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Recommendation 1901 (2010) Final version
Solving property issues of refugees and internally displaced persons
1. Referring to its Resolution 1708 (2010) on
solving property issues of refugees and internally displaced persons,
the Parliamentary Assembly considers that for both refugees and
internally displaced persons (IDPs), the loss of homes and land
presents a serious obstacle to achieving durable solutions in post-conflict
situations and to restoring justice. Legal remedies against such
loss are an essential component for restoring the rule of law in
post-conflict situations. Such remedies, including the relevant
redress and the mechanisms and procedures through which such redress
is sought and implemented, are directly linked to stability, reconciliation and
transitional justice and are therefore indispensable elements for
any constructive peace-building strategy.
2. The restoration of rights to and physical possession of property
through restitution, or the provision of equivalent property or
value through compensation, are essential forms of redress. The
failure to provide such redress perpetuates the displacement of
over 2.5 million people in Europe, particularly in the North and
South Caucasus, the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean and constitutes
a breach of their human rights.
3. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers
instruct the relevant body of the Council of Europe to:
3.1. undertake a study that would
examine existing standards and practice related to redress for the loss
of access and rights to housing, land and property in favour of
refugees and IDPs in European post-conflict settings, and the procedures
and mechanisms with which such redress is sought and implemented.
IDPs and refugees should be fully involved in the study. The study
should provide the basis for detailed guidelines and should focus
on the following issues of particular relevance in the European
context:
3.1.1. the nature of the obligation to provide
restitution, the specific circumstances under which restitution
may be deemed impossible and the criteria for deeming what level
of compensation is adequate in such cases;
3.1.2. the modalities of providing redress for the loss of de
facto possessions not formally recognised in law prior to displacement;
3.1.3. the modalities of providing redress for the loss of occupancy
and tenancy rights;
3.1.4. criteria for ensuring rapid, accessible and effective
procedures for claiming redress;
3.1.5. further measures of reparation, assistance and redress
necessary to ensure that restitution procedures are effective and
provide redress;
3.2. develop detailed guidelines on the basis of the aforementioned
study on how to provide redress for conflict-related loss of access
and rights to housing, land and property in the European context,
taking into account the United Nations Principles on Housing and
Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons (the Pinheiro
Principles) and Council of Europe instruments, as well as other international
human rights standards and humanitarian law.
4. The Assembly reiterates its recommendation to the Committee
of Ministers to establish a new permanent committee within the Council
of Europe with a mandate to examine issues concerning asylum and IDPs
to replace the Ad hoc Committee of Experts on the Legal Aspects
of Territorial Asylum, Refugees and Stateless Persons (CAHAR).