A/HRC/25/54 (b) Discrimination on the basis of any prohibited ground in the enjoyment of security of tenure; (c) Failure to adopt appropriate and timely measures to address tenure insecurity of the urban poor; and (d) eviction. The undermining of security of tenure including through forced III. Commentary A. Introduction 6. Security of tenure guarantees that people access and enjoy their home without fear of forced evictions, and enables them to improve their housing and living conditions. It provides a foundation for the enjoyment of all aspects of the right to adequate housing and other human rights.2 Conversely, when tenure insecurity results in forced eviction and homelessness, many human rights are violated and denied. 7. States have an immediate obligation to ensure that all persons possess a degree of security of tenure that guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats.3 They also have an obligation to take progressive measures to strengthen security of tenure for all persons using land or housing for their basic housing needs, and who currently lack such security. The entitlement to secure tenure in situ is, however, not absolute and can be rebutted in exceptional circumstances that justify eviction, consistent with international law obligations concerning, inter alia, due process, reasonableness and proportionality and the exploration of all feasible alternatives.4 When such circumstances exist, States must guarantee safeguards to ensure evictions and resettlement fully respect the human rights of those affected, including through access to alternative housing.5 8. Contrary to dominant discourse on tenure, freehold titles are not the sole instrument of tenure security. Often, policies that promote individual freehold simultaneously reduce support to other tenure arrangements. Such policies risk excluding and undermining the tenure status of large segments of urban and peri-urban populations, particularly the poorest, leading to retrogression in the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing.6 Conversely, policies favouring diverse tenure forms can improve secure access to housing for different population groups. 2 3 4 5 6 See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing; African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights resolution 231 on the right to adequate housing and protection from forced evictions calling for “concrete measures to confer security of tenure to all people lacking such protection, with prior and informed consent of the affected people”; Basic Principles, para. 55. Crucially, the clause “legitimate tenure rights” is used but not defined in the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 4, para. 8 (a). Basic Principles, para. 21. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 7 (1997) on the right to adequate housing, and the Basic Principles. Ibid., general comment No. 3 (1991) on the nature of States parties’ obligations, para. 9. 7