The Right to Housing and the Right to Health Have these two rights been breached by the treatment of Mr Tittleton - an elderly visually and aurally impaired, heart patient - whose home and retirement income have been snatched from him by police and the State using legislation never intended to be applied to a small-time, 8 plant cannabis grower? I think so. The human right to adequate housing is the right of every woman, man, youth and child to acquire and sustain a secure home and community in which to live in peace and dignity. The right to housing is codified as a human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of 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. (article 25(1)) Rights at Stake The right to housing is included in several international legally-binding documents. Among the most significant of these is the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (article 11.1), which determines that The States Parties to the present Covenant 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. In order to clarify the meaning and scope of the right to housing as expressed in the Covenant, in 1991 the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the body that monitors the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, issued its General Comment 4. The right to adequate housing applies to everyone. The phrase himself and his family does not refer to any limitation in the right to housing to individuals, female-headed households, or other groups. Furthermore, individuals, as well as families, are entitled to adequate housing regardless of age, economic status, group or other affiliation or status, and enjoyment of this right must not be subject to any form of discrimination. The right to housing should be interpreted in a broad and inclusive sense as the right to live in security, peace and dignity rather than a narrow or restrictive sense. The right to housing is inextricably linked to other fundamental human rights and should been seen as referring to not only housing by adequate housing. The right to adequate housing must be viewed in conjunction with other human rights included in the two International Covenants and other international instruments. While the definition of adequacy with regard to housing is influenced by social, economic, cultural, climatic, ecological, and other factors, certain aspects of the right are applicable in any context. These are: Legal security of tenure. Security of tenure means that all people in any living arrangement possess a degree of security against forced eviction, harassment, or other threats. States are obliged to confer this security legally. Availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure. To ensure the health, security, comfort, and nutrition of its occupants, an adequate house should have sustainable access to natural and common resources, safe drinking water, energy for cooking, heating and lighting, sanitation and washing facilities, means of food storage, refuse disposal, site drainage and emergency services. Affordability. Affordable housing is housing for which the associated financial costs are at a level that does not threaten other basic needs. States should take steps to ensure that housing costs are proportionate to overall income levels, establish subsidies for those unable to acquire affordable housing, and protect tenants against unreasonable rent levels or increases. In societies where housing is built chiefly out of natural materials, states should help ensure the availability of those materials. Habitability. Habitable housing provides the occupants with adequate space, physical security, shelter from weather, and protection from threats to health like structural hazards and disease. Accessibility. Adequate housing must be accessible to those entitled to it. This includes all disadvantaged groups of society, who may have special housing needs that require extra consideration. Location. The location of adequate housing, whether urban or rural, must permit access to employment opportunities, health care, schools, child care and other social facilities. To protect the right to health of the occupants, housing must also be separated from polluted sites or pollution sources. Cultural adequacy. The way housing is built, the materials used, and the policies supporting these must facilitate cultural expression and housing diversity. The development and modernization of housing in general should maintain the cultural dimensions of housing while still ensuring modern technological facilities, among other things. The Commission on Human Settlements Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000 (1998) provides another definition of adequacy: 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. The additional human rights referred to in the CESCRs General Comment 4 are rights without the enjoyment of which the fulfillment of the right to housing is threatened or impossible. They include: - the principle of non-discrimination; - 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 of residence (and the right to freedom of movement); - the right to participate in public decision-making; - the right to security of person (in the case of forced or arbitrary evictions or other forms of harassment); - the right not to be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with ones privacy, family, home or correspondence. In addition, the right to housing provides a foundation that increases the likelihood of the achievement of other human rights. For example: - the right to family; - the right to participate in government; - the right to work; - the right to rest and leisure; - the right to food and water; - the right to the highest attainable level of physical and mental health; - the right to education; - the right to participate in the cultural life of the community.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Jun 2014 06:18:51 +0000
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