Mongolia
24.07.03
Urgent Interventions

Mongolia: risk of eviction of 5 families

OMCT/HIC-HLRN
JOINT URGENT ACTION APPEAL:
Risk of Forced Eviction of 5 families in Mongolia
Case MON-FE 240703


The International Secretariat of OMCT and the Coordination Office of HIC-HLRN request your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Mongolia.

The situation
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a member of the OMCT network, has informed the International Secretariat of OMCT that, between 28 May and 28 June 2003, officials of the Bayanzurkh District Land Office and the police made four attempts to seize the land of five families in Bayanzurkh District, Ulan Bator, Mongolia. It is reported that the families gained legal title to the land on 5 May 2003 under Mongolia’s new Land Privatisation Law, and are now forced to fight a wrongful attempt by local officials to transfer the land to another, commercially interested party.

According to the information received, the five families have been living on this land since1965. The members of the families are comprised of five pensioners (aged 57– 90), eight children under the age of 16, four students, 21 adults, of whom two are disabled. It is reported that the adults are unemployed and the average family income is USD 25 per month.

When Mongolia’s Land Privatisation Law reportedly came into effect on 1 May 2003, representatives of the five families (Messrs. Lkhagvadorj, Battumur, Altangerel, Amgalanbayar and Mrs. Norjmaa) applied to the Byanzurkh District Land Office for reregistration of their existing land certificates. It is reported that, on 5 May 2003, the District Land Office properly awarded each applicant ownership of the 0.03 hectares of land on which they lived, and informed them that the Capital City Governor’s Office would issue them a land ownership certificate three months later. The distribution of the land to the resident families conforms with the April 2003 Capital City Council decision, under the privatisation plan, that all families legally residing on a plot of land would receive unconditional title to that land.

Meanwhile, on 25 April 2003, the Mayor of Ulan Bator, Mr. M. Enkhbold, issued Decision 159 that allegedly distributed the land to the Mongolian United Federation of the Owners of Small and Medium Enterprises (MUFOSME). According to the information received, the contents of Decision 159 have remained secret since it was issued.

As a consequence of Mayor Enkhbold’s decision, on 28 May 2003, the Bayanzurkh District Land Officer, a police officer, and an official from MUFOSME reported to the families’ residence and presented an order by the Capital City General Architect Mr. Tselmeg to vacate the land, citing Decision 159. It is reported that the families were not allowed to see Mayor Enkhbold’s Decision 159 and were not given any information as to its exact contents. When the families protested the eviction order, officials reportedly threatened to use force, and the inhabitants overheard the officers and the MUFOSME official saying that it would be easy to move the five families from their lots.

Following four attempts to evict them, the MUFOSME, headed by Mr. Odonchimed, a member of the Parliament and of the ruling Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, filed a complaint claiming title to the land with the Bayanzurkh District Court. The five families must now respond to the complaint, but they do not have the money to hire a lawyer. It is reported that they have not been given access to information about the eviction, reimbursement or resettlement plans, or their rights as land owners.


Human rights, international law, and treaty violations
The attempts to evict these five families from their land contravene, inter alia, their rights to adequate housing; i.e., to a secure place to live in peace and dignity. The Mongolian authorities especially violate these citizens’ formal entitlements to security of tenure, the right to information, freedom from dispossession, participation, compensation, and physical security. All are elements of the right to adequate housing, as recognised in international law. Specifically, the authorities have breached their treaty obligations under articles 2, 4, and 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which Mongolia ratified on 18 November 1974. The State has been derelict in its obligations as elaborated in the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comments Nos. 4 & 7 on the right to adequate housing. Also, by these eviction attempts, Mongolia violates articles 12, 13, 17, 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.


Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Mongolia urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical, social and psychological integrity of the five threatened families;
ii. guarantee an investigation into the circumstances of the issuing of Decision 159 and the order to vacate presented to the families on 28 May 2003;
iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards, in particular the right to adequate housing, including security of tenure and freedom from forced eviction;
iv. discharge the State’s duty to respect, defend, promote and fulfil human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance international human rights standards.


Addresses
Mr.Nambar Enkhbayar, Prime Minister, Government House, Ulaan Bator-12, Mongolia, Fax: +976 11 328329
Mr. M.Enkhbold, Mayor of Ulaanbaatar City, Jigjidjar Street 4, Sukhbaatar, Square11, Ulaan Bator 46,Ulaanbaatar City Hall, Mongolia
Ms. Batchuluun Khishigsaikhan, Director, National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia
Floor 5, Goverment building 11, Liberty Square, Ulaan Bator 38, Mongolia, Phone: (+976 11) 316509, Fax: (+976 11) 327136/320284, Email: b.khishigsaikhan@nhrc-mn.org

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Geneva-Cairo, 24 July 2003
Kindly inform OMCT and HIC-HLRN of any action undertaken, quoting the code of this appeal in your reply to: omct@omct.org and mmignot@hic-mena.org

The joint urgent appeals of OMCT and HIC are dedicated to the protection of the right to adequate housing.
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Sample letter

Date

Excellency,

We have been informed by OMCT and Habitat International Coalition-Housing and Land Rights Network that, between 28 May and 28 June 2003, officials of the Bayanzurkh District Land Office and the police made four attempts to seize the land of five families in Bayanzurkh District, Ulaan Bator, though they gained legal title to the land on 5 May 2003, under Mongolia’s new Land Privatisation Law. We are very concerned about the conditions and rights of those families.

The five families—comprised of five pensioners (aged 57–90), eight children under the age of 16, four students, 21 adults, two of whom are disabled—have been living on this land since1965. When Mongolia’s Land Privatisation Law reportedly came into effect on 1 May 2003, representatives of the five families applied to the Byanzurkh District Land Office for re-registration of their existing land certificates. On 5 May 2003, the District Land Office properly awarded each applicant ownership of the 0.03 hectares of land on which they lived, and informed that the Capital City Governor’s Office would issue them a land ownership certificate three months later.

Meanwhile though, on 25 April 2003, the Mayor of Ulaan Bator, Mr. M. Enkhbold, issued Decision 159 that allegedly distributed the land to the Mongolian United Federation of the Owners of Small and Medium Enterprises (MUFOSME). As a consequence, on 28 May 2003, the Bayanzurkh District Land Officer, a police officer, and an official from MUFOSME reported to the families’ residence and presented an order to vacate the land issued by the Capital City General Architect Mr. Tselmeg, and citing Decision 159 as the basis for the order. Following four attempts to evict them, the MUFOSME filed a complaint claiming title to the land with the Bayanzurkh District Court. The five families must now respond to the complaint, but they do not have the money to hire a lawyer. It is reported that they have not been given access to information about the eviction, reimbursement or resettlement plans, or their rights as land owners.

We are urg all necessary measures to guarantee the physical, social and psychological integrity of the five families threatened with forced eviction, as well as an investigation into the circumstances of the issuing of Decision 159 and the order to vacate presented to the families on 28 May 2003.

Besides contradicting Mongolia’s own Land Privatisation Law, the attempts to evict these five families from their land violate, inter alia, their right to adequate housing; i.e., to a secure place to live in peace and dignity. The Mongolian authorities especially violate these citizens’ formal entitlements to security of tenure, and the right to information, freedom from dispossession, participation, compensation, and physical security. All are elements of the right to adequate housing, as recognised in international law. Specifically, the authorities have breached Mongolia’s treaty obligations under articles 2, 4, and 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which the State ratified on 18 November 1974. The State has been derelict in its obligations as elaborated in the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comments Nos. 4 and 7 on the right to adequate housing. By these eviction attempts, Mongolia also flouts articles 12, 13, 17, 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We call up your Excellency to take urgent, remedial action to respect all Mongolian citizens’ human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and treaty obligations.

Looking forward to learning about your action in this case, thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

[signed]
[Your name]
[Your organisation]

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