A/HRC/25/54 with benefits and support, such as access to finance, made conditional on homeownership.69 Meanwhile, many urban planning processes aim to benefit only those with registered tenure rights and fail to take into account the circumstances of urban poor communities whose arrangements are not legally recognized. These exclusions impair the enjoyment of human rights by those without freehold or other legally recognized tenure rights vis-a-vis other sectors of the population. States should ensure that land administration, housing policies and urban plans protect and secure a variety of tenure arrangements, prioritizing the most vulnerable and marginalized. For example, the Mexico City Housing Improvement Programme offers credit regardless of tenure status.70 56. Land acquisition. Land occupied by urban poor households with an ambiguous tenure status is disproportionately acquired by States for “public purpose” projects, such as infrastructure development, requiring the eviction of residents.71 This situation may amount to discrimination in the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing on the basis of tenure and economic status. In selecting sites for public purpose projects,72 States should ensure that the urban poor are not disproportionately affected, and that all alternatives have been considered. 57. Police procedures. Residents of urban settlements and homeless persons face disproportionate levels of police intervention and use of force without due process.73 In many countries, police enter homes in poor settlements, sometimes in major operations, without a court order, violating residents’ rights to protection against arbitrary interference with their privacy, family and home.74 Homeless persons, who have no choice but to sleep, eat and conduct other life-sustaining activities in publics spaces are commonly harassed, fined and detained for doing so. Police must follow due process and respect human rights in conducting law enforcement activities, including in urban settlements, and ensure that any use of force is strictly necessary and proportional to lawful objectives. States should decriminalize homelessness and ensure full respect by police of human rights of homeless persons.75 58. Access to humanitarian assistance. Sometimes tenure documentation, such as title, is a prerequisite to establishing eligibility for humanitarian assistance to ensure the sustainability of the assistance provided and avoid fraudulent tenure claims and future conflict.76 However, often those most in need are displaced, landless and/or tenure insecure, and may not hold title or evidence of occupancy in their names, or may have lost their documentation during the conflict or disaster. In many contexts, various forms of customary tenure that do not rely on documentary evidence are dominant and can provide a reliable basis for durable shelter assistance. 59. States, including donors, in cooperation with humanitarian actors, should ensure that all disaster and conflict-affected persons, irrespective of their tenure status and without 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 18 A/67/286 and A/68/289. See www.casayciudad.org.mx/publicaciones/PMVUNAEXP.pdf. See Richard Ballard, “Geographies of development: Without the poor”, Progress in Human Geography, 36, No. 5, pp. 563–572. Basic Principles, para. 21. See Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, final draft of the Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, A/HRC/21/39, paras. 64 et seq. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 17. See NLCHP, Criminalizing Crisis (2011), pp. 7–8; United States, Interagency Council on Homelessness, Searching out Solutions: Constructive alternatives to the criminalization of homelessness (2012), p. 7. UN-Habitat, Land and Natural Disasters: Guidance for Practitioners (2010), pp. 64, 67, 75 and 80– 81.