A/HRC/37/30
all population groups through supporting legal, policy, institutional and other measures
aimed at promoting equality and non-discrimination in accordance with international
human rights is emphasized. That will require, inter alia, (a) disaggregating data to identify
who is being excluded or discriminated against, how and why, and who is experiencing
multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and inequality; (b) identifying patterns of
discrimination in law, policies and practices, and addressing entrenched structural barriers
and unequal power relations that generate and perpetuate inequality over generations; and
(c) supporting the free, active and meaningful participation of all stakeholders, particularly
the most marginalized, in the implementation of those policy and other measures so as to
ensure accountability, recourse and remedies to all.
C.
Accountability and remedies
49.
The international human rights framework provides guidance for appropriate action
by States in building resilience and working towards sustainable societies. In the area of
disaster risk reduction, existing human rights obligations and standards and jurisprudence,
such as the Budayeva case, point to a set of actions that the relevant authorities must take,
including (a) enacting and implementing laws dealing with all relevant aspects of disaster
risk mitigation and setting up the necessary mechanisms and procedures; (b) taking the
necessary administrative measures, including supervising potentially dangerous situations;
(c) informing the population about possible dangers and risks; (d) evacuating potentially
affected populations; (e) conducting criminal investigations and prosecuting those
responsible for neglecting their duties in the case of deaths caused by a disaster; (f)
compensating the surviving relatives of victims killed as a consequence of those duties
being neglected.17
50.
A particularly useful feature of a human rights-based approach is the emphasis on
effective remedies for violations of human rights. The Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights, in its general comment No. 7 (1997) on forced evictions, stated that “legal
remedies or procedures should be provided to those who are affected by eviction orders”
and that “all the individuals concerned have a right to adequate compensation for any
property, both personal and real, which is affected”. The Committee further noted in its
general comment No. 15 (2002) on the right to water, that “any persons or groups who have
been denied their right to water should have access to effective judicial or other appropriate
remedies at both national and international levels” and “all victims of violations of the right
to water should be entitled to adequate reparation, including restitution, compensation,
satisfaction or guarantees of non-repetition”. Recognizing the important role of national
human rights institutions in strengthening accountability and providing remedies, the
Committee also noted that they should be permitted to address violations of the right to
water. Special procedures mandate holders, including those on the right to adequate
housing, on the right to education, on the rights of internally displaced persons and on
hazardous substances and wastes, and other United Nations mechanisms have also
emphasized the importance of access to remedies within the scope of their mandates and
issued guidelines which provide further guidance. 18
17
18
See Walter Kälin and Claudine Haenni Dale, “Disaster risk mitigation — why human rights matter”,
Forced Migration Review, issue No. 31 (October 2008).
See for example: the basic principles and guidelines on development-based evictions and
displacement issued by the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an
adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context (A/HRC/4/18,
annex) and the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims
of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International
Humanitarian Law (General Assembly resolution 60/147, annex).
11
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