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The Egyptian Center For Housing Rights

Authorities Destroy 25 Houses in Cairo Authorities in Cairo Governorate demolished 25 houses in the Duwayqa District of Manshi'at Naser, 21 March 2001. The authorities, accompanied by security forces and bulldozers, destroyed the 25 houses without prior notice to the inhabitants and without giving an warning to the poor victims. Consequently, furniture and other contents belonging to the victims were also buried under the ruins of their homes. Officials claimed to have sent notices to the victims to evacuate, and that they had no right to compensation as they built their homes on state-owned property. They argued that the victims built their homes recently to benefit from the state-sponsored housing project of Manshi'at Naser without any right to do so. The Center's fieldwork members rushed to the area where they found inhabitants living in the ruins with insects and vermin, such as snakes and scorpions. As they have no alternative shelter, health conditions of the victims, especially many children and the elders, has deteriorated. Contrary to official claims, neighbors and the victims have documentary proof that some have lived in the area for at least 8 to 15 years, and that they received no notice from the authorities to evacuate. They also insisted that the security forces did not give them more than five minutes to evacuate their homes, which led to the destruction of furniture. One of the inhabitants refused to leave his house, but the police broke into the house and forced him out while beating him on the head with batons. The police forcibly expelled from her home a woman who had just given birth a few hours before, leaving her baby inside. When she rushed back into the house to rescue her baby, the police threw her and her baby out of the house as the bulldozer approached. The date of this eviction and demolition also happened to be Mothers Day in Egypt. When inhabitants went to the governorate's security department to deliver their grievances to the Cairo governor, they were severely hit and insulted by the police. Although one month has passed since the destruction of their homes, victims still live amid the ruins under constant threat from security forces and with no promise of alternative housing. Authorities have since offered only seven families alternative housing in Madinat Badr, an isolatred area some 60 km from Cairo. The Center asserts the right of the victims to adequate alternative permanent housing in the Duwayqa area, and demands the authorities to stop the policy of forced eviction and demolition without compensation. The ECHR , therefore, urges all concerned agencies to take necessary steps to end the suffering of those poor victims by providing them with emergency shelter and adequate compensation for the damage caused to them. ECHR asserts that the Government of Egypt and its officials should adhere strictly to General Comments 4 and 7of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concerning the right to adequate housing and forced eviction. The Committee may recall its observation 22, in which it expressed its concern over "forced evictions without alternative housing or compensation being provided [that] have been occurring in poor communities." ECHR requests that CESCR remind the Government of Egypt of its treaty obligations and the guidance already provided also in the Committees relevant Concluding Observations (paragraphs 12, 15, 26, 27, 31 and 42) of May 2000.

3A Mohamed Hagag ST . from Mohamed Bassiuoni ST .(AbdEmonam Riad Square Third Floor , Flat17 Tel : 5744428 / 5781003 Fax : 5744428 Email : egypt@echr.org تصميم : جمال عيد