there remains a disturbingly large gap between the standards set in article 11(1) of the Covenant and the situation prevailing in many parts of the world.

While the problems are often particularly acute in some developing countries which confront major resource and other constraints, the Committee observes that significant problems of homelessness and inadequate housing also exist in some of the most economically developed societies. Worldwide, the United Nations estimates that there are over 100 million persons homeless and over 1 billion inadequately housed.5 There is no indication that this number is decreasing. It seems clear that no State party is free of significant problems of one kind or another in relation to the right to housing.

5. In some instances, the reports of States parties examined by the Committee have acknowledged and described difficulties in ensuring the right to adequate housing. For the most part, however, the information provided has been insufficient to enable the Committee to obtain an adequate picture of the situation prevailing in the State concerned. This General Comment thus aims to identify some of the principal issues which the Committee considers to be important in relation to this right.

6. The right to adequate housing applies to everyone. While reference to “himself and his family” reflects assumptions as to gender roles and economic activity patterns commonly accepted in 1966 when the Covenant was adopted, the phrase cannot be read today as implying any limitation upon the applicability of the right to individuals or to female-headed households, or other such groups. Thus, the concept of “family” must be understood in a wide sense. Further, individuals, as well as families, are entitled to adequate housing regardless of age, economic status, group or other affiliation or status and other such factors. In particular, enjoyment of this right must, in accordance with article 2(2) of the Covenant, not be subject to any form of discrimination.

7. In the Committee’s view the right to housing should not be interpreted in a narrow or restrictive sense which equates it with, for example, the shelter provided by merely having a roof over one’s head or views shelter exclusively as a commodity. Rather it should be seen as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity. This is appropriate for at least two reasons. In the first place, the right to housing is integrally linked to other human rights and to the fundamental principles upon which the Covenant is premised. Thus, “inherent dignity of the human person” from which the rights in the Covenant are said to derive, requires that the term “housing” be interpreted so as to take account of a variety of other considerations, most importantly that housing rights should be ensured to all persons irrespective of income or access to economic resources. Secondly, the reference in article 11(1) must be read as referring not to housing tout court but to adequate housing. As both the Commission on Human Settlements and the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000 have stated: “Adequate shelter means....adequate privacy, adequate space, adequate security, adequate lighting and ventilation, adequate basic infrastructure and adequate location with regard to work and basic facilities—all at a reasonable cost.6

5 A/43/8/Add.1.

6 ibid, para. 5.

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8. Thus the concept of adequacy is particularly significant in relation to the right to housing since it serves to underline a number of factors which must be taken into account in determining whether particular forms of shelter can be considered to constitute “adequate housing” for the purposes of the Covenant. While adequacy is determined in part by social, economic, cultural, climatic, ecological and other factors, the Committee believes that it is nevertheless possible to identify certain aspects of the right that must be taken into account for this purpose in any particular context. They include the following: (a)

Legal Security of Tenure:

Tenure takes a variety of forms, including rental (public and private) accommodation, cooperative housing, lease, owner-occupation, emergency housing and informal settlements, including occupation of land or property. Notwithstanding the type of tenure, all persons should possess a degree of security of tenure which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats. States parties should consequently take immediate measures aimed at conferring legal security of tenure upon those persons and households currently lacking such protection, in genuine consultation with affected persons and groups; (b)

Availability of Services, Materials, Facilities and Infrastructure:

An adequate house must contain certain facilities essential for health, security, comfort and nutrition. All beneficiaries of the right to adequate housing should have sustainable access to natural and common resources, potable drinking water, energy for cooking, heating and lighting, sanitation and washing facilities, food storage, refuse disposal, site drainage and emergency services; (c)

Affordable:

Personal or household financial costs associated with housing should be at such a level that the attainment and satisfaction of other basic needs are not threatened or compromised. Steps should be taken by States parties to ensure that the percentage of housing-related costs is, in general, commensurate with income levels. States parties should establish housing subsidies for those unable to obtain affordable housing, as well as forms and levels of housing finance which adequately reflect housing needs. In accordance with the principle of affordability tenants should be protected form unreasonable rent levels or rent increases by appropriate means, In societies where natural materials constitute the chief sources of building materials for housing, steps should be taken by States parties to ensure the availability of such materials; (d)

Habitable:

Adequate housing must be habitable, in terms of providing the inhabitants with adequate space and protecting them from cold, damp, heat, rain, wind or other threats to health, structural hazards, and disease vectors. The physical safety of occupants must be guaranteed as well. The Committee encourages States parties to comprehensively apply the “Health Principles of Housing” prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) which view housing as the environmental factor most frequently associated with disease conditions in epidemiological analyses; i.e. inadequate and deficient housing and living conditions are invariably associated with higher mortality and morbidity rates;

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(e)

Accessibility:

Adequate housing must be accessible to those entitled to it. Disadvantaged groups must be accorded full and sustainable access to adequate housing resources. Thus, such disadvantaged groups as the elderly, children, the physically disabled, the terminally ill, HIV-positive individuals, persons with persistent medical problems, the mentally ill, victims of natural disasters, people living in disaster-prone areas and other groups should be ensured some degree of priority consideration in the housing sphere. Both housing law and policy should take fully into account the special housing needs of these groups. Within many States parties increasing access to land by landless or impoverished segments of the society should constitute a central policy goal. Discernable governmental obligations need to be developed aiming to substantiate the right of all to a secure place to live in peace and dignity, including access to land as an entitlement; (f)

Location:

Adequate housing must be in a location which allows access to employment options, health care services, schools, child care centers and other social facilities. This is both true in large cities and in rural areas where the temporal and financial costs of getting to and from places of work can place excessive demands upon the budgets of poor households. Similarly, housing should not be built on polluted sites nor in immediate proximity to pollution sources that threaten the right to health of the inhabitants; (g)

Culturally Adequate:

The way housing is constructed, the building materials used and the policies supporting these must appropriately enable the expression of cultural identity and diversity of housing. Activities geared towards development or modernization in the housing sphere should ensure that the cultural dimensions of housing are not sacrificed and that they should ensure, inter alia, modern technological facilities, as appropriate.

9. As noted above, the right to adequate housing cannot be viewed in isolation from other human rights contained in the two international instruments. Reference has already been made in this regard to the concept of human dignity and the principle of non-discrimination. In addition, the full enjoyment of other rights such as the right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of association (such as for tenants and other community-based groups), the right to freedom to choose one’s residence and the right to participate in public decision-making is indispensable if the right to adequate housing is to be realised and maintained by all groups in society. Similarly, the right not to be subjected to arbitrary interference with one’s privacy, family, home or correspondence constitutes a very important dimension in defining the right to housing.

10. Regardless of the state of development of any country, there are certain steps which must be taken immediately. As recommended in the Global Shelter Strategy and in other international analyses, many of the measures required to promote the right to housing require only abstention by the Government from certain practices and a commitment to facilitate “self-help” by affected groups. To the extent that any such steps are considered to be beyond the maximum resources

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available to a State party, it is appropriate that a request be made as soon as possible for international cooperation in accordance with articles 11(1), 22 and 23 of the Covenant, and that the Committee is informed thereof.

11. States parties must give due priority to those social groups living in unfavourable conditions by giving them particular consideration. Policies and legislation should correspondingly not be designed to benefit already advantaged social groups at the expense of others. The Committee is aware that external factors can affect the right to a continuous improvement in living conditions, and that in many States parties overall living conditions declined during the 1980s. However, as noted by the committee in its General Comment No. 2, despite externally caused problems, the obligations found in the Covenant continue to apply and are perhaps even more pertinent during times of economic contraction. It would thus appear to the Committee that a general decline in living and housing conditions, directly attributable to policy and legislative decisions by States parties, and in the absence of accompanying compensatory measures, would be inconsistent with the obligations found in the Covenant.

12. While the most appropriate means for achieving the full realisation of the right to adequate housing will inevitably vary significantly from one State party to another, the Covenant clearly requires that each State party take whatever steps are necessary for that purpose. This will almost invariably require the adoption of a national housing strategy which, as stated in the Global Shelter Strategy, “defines the objectives for the development of shelter conditions, identifies the resources available to meet these goals and the most cost-effective way of using them and sets out the responsibilities and time-frame for the implementation of the necessary measures” (para.

32). Both for reasons of relevance and effectiveness, as well as in order to ensure respect for other human rights, such a strategy should reflect extensive genuine consultation with, and participation by, all of those affected, including the homeless, the inadequately housed and their representatives. Further, steps should be taken to ensure co-ordination between ministries, regional and local authorities in order to reconcile related policies (economics, agriculture, environment, energy and so forth) with the obligation arising from article 11 of the Covenant.

13. Effective monitoring of the situation with respect to housing is another obligation of immediate effect. For a State party to satisfy its obligations under article 11(1) it must determine, inter alia, that it has taken whatever steps are necessary, either alone or on the basis of international cooperation, to ascertain the full extent of homelessness and inadequate housing within its jurisdiction. In this regard, the revised reporting guidelines adopted by the Committee7 emphasize the need to “provide detailed information about those groups within society that are vulnerable and disadvantaged with regard to housing”. They include, in particular, homeless persons and families, those inadequately housed and without ready access to basic amenities, those living in “illegal” settlements, those subject to forced evictions and low-income groups.

7 E/C.12/1991/1.

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14. Measures designed to satisfy a State party’s obligations in respect of the right to adequate housing may reflect whatever mix of public and private sector measures considered appropriate.

While in some States public financing of housing might most usefully be spent on direct construction of new housing, in most cases, experience has shown the inability of Governments to fully satisfy housing deficits with publicly built housing. The promotion by States parties of “enabling strategies�, combined with a full commitment to obligations concerning the right to adequate housing, should thus be encouraged. In essence, the obligation is to demonstrate that, in aggregate, the measures being taken are sufficient to realize the right for every individual in the shortest possible time in accordance with the maximum of available resources.

15. Many of the measures that will be required will involve resource allocations and policy initiatives of a general kind. Nevertheless, the role of formal legislative and administrative measures should not be underestimated in this context. The Global Shelter Strategy (paras. 66-67) has drawn attention to the type of measures that might be taken in this regard and to their importance.

16. In some States, the right to adequate housing is constitutionally entrenched. In such cases, the Committee is interested in learning of the legal and practical significance of such an approach.

Details of specific cases and of other ways in which entrenchment has proved useful should thus be provided.

17. The Committee views many component elements of the right to adequate housing as being at least consistent with the provision of domestic legal remedies. Depending on the legal system, such areas might include, but are not limited to: (a) legal appeals aimed at preventing planned evictions or demolitions through the issuance of court-ordered injunctions; (b) legal; procedures seeking compensation following an illegal eviction; (c) complaints against illegal actions carried out or supported by landlords (whether public or private) in relation to rent levels, dwelling maintenance, and racial or other forms of discrimination; (d) allegations of any form of discrimination in the allocation and availability of access to housing; and (e) complaints against landlords concerning unhealthy or inadequate housing conditions. In some legal systems, it would also be appropriate to explore the possibility of facilitating class action suits in situations involving significantly increased levels of homelessness.

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18. In this regard, the Committee considers that instances of forced evictions are prima facie incompatible with the requirements of the Covenant and can only be justified in the most exceptional circumstances, and in accordance with the relevant principles of international law.

19. Finally, article 11 (1) concludes with the obligation of States parties to “recognize the essential importance of international cooperation based on free consent.� Traditionally, less than 5 percent of all international assistance has been directed towards housing or human settlements, and often the manner by which such funding is provided does little to address the housing needs of disadvantaged groups. States parties, both recipients and providers, should ensure that a substantial portion of financing is devoted to creating conditions leading to as higher number of persons being adequately housed. International Financial Institutions promoting measures of structural adjustment should ensure that such measures do not compromise the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing. States parties should, when contemplating international financial cooperation, seek to indicate areas relevant to the right to adequate housing where external financing would have the most effect. Such requests should take full account of the needs and views of the affected groups.

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9 COHRE Publications

Sources Series COHRE, Sources #7: Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and IDPs: Basic Standards, (March 2001), US$ 15.00 COHRE, Sources #6: International Events and Forced Evictions, (January 2001), US$ 15.00 COHRE, Sources #5: Women and Housing Rights, (October 2000), US$ 15.00 COHRE, Sources #4: Legal Resources for Housing Rights: International and National Standards, (2nd ed., June 2000), US$ 15.00 COHRE, Sources #3: Forced Evictions and Human Rights: A Manual for Action, (2nd ed., October 1998), US$ 15.00 COHRE, Sources #2: Selected Bibliography on Housing Rights and Evictions (2nd ed., March 2001), US$ 15.00 COHRE, Sources # 1: Legal Sources of the Right to Housing in International Human Rights Law (February 1992)(out of print)

Global Survey’s on Forced Evictions COHRE, Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights No. 7 (July 1998), US$ 10.00 COHRE, Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights No. 6 (August 1994), US$ 10.00 COHRE, Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights No. 5 (June 1993) COHRE, Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights No. 4 (August 1992) COHRE, Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights No. 3 (February 1992) COHRE, Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights No. 2 (August 1991) COHRE, Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights No. 1 (August 1990)

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Housing rights in East Timor

Books and Other Reports Ken Fernandes & Scott Leckie (eds.) We Shall Not Be Moved: Popular Resistance to Forced Evictions (2001), COHRE, 200p, US$ 20.00 COHRE (and the Canadian Human Rights Foundation), Housing Rights: A Training Programme, (October 2000), COHRE, 155p, US$ 20.00 COHRE, The Human Right to Adequate Housing: A Chronology of United Nations Activity 19451999, (May 2000),COHRE, 60p, US$ 15.00 Scott Leckie, When Push Comes to Shove: Forced Evictions and Human Rights (1995) Habitat International Coalition, 139p, US$ 15.00 Scott Leckie, Destruction by Design: Housing Rights Violations in Tibet (1994) COHRE, 199p, US$ 20.00

Countr y Repor ts COHRE, Housing Rights Violations in Zimbabwe (December 2000), US$ 10.00 COHRE, Housing Rights Violations in Bangladesh (October 2000), US$ 10.00 COHRE, Better Late Than Never: Housing Rights in East Timor (September 2000), US$ 10.00 COHRE, Housing Rights in Latvia (January 2000), US$ 10.00 COHRE, The Status of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the Solomon Islands: Moving Forward and Maintaining the Past (May 1999), US$ 10.00 COHRE, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (November 1997), US$ 10.00 COHRE, Still Waiting: Housing Rights Violations in a Land of Plenty, The Kobe Earthquake and Beyond (February 1996), US$ 10.00 COHRE, Planned Dispossession: Palestinians, East Jerusalem and the Right to a Place to Live (September 1995), US$ 10.00 COHRE, Prima Facie Violations of Article 11(1) of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by the Government of the Philippines (November 1993), US$ 10.00

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The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) undertakes a wide variety of activities supporting the full realization of housing rights for everyone, everywhere. COHRE actively campaigns against and opposes forced evictions wherever they occur or are planned, and views forced evictions—as does the United Nations—as a gross violation of human rights, in particular the right to adequate housing.

This publication urges both the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET) and the Timorese political institutions to take housing rights seriously. It encourages the governing structures currently in place in East Timor to adhere fully to the norms of human rights law as a means of ensuring that the housing rights of all Timorese can be rapidly transformed into reality.

83 Rue de Montbrillant 1202 Geneva Switzerland Tel. +41.22.7341028, 7341052, 7341057 Fax. +41.22.7341028 Email: sleckie@attglobal.net, cohre@yahoo.com Website: www.cohre.org