Domicide (from Latin domus, meaning home or abode, and caedo, meaning deliberate killing), is the destruction of housing for corporate, political, strategic or bereaucratic reasoning.[1] It can also encompass the widespread destruction of a living environment, forcing the incumbent humans to move elsewhere.[2][3] In a human rights context, domicide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of housing and basic infrastructure, making an area uninhabitable.[4] The concept of domicide originated in the 1970s, but only assumed its present meaning in 2022, after a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing.[4][5][6]
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Notable historical examples of domicide include: the Bombing of Tokyo, which was the most destructive and deadly non-nuclear bombing in human history,[7] the bombing of Warsaw and Dresden and the destruction perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.[8] Experts have argued that international law should be amended to consider domicide a war crime.[9] Balakrishnan Rajagopal, advisor to the United Nations on dams and Special Rapporteur on adequate housing has argued that Israel did domicide in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war.[10][11]
J. Douglas Porteous and Sandra E Smith refer to resettlement projects in British Columbia in Canada in favour of the construction of an hydro-electric dam as an example of domicide.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c "Domicide | McGill-Queen's University Press". www.mqup.ca. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
- ^ Sullivan, Becky (9 February 2024). "What is 'domicide,' and why has war in Gaza brought new attention to the term?". National Public Radio. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ Porteous, Douglas; Sandra E. Smith (2001). Domicide: The Global Destruction Of Home. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 12. ISBN 9780773569614.
- ^ a b "Amid Israeli Destruction in Gaza, a New Crime Against Humanity Emerges: Domicide". Haaretz. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
- ^ "Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, Balakrishnan Rajagopal (A/77/190) [EN/AR/RU/ZH] - World | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 2022-10-28. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
- ^ ""Domicide" must be recognised as an international crime: UN expert". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. October 28, 2022.
- ^ Long, Tony (9 March 2011). "March 9, 1945: Burning the Heart Out of the Enemy". Wired.
1945: In the single deadliest air raid of World War II, 330 American B-29s rain incendiary bombs on Tokyo, touching off a firestorm that kills upwards of 100,000 people, burns a quarter of the city to the ground, and leaves a million homeless.
- ^ Collins, Andrew E (2009). Disaster and Development. Routledge. p. 109. ISBN 9780203879238.
- ^ Rajagopal, Balakrishnan (2024-01-29). "Opinion | Domicide: The Mass Destruction of Homes Should Be a Crime Against Humanity". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
- ^ "UN rights expert condemns 'systematic' war-time mass destruction of homes | UN News". news.un.org. 2024-03-05. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
- ^ "Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal". United Nations Human Rights.
Further reading
edit- Azzouz, Ammar (November 2022). Domicide: Architecture, War and the Destruction of Home in Syria. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1350248106.
- Porteous, Douglas; Smith, Sandra E. (2001). Domicide: The Global Destruction Of Home. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0773522572.
External links
edit
- Domicide: The Mass Destruction of Homes Should Be a Crime Against Humanity, MIT Faculty Newsletter (January—March 2024)
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