June 27, 2013

X. Recommendations

To the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)

Impose a moratorium on relocation and rehousing until an independent, expert review of existing policies and practices is carried out to determine whether they comply with international law. The review should assess all government policies that require or lead to the displacement and resettlement of rural Tibetans, confiscation of their property, or imposed slaughter of their livestock.

Where consultation and compensation have been inadequate, the government should give affected individuals and families the opportunity to return to their original land, to be resettled in an area nearby or like the one from which they were removed, and to receive appropriate compensation as required by Chinese law.
In order to ensure transparency and accountability in the process of resettlement, institutionalize genuine community consultation that facilitates participation of all those affected by the policies.
Prior to future resettlements, local authorities should:

Conduct surveys of affected residents, their assets, and their socio-economic conditions, and use this information in determining the location to which they will be moved and ensuring that their standard of living there will be the same or better.
Determine whether resettlement will render individuals vulnerable to violation of other human rights.
Provide adequate and reasonable notice for all affected persons.
Inform communities of available legal remedies to challenge a demand to resettle, so that individuals who wish to challenge the resettlement concerns are able to do so and have a fair adjudication of such a challenge. Provide legal assistance for such claims.
Implement mechanisms by which low-income citizens can easily access information on proposed resettlements.
Where those adversely affected by relocation and rehousing policies are unable to provide for themselves, authorities should take measures to ensure that adequate alternative means of livelihood are available, including return to herding.

Where alternate land is needed to ensure adequate opportunity to continue existing livelihood activities, aim to use land as close as possible to the original area.
To comply with the recommendations of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and other human rights treaty obligations, authorities should review the Property Rights Law 2007 to ensure it guarantees meaningful security of tenure to occupiers of houses and land.
Recognize and uphold the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association to ensure that Tibetans and others are able to engage in peaceful activities and raise concerns and criticisms, including of government relocation and rehousing policies and practices.
Establish a regime of transparent accounting for state subsidies from the national to the local level to address the risk of corruption and mismanagement of public funds.
Grant access to Tibetan areas as requested by several United Nations Special Rapporteurs in the wake of the March 2008 protests.

Ensure that no form of support, whether financial, diplomatic, or technical, is used to assist in rehousing and relocation programs in Tibetan areas of China that contravene national and international law.
Call on the Chinese government to halt all further resettlements until they can be carried out in a fair and transparent manner and are consistent with Chinese national law and China’s international human rights obligations.
Call on the Chinese government to allow local NGOs, civil society groups, United Nations monitors, and independent media to investigate and report on resettlements.

The Human Rights Council and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights should raise questions about China’s Comfortable Housing policy.

States participating in the October 2013 Universal Periodic Review of China at the Human Rights Council should urge the Chinese government to impose a moratorium on all relocation and rehousing programs.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People should write to the Chinese government raising concerns about the treatment of Tibetans in general and Tibetan herders in particular, and should request an invitation to conduct a mission to Tibetan areas.
The Human Rights Council should endorse the Basic Principles and guidelines on development-based evictions and displacement presented by the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing in his 2006 report to the council, and invite all states to approve guidelines for such displacement as soon as possible.

Ensure that projects do not result in forced evictions in violation of international law and, should resettlements be necessary, ensure that they comply with international human rights standards in their design, implementation, and follow-up.
Improve public access to information and transparency by:

Strengthening channels of communication with local and national civil society and with community members affected by resettlement; and
Making documents such as environmental assessments, periodic environmental monitoring reports, resettlement action plans, and updates on implementation more accessible, including by providing short summaries in non-technical language, translating the summaries and the full reports into local languages, posting them on the internet, and providing copies in public buildings such as local schools in directly affected communities.

Establish effective grievance mechanisms so that individuals affected by infrastructure projects can complain directly to companies in addition to the government.
Before entering into any partnerships or contractual dealings with the national or local governments of China, undertake due diligence to ensure that the land for projects was acquired in a manner consistent with Chinese national law and China’s international human rights obligations.
Adopt explicit policies in support of human rights and establish procedures to ensure that the financing of projects, or participation in projects, does not contribute to, or result in, human rights abuses. At a minimum, analyze the human rights impacts of the proposed project and mitigate adverse impacts. Such a “human rights impact assessment” should be conducted in coordination with local civil society groups.