The dozers of the Israeli occupation army on April 14, 2015 demolished a building that is still under construction in the neighborhood of Wad al-Jouz under the pretext of “unlicensed construction”. The building is comprised of four floors (1200m2 for each) and is owned by Citizen Akram Abu Shalbak.
Citizen Abu Shalbak told a researcher from Land Research Center the following: “I built my house on October 2014 for the sake of leasing apartments. Due to the complicated procedures and the high expense the municipality of the occupation imposes on residents of Jerusalem, I decided to build the house without obtaining a building permit. Shortly after, a staff from the municipality came to the location, took photos of the building, issued a stop-work order on it, and demanded me to appear before the municipality court. The court ruled the building to be demolished; we objected the order twice; last objection was on April 14, 2015, which is the same day in which the demolition took place”
He also said: “At 5 a.m., a massive force from the occupation police accompanied by two dozers arrived to the location and embarked on demolishing the building after shutting down all roads leading to the structure. Noteworthy, the total finical loss is estimated of 1,000,000 INS”.
Land Research Center LRC sees that demolitions contradict with and violate all of the International conventions and Humanitarian laws including:
- Article 17 of the (1948) Universal Declaration of Human Rights stating: “Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.”
- Section ‹G› of article 23 of the (1907) The Hague Conventions asserting: “In addition to the prohibitions provided by special Conventions, it is especially forbidden to destroy or seize the enemy's property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war.”
- Article 53 of the Geneva Fourth Convention (1948) declaring: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.”
- Section 1, Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966): “The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent."
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
