Hous­ing Rights Advo­cacy Project (HRAP)

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Inter-American Com­mis­sion Lit­i­ga­tion

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This video was pro­duced for a hear­ing on forced evic­tions before the Inter-American Com­mis­sion on Human Rights in Octo­ber 2010. IJDH-BAI and our part­ners won the hear­ing and the Com­mis­sion rec­om­mended that the Gov­ern­ment of Haiti stop all evic­tions from Inter­nally Dis­placed Per­sons (IDP) camps imme­di­ately.

Overview: Haiti’s Hous­ing and Evic­tion Crisis

After the earth­quake of Jan­u­ary 12th, over 2 mil­lion sur­vivors sought refuge in camps con­structed on avail­able open land. There are an esti­mated 1,000 camps in Port au Prince alone. Liv­ing con­di­tions in the camps are hor­ri­ble. Many peo­ple have very lit­tle access to food, potable water, san­i­ta­tion ser­vices or secure hous­ing. By mid-April, thou­sands of res­i­dents of these encamp­ments had been threat­ened or forcibly evicted by the Hait­ian gov­ern­ment and pri­vate land own­ers. As an interim solu­tion to the human­i­tar­ian cri­sis, the United Nations helped nego­ti­ate a 3-week mora­to­rium on evic­tions with the Hait­ian gov­ern­ment, which ended May 13. Within that period reports of evic­tions con­tin­ued, and still con­tinue to this day.

• Grass­roots Orga­niz­ing includes part­ner­ing with grass­roots groups in Haiti and inter­na­tional allies to sup­port inter­nally dis­placed com­mu­ni­ties fight against unlaw­ful evic­tion and advo­cate for their right to housing.
• Legal Advo­cacy includes inves­ti­gat­ing cases of wrong­ful evic­tions and other hous­ing vio­la­tions to bring jus­tice in Hait­ian courts and inter­na­tional forums. IJDH, in col­lab­o­ra­tion with a team of Hait­ian and inter­na­tional human rights and hous­ing lawyers, is prepar­ing a peti­tion before the Inter-American Com­mis­sion on Human Rights (IACHR) against the Hait­ian gov­ern­ment on behalf of Haitians who have been threat­ened with or forcibly evicted from inter­nal dis­place­ment camps. IJDH will work with grass­roots orga­niz­ers to imple­ment and enforce human rights awards through the Hait­ian gov­ern­ment, pri­vate land own­ers and UN-based bodies.
• Pub­lic Advo­cacy includes shap­ing the debate on the hous­ing rights of poor and inter­nally dis­placed Haitians, both in Haiti and abroad. Advo­cacy will high­light the vul­ner­a­bil­ity of women, chil­dren, the elderly, and the dis­abled to abuses. Advo­cacy will also include leg­isla­tive advo­cacy, media cam­paigns and demonstrations.

 

Hous­ing Rights Reports and Analysis

• Let­ter to IACHR on Forced Evic­tions in Haiti and Request for New Pre­cau­tion­ary Mea­sures (French) — Feb­ru­ary 27, 2012
• Let­ter to IACHR on Forced Evic­tions in Haiti and Request for New Pre­cau­tion­ary Mea­sures (Eng­lish) — Feb­ru­ary 27, 2012
• HAITI’S HOUSING CRISIS: Results of a House­hold Sur­vey on the Progress of Pres­i­dent Michel Martelly’s 100-Day Plan to Close Six IDP Camps (IJDH-BAI) (Uni­ver­sity of San Fran­cisco School of Law, Cen­ter for Law and Global Jus­tice) — Octo­ber 3, 2011
• Sign-on Let­ter Regard­ing Forced Evic­tions Addressed to Sec­re­tary Gen­eral Ban Ki Moon, Madam High Com­mis­sioner Navanethem Pil­lay, Human­i­tar­ian Coor­di­na­tor Nigel Fisher, and Spe­cial Expert Michel Forst, Signed by Lawyers, Law Pro­fes­sors and Human Rights Advo­cates. — August 23, 2011
• Vic­tims of Forced Evic­tions at Camp Django Inter­viewed — August 17, 2011
• Sylvio Cator sta­dium and Camp Django – the Gov­ern­ment of Haiti’s con­tin­u­ing cam­paign to close IDP camps with­out respect­ing the human rights of dis­placed com­mu­ni­ties (IJDH-BAI, Cen­ter for Con­sti­tu­tional Rights, TransAfrica Forum) — August 11, 2011
• Over­whelm­ing major­ity of Haitians liv­ing in dis­place­ment camps want to leave but have nowhere to go (Relief Web) — August 8, 2011
• Let­ter from Jeena Shah, BAI Legal Fel­low, on Del­mas forced evic­tions — July 7, 2011
• Infor­ma­tion pour La Com­mis­sion Inter­améri­caine des Droits de l’Homme sur des expul­sions for­cées (IJDH-BAI, CCR, You.Me.We., TransAfrica Forum) — June 16, 2011
• Update to Inter-American Com­mis­sion on Human Rights (IACHR) on Forced Evic­tions (IJDH-BAI, CCR, You.Me.We., TransAfrica Forum). — June 15, 2011
• As hur­ri­cane sea­son looms, gov­ern­ment offi­cers destroy tent camps (Beat­rice Lind­strom, BAI LERN Legal Fel­low) — May 31, 2011
• Sum­mary Sub­mis­sion to the UN Uni­ver­sal Peri­odic Review of Haiti (IJDH-BAI, Lawyers’ Earth­quake Response Net­work) — March 24, 2011
• Uni­ver­sal Peri­odic Review Right to Hous­ing Report (Camp Bene­dic­tion, Camp CAPVVA, Camp Cavil, Camp CCTT, Camp COSSBAMI, Camp CR-5, Camp Faitree Michiko, Camp Imac­ulee Deplacee, Camp Michiko, Camp Refugee, Camp SOHOMO, Camp Tou­s­saint Lou­ver­ture, Groupe d’ Action pour la Defense des Droits Humains en Haiti, Inter­na­tional Action Ties, MOSFV, You.Me.We) — March 24, 2011
• Uni­ver­sal Peri­odic Review: Right to Food, Water and San­i­ta­tion Report (NYU School of Law Cen­ter for Human Rights and Global Jus­tice, IJDH, LinkHaiti, Inc., Robert F. Kennedy Cen­ter for Jus­tice and Human Rights) — March 24, 2011
• Evic­tions In IDP Camps Report (CCCM and IOM) — March 1, 2011
• “Met Ko Veye Ko”: For­eign Respon­si­bil­ity in the Fail­ure to Pro­tect Against Cholera  and Other Man-made Dis­as­ters (CUNY, Faculte’d Eth­nolo­gie)   — Jan­u­ary 22, 2011
• What Do Threats of Forced Evic­tion Look Like Before An Evic­tion: Vic­tims Sto­ries from Haiti’s Inter­nally Dis­placed Per­sons (IDP) Camps — Jan­u­ary 11, 2011
• What Do Threats of Forced Evic­tion Look Like After An Evic­tion: Vic­tims Sto­ries from Haiti’s Inter­nally Dis­placed Per­sons (IDP) Camps — Jan­u­ary 11, 2011
• Mil­lion Plus Remain Home­less and Dis­placed in Haiti: One Year After Quake (CommonDreams.org) — Jan­u­ary 11, 2011
• One Year After the Earth­quake: Haitians Still Liv­ing in Cri­sis (IJDH) — Jan­u­ary 10, 2011
• Inter-American Com­mis­sion on Human Rights Rec­om­men­da­tions to the Gov­ern­ment of Haiti for Pre­cau­tion­ary Mea­sures (IACHR) — Novem­ber 16, 2010
• Peti­tion for Pre­cau­tion­ary Mea­sures Sub­mit­ted to the IACHR (Redacted) (IJDH and Part­ners) — Novem­ber 2, 2010
• Human Rights of Inter­nally Dis­placed Per­sons in Haiti (UN) — Octo­ber 16, 2010
• Unsta­ble Foun­da­tions: Impact of NGOs on Human Rights for Port-au-Prince’s Inter­nally Dis­placed Peo­ple (Mark Schuller) — Octo­ber 4, 2010
• “We’ve Been For­got­ten”: Con­di­tions in Haiti’s Dis­place­ment Camps Eight Months After the Earth­quake (IJDH) — Sep­tem­ber 15, 2010
• “We Became Garbage to Them” Inac­tion and Com­plic­ity in IDP Expul­sions — A Call to Action to the U.S. Gov­ern­ment (Inter­na­tional Action Ties) — August 21, 2010
• Deplorable Con­di­tions in IDP Camps Con­tinue — July 27, 2010
• Focus on Post-Earthquake Shel­ter Issues — July 27, 2010
• Van­ish­ing Camps at Gun­point: Fail­ing to Pro­tect Haiti’s Inter­nally Dis­placed (Inter­na­tional Action Ties) — July 14, 2010
• Chal­lenges Fac­ing Haiti’s Jus­tice Sec­tor: Pre­pared for Con­gres­sional Brief­ing (IJDH) — July 13, 2010
• Haiti Cherie/My Dear Haiti (TransAfrica Forum) — July 12, 2010
• Camp Visit Report (Men­non­ite Cen­tral Com­mit­tee) — May 31, 2010
• Neglect in the Encamp­ments: Haiti’s Sec­ond Wave Human­i­tar­ian Dis­as­ter (IJDH) — March 23, 2010

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Hous­ing Rights Advo­cacy Project Press Releases

• Amnesty Inter­na­tional Urgent Action: Fam­i­lies At Risk Of Forced Evic­tion In Haiti — May 17, 2012
• Amnesty Inter­na­tional Press Release: Urgent Plan Needed to Tackle Hous­ing Cri­sis in Haiti — Feb­ru­ary 10, 2012
• Press Release: Inter­na­tional Human Rights Hear­ing on Hous­ing Cri­sis in Haiti’s Dis­place­ment Camps (IJDH, CCR, TransAfrica Forum) — Octo­ber 24, 2011
• Haiti’s Hous­ing Cri­sis: Human rights inves­ti­ga­tion finds Pres­i­dent Michel Martelly’s 100-day hous­ing plan deliv­ered no improve­ment to peo­ple in Haiti’s tent camps (IJDH-BAI) — Octo­ber 3, 2011
• La Com­mu­naute Human­i­taire En Haiti Pre­oc­cu­pee Par La Mul­ti­pli­ca­tion Des Expul­sions Dans Les Camps (Nigel Fisher Press State­ment Against Forced Evic­tions in Haiti: French) — Sep­tem­ber 5, 2011
• 100 days into Michel Martelly’s pres­i­dency: Sur­vey reveals government’s clo­sure of camps con­flicts with durable hous­ing solu­tions pro­posed in hous­ing plan (IJDH-BAI) — August 18, 2011
• Press Release: Foot­ball over Fam­i­lies: Human Rights Groups Denounce Hait­ian Government’s Unlaw­ful Evic­tion of Home­less Earth­quake Sur­vivors from Sta­dium (IJDH-BAI) — July 21, 2011
• Com­mu­niqué de Presse: Le gou­verne­ment d’Haïti con­tinue d’expulser les sur­vivants du trem­ble­ment de terre des camps des déplacés internes en dépit des recom­man­da­tions de la Com­mis­sion des droits de l’homme (IJDH-BAI, Cen­ter for Con­sti­tu­tional Rights, TransAfrica Forum, Rip­tide Com­mu­ni­ca­tions) — June 20, 2011
• Press Release: Haiti Gov­ern­ment Con­tin­ues Evict­ing Earth­quake Sur­vivors from Dis­placed Per­sons’ Camps despite Human Rights Com­mis­sion Orders (IJDH-BAI, Cen­ter for Con­sti­tu­tional Rights, TransAfrica Forum, Rip­tide Com­mu­ni­ca­tions) — June 16, 2011
• Press Release: Human rights group sues mayor in Haiti for ter­ror­iz­ing earth­quake vic­tims dur­ing unlaw­ful evic­tions (BAI) — May 31, 2011

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Inter-American Com­mis­sion Litigation

• Update and Sup­ple­men­tary Request for pre­cau­tion­ary mea­sures to imple­ment a mora­to­rium on unlaw­ful forced evic­tions from Haiti’s inter­nal dis­place­ment camps, Feb­ru­ary 27, 2012 
  
  • Legal Doc­u­ment: Update and Sup­ple­men­tary Request for Pre­cau­tion­ary Mea­sures:
    Let­ter to IACHR on Forced Evic­tions in Haiti and Request for New Pre­cau­tion­ary Mea­sures               (Eng­lish)
    Let­ter to IACHR on Forced Evic­tions in Haiti and Request for New Pre­cau­tion­ary Mea­sures     (French)
• Request for pre­cau­tion­ary mea­sures to imple­ment a mora­to­rium on unlaw­ful forced evic­tions from Haiti’s inter­nal dis­place­ment camps, Novem­ber 2, 2010
  
  • Legal Doc­u­ment: Request for Pre­cau­tion­ary Measures
  • Press Release: IACHR Expresses Con­cern Over Sit­u­a­tion in Camps for Dis­placed Per­sons in Haiti
  • Press Release: Haiti Gov­ern­ment Directed to Stop Evic­tions with­out Safe Shel­ter for Earth­quake Survivors
  • Press Release: Rights Groups Tes­tify Before Inter-American Com­mis­sion and File Legal Request on Unlaw­ful Forced Evic­tions in Haiti 

• The­matic Hear­ing on Unlaw­ful Forced Evic­tions from the Inter­nally Dis­placed Per­sons’ Camps, Octo­ber 26, 2010
  • Press Release: Advo­cates Tes­tify Before Inter-American Com­mis­sion on Unlaw­ful Forced Evic­tions in Haiti
  • Record­ing of the hear­ing: Human Rights Sit­u­a­tion in the Camps for Inter­nally Dis­placed Per­sons in Haiti
  • Cov­er­age of the hear­ing by The Human Rights Brief: Human Rights Sit­u­a­tion in the Camps for Inter­nally Dis­placed Per­sons in Haiti
  • Video pre­sented to the IACHR: Unlaw­ful Forced Evic­tions from Haiti’s Dis­place­ment Camps (3.5 min)
  • Tes­ti­mony of Mario Joseph, Man­ag­ing Attor­ney of the Bureau des Avo­cats Internationaux
  • Tes­ti­mony of Jen­nifer Gold­smith, Amer­i­can Uni­ver­sity Law Student

Take Action

Half Hour for Haiti: Stop Forced Evic­tions of Haiti’s Earth­quake Victims

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News

• Return­ing to Zero: Forced Evic­tions in Haiti — Feb­ru­ary 28, 2012
• Haiti’s Hous­ing and Shel­ter Cri­sis Still Look­ing Intractable — Feb­ru­ary 24, 2012
• Two Years After The Earth­quake, Haiti Is Try­ing To Clear Tent Cities — Feb­ru­ary 19, 2012
• “Best prac­tices” and “exem­plar com­mu­ni­ties”: Ivory tower hous­ing solu­tions for Haiti — Feb­ru­ary 2, 2012
• In Haiti, cau­tious hope around effort to find fam­i­lies new homes (by Gior­dano Cossu, The Chris­t­ian Sci­ence Mon­i­tor) — Jan­u­ary 12, 2012
• Haiti 2 Years Later: Half a Mil­lion Still in Camps (Tren­ton Daniel, Asso­ci­ated Press) — Jan­u­ary 8, 2012
• Human­i­tar­ian Aid in Haiti (Counterpunch.org) — Decem­ber 29, 2011
• Emer­gency and Tran­si­tional Shel­ter Pro­vi­sion Flawed, New Eval­u­a­tion Shows (CEPR) — Decem­ber 13, 2011
• Nou Bouke Viv Anba Tant! — We’re Fed Up of Liv­ing in Tents! (Haiti Brief­ing Sup­port Group) — Novem­ber 16, 2011
• 100 Days into Pres­i­dency, Martelly’s 100-day Hous­ing Plan Does Lit­tle for the Dis­placed (Boston Hait­ian Reporter) — Octo­ber 27, 2011

Click here for more Hous­ing Rights News

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Project Part­ners

Amer­i­can Uni­ver­sity Wash­ing­ton Col­lege of Law Inter­na­tional Human Rights Clinic (IHRLC) Cen­ter for Con­sti­tu­tional Rights (CCR) Inter­na­tional Action Ties (IAT) LAMP for Haiti Foun­da­tion Uni­ver­sity of San Fran­cisco School of Law, Cen­ter for Law and Global Justice

Resources

UN Guid­ing Prin­ci­ples on Inter­nal Displacement

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Reports and Analy­sis | Press Releases | Inter-American Com­mis­sion Lit­i­ga­tion | Take Action | News | Project Part­ners | Resources