Introduction

Over the past decade several commentators and UN human rights bodies have stressed the need for United Nations international peace keeping operations to address housing, land, and property (HLP) rights issues arising out of conflicts. It has been widely acknowledged that the resolution of HLP issues is centrally linked to post-conflict peacebuilding, reconciliation, and the sustainable return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Further, the right of refugees and IDPs to return to their homes in their country or place of origin following a conflict has evolved significantly as a human rights norm.

Since the late 1990s, HLP rights issues have featured with increased frequency on the agenda of the UN and have been recognized as a central component of peacekeeping efforts. In this regard, the secretary-general's August 2004 report to the Security Council on the rule of law and transitional justice in conflict and post-conflict societies makes express reference to these issues. It explicitly recognizes as an essential component of the rule of law effective legal mechanisms for redressing property disputes that arise out of conflict, together with the need for restoring property rights or compensation where this is no longer possible. More recently, the report of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, otherwise known as the “Pinheiro Principles” on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and IDPs, has expressly recognized the centrality of HLP rights challenges and restitution issues in post-conflict peacebuilding in the context of the return of refugees and IDPs.