A/HRC/26/33 movement and residence, the right to privacy, the right to choose one’s own residence and the right to adequate housing.16 The prohibition of arbitrary displacement has also been addressed to an extent in international humanitarian law.17 Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, relative to the protection of civilians in time of international armed conflict, prohibits “individual or mass forcible transfers” as a grave breach of international humanitarian law. This prohibition was later extended to non-international armed conflicts when the second additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions. State practice establishes these rules as norms of customary international humanitarian law applicable in both international and non-international armed conflicts.18 40. The Kampala Convention innovates by listing, non-exhaustively, a wide range of causes of arbitrary displacement, demonstrating that it is not only caused by conflicts. Indeed, in addition to armed conflict and situations of generalized violence or human rights violations, the Convention obliges States parties to protect all persons against policies of racial or other discrimination aimed at or resulting in altering the ethnic, religious or racial composition of the population; displacement due to harmful practices;19 and forced evacuations in situations of natural or man-made disasters or other scenarios where evacuation is not required by safety or health considerations of those affected. The warning against the use of “safety and health” reasons to justify displacement that is fundamentally arbitrarily is an important safeguard established by the Convention. Similarly, the Convention devotes the whole entire of article 10 to internal displacement caused by development projects carried out by public and private actors. 41. The clear objective here is to prohibit all forms of arbitrary displacement, in all circumstances, including forced evictions. In this regard, the article 4 of the Kampala Convention provides a “catchall” by articulating the obligation of States parties to prevent arbitrary displacement caused by an “act, event, factor or phenomenon of comparable gravity to all of the above” that is not justified under international law, including human rights and international humanitarian law. 42. While the Convention does not define arbitrary displacement as a criminal offence, article 4 (6) it requires States parties to declare as offences punishable by law the worst forms of arbitrary displacement, such as those amounting to genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. (ii) Disasters and climate change 43. In 2012 alone, an estimated 7.7 million people were displaced in the wake of natural disasters in countries that have signed or ratified the Kampala Convention,20 which explains the special attention drawn to natural and man-made disasters in it. The Convention requires States parties to take measures specifically to prevent and mitigate the effects of disasters, including by establishing early warning systems and implementing disaster risk 16 17 18 19 20 IDMC, “The Kampala Convention. One year on” (see footnote 14), p. 25. See Megan Bradley and Mike Asplet , “Strengthened Protection for Internally Displaced Persons in Africa: The Kampala Convention Comes Into Force”, American Society of International Law, vol. 16, No. 36, 6 December 2012. Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, Volume I: Rules(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009), p. 457. Under article 1 (j) of the Kampala Convention, “harmful practices” denotes all behaviour, attitudes and/or practices that negatively affect the fundamental rights of persons, such as, but not limited to, their right to life, health, dignity, education or mental and physical integrity. Female genital mutilation is usually considered a form of harmful practice. IDMC, “The Kampala Convention. One year on” (see footnote 14), p. 21. 11