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	Amnesty condemns "Illegal" House Demolitions in Zimbabwe by allAfrica, Amnetsy International   Oct 2014   Amnesty International, has condemned the demolitions of "illegal" houses in Harare and Chitungwiza saying the demolitions were a breach of international human rights obligations.   The group added that the move by the Zimbabwean authorities to bulldoze the homes of hundreds of the country"s poor residents in a series of forced evictions was also a breach of the country"s constitution. Amnesty said it has been monitoring events over the last week as the police moved in to clear the so-called "illegal settlements" in Epworth and Chitungwiza.   "These evictions will leave thousands of people in an extremely dire situation, particularly with the rainy season approaching fast," said Simeon Mawanza, Southern Africa regional specialist at Amnesty International. "Instead of forcing people out of their houses and condemning them to homelessness, authorities must respect the law and people"s rights by finding alternative solutions.   "Everybody has a right to adequate housing and to be protected against forced eviction regardless of where they live." Last Friday residents of Epworth were woken up by the sound of bulldozers and were given little time to save their belongings. The residents said they did not get any notice or prior warning before their houses were demolished by the Epworth Local Board. The board said the houses were built illegally in areas that were not reserved for residential homes.   At least 10 people were arrested and detained at Domboramwari Police Station and were only released into the custody of their lawyer on Sunday. One woman, Tarisai Marikopo, was allegedly assaulted by police and sustained serious injuries to her right eye while complaining about the assault and arrest of her 17-year-old son. She only received treatment on Saturday following intervention by lawyers from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.   In 2005 the Zimbabwe government forcibly evicted about 700,000 people from their homes in a controversial campaign code-named Operation Murambatsvina (Drive away trash). The United Nations condemned the operation which it said was a gross violation of people"s rights. Mawanza said the "recent evictions are a terrible reminder of the horrors of Operation Murambatsvina".   "The government has failed to learn the lesson that forced evictions drive the victims deeper into poverty and there is need to bring an immediate halt to any further evictions and proper redress made to the victims," he said. "At the same time there needs to be a thorough investigation into the actions of the police and those found responsible for the abuses should be held to account," Mawanza said.   http://allafrica.com/humanrights/
	Human Rights and Environment: Moving the Global Agenda Forward by United Nations Environment Programme   Human rights and environmental law are two separate corpuses of law, dealt by different organizations and based on different principles. Yet, the two fields have a lot in common, and international cooperation can only gain from a more integrated approach to these fields. Healthy ecosystems are the foundation for human life and for the fulfillment of the rights that are inherent to human life. Further, the existence and exercise of human rights can be an incentive to making the right decisions for the environment.   Recent developments have increased momentum for synergies between the human rights and the environment fields. A historic development is the establishment by the Human Rights Council last year of a new special procedure, i.e. the Independent Expert on human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment human rights and the environment (known as Independent expert on Human Rights and the Environment) and appointed prof. John Knox to such position.   UNEP, the OHCHR and the Independent Expert have recently engaged in a joint project on good practices on human rights and the environment. Through a consultative process, the partners will engage with stakeholders, build political momentum and ownership within both the human rights and the environment communities, towards, ultimately, strengthening the nexus between human rights and environment. In this context, two consultations were held, in Nairobi (February 2013) and Panama (July 2013).   The Compendium on human rights and the environment takes stock of the normative and jurisprudential developments in the field of human rights and the environment. It describes international instruments that relate to human rights and the environment, such as multilateral environmental agreements, international human rights treaties, and international resolutions and declarations. It also includes summaries of decisions rendered by the human rights supervisory mechanisms in Africa, Europe and the Americas, as well as the Human Rights Committee, and the International Court of Justice.   The objective of the publication is to identify and promote good practices relating to the use of human rights obligations and commitments to inform, support and strengthen environmental policy making, especially in the areas of environmental protection and management.   http://www.unep.org/environmentalgovernance/UNEPsWork/HumanRightsandtheEnvironment/tabid/130265/Default.aspx http://ieenvironment.org/ http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Environment/IEEnvironment/Pages/IEenvironmentIndex.aspx
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