29 Housing rights Iain Byrne The struggle for minorities and indigenous peoples to protect and secure their own economic and social resources has entered the public consciousness more in relation to housing and land than perhaps any other issue. From the landmark case of Mabo1 in the Australian High Court, confirming aboriginal title in the early 1990s; to that of Grootboom 2 before the South African Constitutional Court in 2000 brought by a squatter community demanding access to basic shelter; to the decision of the Inter-American Court in Awas Tingini Indigenous Community of Mayagna v. The State of Nicaragua 3 in 2001, concerning the failure to consult indigenous people before granting logging concessions on their lands: the story of minority and indigenous groups securing their economic and social rights has often been one of successful housing and land rights advocacy. Moreover, nowhere does the principle that states and other entities must respect peoples’ own economic and social resources ring more true than in relation to housing and land. Clearly, both rights, as well as being inextricably linked (since often there can be no access to housing without access to land), play a key role in guaranteeing non-discriminatory enjoyment to a range of other rights – not just economic and social, but also civil and political, and consequently to the principles of indivisibility and universality.4 For many people, land rights define the way and the means by which they live and practise their culture. The focus of this chapter is the elaboration and protection of minorities’ and indigenous peoples’ right to housing including, related land rights. Standards Housing rights standards are found in all of the major international instruments with economic and social rights provisions, including those with special applicability for minorities. Most tend to be brief statements (e.g. ICESCR Art. 11(1), ICEDAW Art. 14(2)(h)). These provisions have been augmented by numerous resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly and by the Commission and SubCommission on Human Rights. One of the most significant is the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which states that they shall have a right to determine, plan and implement all housing and other social and economic