- 154 - evictions and, in any event, limit them to the strict needs of public order; in these cases alone, they should carry them out only in consultation with the persons concerned, making provision for appropriate rehousing measures, avoiding the use of force and, in all cases, compensating the victims in order to reduce the adverse consequences to a minimum. 17. In its resolution 1993/77, the Commission on Human Rights itself affirmed that the practice of forced eviction constituted a gross violation of human rights, in particular the right to adequate housing, and urged Governments to undertake immediate measures, at all levels, aimed at eliminating this practice. 18. At a time when the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is being ratified by a growing number of States (133 to date) and when international provisions for the protection of human rights, in particular the right to adequate housing, are increasingly being incorporated in domestic legislation, the view that the right to adequate housing is a human right can no longer be seriously challenged. 19. This right concerns the dignity of human beings - men, women and children - and it is provided for in many international instruments for the protection of human rights, chief among them the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 20. The decision by the Commission on Human Settlements to take up, at the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), the theme "Adequate Shelter for All" and the multisectoral questions relating thereto is in line with the rationale which inspired the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and, recently, the World Conference on Human Rights. 21. The reaffirmation by the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) that the right to adequate housing is a fundamental human right is, for the Committee and for the international community as a whole, of considerable importance in terms of access to human dignity for the greatest number.