VOA标准英语2012--Humanitarian Guidelines Help Refugees Get Back Land, Property

Humanitarian 1 Guidelines Help Refugees Get Back Land, Property

人道主义指南帮助难民收回土地及财产

Their name is long but precise: The UN Principles for Housing and Property Restitution 2 for Refugees and IDPs. Relief groups and lawyers know them as the Pinheiro Principles, named for Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the author of a study that assembled the guidelines and a former UN sub-commission special rapporteur on housing and property restitution.

联合国难民,流离失所者住房和财产赔偿原则,这个名字虽长但却很精确的代表了被赋予的使命。因为费歇罗原则,救援小组和律师们才开始知道他们,这是根据保罗?塞尔吉奥?费歇罗的名字命名,他是研究的作者,也是前联合国对于住房和财产赔偿分部的特别记录人。

The principles are a consolidation 3 of international human rights law and best practices for resettling those driven off their land. They are included in the UNHCR Handbook on Voluntary Repatriation 4, which provides additional guidance on resettlement and restitution of land and property.

该原则是国际人权法和重新赋予那些没有土地人员最佳实践的组合。其中也包括进联合国难民事务高级办事处的自愿遣返手册,该手册对于归还土地和财产提供了额外的指导。

They’re endorsed 5 by the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion 6 and Protection of Human Rights and are used as guidelines by the UNHCR and other groups resettling the displaced.

该原则也由联合国促进和保护人权分会支持,联合国难民事务高级办事处及其他团体作为指导方针。

Rights for refugees and the internally displaced

The 23 principles include the right to be protected from forced displacement 7, and to adequate housing and to the freedom of movement, including the right to return in freedom and dignity. They also suggest legal and political procedures, including compensation, that can be provided by states to protect both returning refugees and current inhabitants of their properties.

这23项原则包括保护不受强制位移的权利,适当住房及行动自由,包括自由和尊严返回权。他们还建议法律和政治程序,包括补偿,各州可以提供保护返回的难民及属于自己财产的当前居民。

Today, they’re referred to in courtrooms around the world for those pressing restitution claims by refugees and IDPs. They’re also used by governments in creating legislation to meet the standards of international treaties.

现今,因为受到难民和流离失所者的赔偿敦促,这些人受到世界各地的法庭传讯。他们也被政府利用创造立法来满足国际条约。

Chris Huggins, the director of the consulting firm called Land Conflict Research in Ottawa, Canada, said the Pinheiro Principles bring with them recommendations and standards relating to the restitution of refugee lands.

克里斯?希金斯是加拿大渥太华土地冲突研究咨询公司的董事长,他表示原则带给他们建议及有关赔偿难民土地的标准。

"[The principles interact] with existing guidelines and international frameworks," he said. "[They are] not what we call 'hard law' so [they] don’t necessarily represent a legal obligation by governments or the UNHCR, but in certain parts of the world, they have been used to interpret existing treaties or agreements."

“原则与现行的建议及国际框架互补,”他说道。“它不是我们所说的强硬法律所以并不代表政府的一项法定义务或联合国难民事务高级办事处,但是在世界上的某些地区,它已经用于解释条约或协定。”

The Pinheiro Principles and Sudan

They include the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. It relied on the Pinheiro Principles when deciding a recent lawsuit 8 against the Government of Sudan for abuses against the internally displaced in Darfur. The commission found that Khartoum had “failed to show it refrained from forced eviction 9 or the demolition 10 of houses and other property” from Janjaweed militia 11.

这包括依赖费歇罗原则的非洲人权委员会。当决定最近反对苏丹政府为侵犯达尔富尔的流离失所者的诉讼时它起到了决定性作用。委员会发现喀土穆贾贾威德民兵已经“表明它不再强迫拆迁或房屋及对其他财产的破坏”。

In its ruling, the AU cited Principle 5. It calls on states to prohibit forced eviction, demolition of houses and destruction of agricultural areas, and the confiscation 12 of land as punishment or as an instrument of war. The principles say governments should prevent displacement, even when threatened by people, corporations and other non-state actors.

在这项判决中,AU引用第5项原则。它呼吁国家禁止强迫拆迁,房屋毁坏及破坏农业地区,没收土地作为处罚或者作为战争工具。原则表示甚至受到人民,公司及非国家因素威胁时,政府应该防止位移。

The African Commission’s ruling calls on the Government of Sudan to provide conditions for the safe return of IDPs and refugees and to establish “a National Reconciliation 13 Forum 14 that would, among others, resolve issues of land, grazing and water rights….”

非洲委员会判决呼吁苏丹政府为流离失所者和难民安全返回提供条件并建立“全国和解论坛,其中解决土地问题,牧业和水权…”

The Pinheiro Principles also influenced the Kampala Convention. African signatories to it commit to protecting and helping 15 IDPs return safely – and voluntarily – to their homes and to recognize the right of returnees to their property, or to compensation.

这个原则同样影响坎帕拉会议。非洲签约国承诺帮助保护流离失所者们安全返回,并且自愿承认其返还财产权利,或对其进行赔偿。

Peace agreements

Huggins said there are efforts to have the principles be part of peace agreements. For example, the principles encouraged the inclusion of property rights and housing issues in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, CPA, that ended fighting between north and south Sudan in 2005.

希金斯表示正努力使该原则成为和平协议的一部分。例如,在2005年结束南北苏丹战争的全面和平协定中将鼓励产权及住房问题包含在内。

"[Several] international actors like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization did a number of studies on southern Sudan and identified potential problems regarding to post conflict land disputes and the rights and livelihoods 16 of returning IDPs and refugees, and those studies fed into the CPA for Sudan," he said.

“像联合国食物及农业组织这样的几个国际演员对于在苏丹南部和潜在的问题,比如难民和流离失所者返回产生的土地权利的冲突和土地纠纷做了大量的研究工作。而那些研究已经转交给苏丹方面。”他说道。

"[It] mandated 17 a land commission to look into these issues, and one is looking into these issues now in the south and there are commissions in all of these transitional states looking at how to resolve these land disputes."

“土地委员会委托调查这些问题,其中南部一个问题已经初现端倪,而所有这些过渡委员会正在对如何解决这些土地纠纷拭目以待。”

In the DRC, there are local reconciliation and return commissions working to resolve land issues and find alternative local lands to serve as compensation. In Burundi, the government has created a land and property commission mandated by peace agreements to look for solutions to IDP and refugee property claims.

在刚果,当地和解并返回佣金解决土地问题及找到替代的土地作为补偿。在布隆迪,政府按照和平协议已经颁布一项土地和财产佣金来寻求难民和国际财产索赔的解决方案。

Protecting secondary occupants

The Pinheiro Principles forbid discrimination on the basis of gender 18, religion, language, disability or other status.

原则禁止性别、宗教、语言、残疾或其他行为的歧视。

They also protect secondary occupants, who have settled on refugee property, from arbitrary eviction and encourage governments to find a remedy to their claims to property as well.

他们也保护二次占有者,已经成为难民财产所有者的人,从任意驱逐到鼓励政府找到一种解决办法的途径。

Huggins notes that some say Rwanda has tried to follow the spirit of the principles by having returnees and current occupants share land. Others say the policy violates the principles by eventually undermining land tenure 19 security. Huggins says critics ask how secure a claim to the land can be if the government can order the owner to give up half of it without compensation ?

希金斯指出,有人表示卢旺达正试图履行该原则。还有些人认为政策违反原则最终破坏土地所有权安全。希金斯表示批判人士问道如果政府责令所有者放弃一半而没有补偿的话土地还是否安全?

Tripartite agreements

The Pinheiro Principles are also part of the tripartite agreements signed between the UNHCR, the country of origin and the host country, which cannot arbitrarily deport 20 them.

该原则也是联合国难民事务高级办事处,原属国及主办国的三方协议,不能任意驱逐。

A public information officer with the UNHCR, Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba, explains how the Principles’ support for the vulnerable, including women, are ensured in the signed contract:

联合国难民事务高级办事处公共信息办公室职员法特马特?卡巴解释道原则如何支持弱势群体,包括妇女,都会受到保护。

"Women, for example, may not have their rights respected," she said, "because of traditional practices that prevent them from inheriting land [though they may be] entitled to it because their husband was killed in the war, or maybe they themselves helped purchased the land [though by tradition they do not have a right to property]. This is the type of thing we would seek to address through a tri-partite agreement."

“女人,我只是打个比方,可能她们的权利没有受到尊重,”她说道,“因为传统阻碍她们继承土地,因为她们的丈夫在战争中身亡,或者她们自己帮助购买。这是司空见惯的事情,我们将通过三方协议寻求解决办法。”

"When we enter [such an agreement]," she said, "every word, every passage about every contentious 21 issue negotiated is discussed. By the time we’ve signed an agreement, it means we’ve negotiated all the issues, and if there are any that need to be resolved, it will be stated if we or the country needs to continue to work on these issues."

“当我们执行协议时,”她说道,“每一个字,每一段都是关于争议问题的讨论。我们已经签署了一项协议,这意味着我们已经协商所有的问题,如果有任何需要解决,如果我们或国家需要继续在这些问题上寻求答案，那肯定会有答案。”

One size does not fit all

Huggins said it’s not easy to apply the principles everywhere.

希金斯表示将这些原则无处不在的应用不是一件容易的事。

He said they worked well in Eastern Europe, where governments have kept records of land ownership. But that’s not the case in much of Africa, where most land is not owned by individuals, but by the community under customary law.

他表示东欧的工作已经顺利开展,政府已经记录了土地所有权。但非洲的许多地方却大相径庭,大部分土地并不属于个人,而是按照约定俗成隶属于社区。

It may also be difficult for weak governments to ensure the protection of all returning refugees, especially in remote areas, or where the rule of law is not well established.

对于软弱的政府保护所有的难民返回可能非常困难,尤其在偏远地区,或法治并不太健全的地方。

Huggins calls these the grey areas in post-conflict restitution.

希金斯称这些灰色地区为准备灾后重建。

"There are a number of conflicts in Africa where ethnic 22 minorities who are targeted with violence tend to sell their land before they flee the fighting," he said. "There’s controversy 23 in many areas over whether that was a forced sale, because the price of land plummets 24 when there’s going to be conflict in an area, and people sell their land for whatever they can get…But often, afterward 25, those same people come back and say 'My life was threatened, I sold you this land at a discounted price as a forced sale, and I want it back.' "

“在非洲少数民族有一些冲突,这些暴徒往往在逃离战争之前出售他们的土地,”他说道。“在许多地区存在是否是被迫销售的争议,因为土地价格在冲突地区更是一落千丈,人们出售土地以得到想要的一切…但是后来,还是这些人回来并说我的生命受到了威胁,卖给你的土地价格是打折后的被迫销售,我现在想把它要回来。”

"[Or], people will entrust 26 their land to a neighbor of a different ethnic group and say 'Look after may land and use it, but when I return I want it back. But after 20 years, the friendly neighbor has been replaced by his sons, and this was based on a verbal agreement and difficult to prove. So it’s complicated to put the principles into practice in some African countries."

“人们把自己的土地委托给邻居或不同的族群并说帮忙照顾,并使用它,但是当其回来的时候会把它要回来。但20年后,友善的邻居继承给了自己的儿子,而当初只是基于一个口头协议,很难被证明。所以把原则付诸于一些非洲国家很难。”

He said this was the case in eastern DRC, and in Rwanda and Burundi and other areas where ethnic minorities were forced to flee.

他说这就是发生在刚果东部的真实事例,而在卢旺达和布隆迪及其他地区,少数民族被迫疏散。

Some international NGO handbooks recommend that where tenure is not registered or contested, programs should be put in place to define and register land and to give people formal documentation that secures their right to it.

一些国际非政府组织建议该原则某些所有权没有注册或者存在争议,有些权利应放在更适当的位置来定义和登记土地和给人们正式文件,从而保障他们的权利。

Huggins says this reinforces the importance of having well functioning land tenure systems -- still an issue for a continent where only a small percentage of property is officially registered.

希金斯表示加强具有重要功能的的土地所有权制度还是一个问题,因为一个大陆只有一小部分财产正式注册。