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Balakrishnan Rajagopal

@balaraj.bsky.social

Former UN Special Rapporteur on Right to adequate housing and MIT Professor

75 Posts406 Follower485 Folgt
Just Security@justsecurity.org · 5mo ago

At the #UnitedNations, a General Comment on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in situations of armed conflict is underway. Former UN Special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing @balaraj.bsky.social shares his recent input:

Submission to the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Application of the ICESCR in Situations of Armed Conflict

Former Special Rapporteur finds that the destruction of housing in armed conflict is a "central and systemic" violation of international law.

justsecurity.org

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

Today is the one year deadline given by the UN General Assembly for withdrawal of Israel from all illegal settlements after last year’s historic ICJ ruling which found settlements illegal. What should happen now? I discuss in an opinion piece. www.aa.com.tr/en/opinion/o...

OPINION - UN General Assembly's deadline on Palestine: What comes next?

Without confronting Israel’s outlaw behavior, states are faced with the prospect of the breakdown of law and order in the international system, and the obsolescence of the UN itself - Anadolu Ajansı

aa.com.tr

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

This belated finding by the independent commission, must lead to immediate action by individual states and collectively through the UN, to stop Israel’s genocide, to urgently assist the people of Gaza and to ensure accountability. Will it happen? www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds

GENEVA – Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, a...

ohchr.org

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

I condemn this executive order by the US President to criminalize homelessness in the US in violation of both US law and international law. I have condemned this approach already in a UN report last year and call on States in the US not to cooperate. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose and

whitehouse.gov

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

I welcome #France’s decision to recognize the State of Palestine. This is highly overdue and I urge all holdout states in the West to follow suit. That is the surest way to peace in the Middle East. www.reuters.com/world/europe...

Infuriating Netanyahu, France's Macron says to recognise Palestinian state

France intends to recognise a Palestinian state in September at the United Nations General Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, adding that he hoped it would help bring peace to the region, but drawing an immediate rebuke from Israel.

reuters.com

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

#India is leading the world in illegal home demolitions, especially affecting minorities and vulnerable groups. This is a national scandal - a gross violation of domestic and international law and must stop. My press release about the latest demolitions in #Gujarat. www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

India must halt arbitrary demolitions targeting minorities and marginalised communities: UN experts

GENEVA – India must immediately put an end to its practice of arbitrary and punitive demolitions affecting low-income households, minorities and migrants, independent human rights experts* warned toda...

ohchr.org

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

Israel’s attack on Iran is a grave violation of international law including attacks on nuclear scientists at their homes. Israel is a serial violator of jus cogens norms and there must be meaningful sanctions and containment measures against it. www.ejiltalk.org/is-israels-u...

Is Israel’s Use of Force Against Iran Justified by Self-Defence?

This morning, Israel launched a major military operation against Iran targeting its nuclear programme, including facilities, individual scientists and military leadership. In this post, I will provide...

ejiltalk.org

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

More than 400,000 Palestinians in Gaza might be dead according to this analysis that relies on data from the Israeli IDF. Not surprising in the light of the Lancet report months ago that estimated the dead at 200,000. A monstrous genocide! threadreaderapp.com/thread/19310...

Thread by @PixieOfDeath on Thread Reader App

@PixieOfDeath: The Israeli army estimates there are 1.85 million people in Gaza. Subtracting the 100,000 estimated to have left for Egypt before Israel occupied Rafah crossing, it puts the death toll ...

threadreaderapp.com

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

When States fail humanity, it is civil society that stands up, now for Palestinianians in Gaza through a People’s Tribunal, as it has for other victims of colonial wars of annexation and extermination. Guided by the indomitable Prof. Richard Falk. richardfalk.org/2025/05/25/g...

GAZA TRIBUNAL: Program for Sarajevo Public Sesssion, May 26-29, 2025

[Prefatory Note: The Gaza Tribunal will hold its first public session, starting Monday, 10:00 AM GMT; it presents extensive reports on various dimensions of the Gaza Ordeal endured for more than 19…

richardfalk.org

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

The Special Rapporteur on the right to food @MichaelFakhri writes in the @guardian: The GA must act to authorize peacekeepers to ensure aid delivery to Gaza. I have called on the GA before to act under the Uniting for Peace res. and fully endorse this. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

If aid doesn’t enter Gaza now, 14,000 babies may die. UN peacekeepers must step in | Michael Fakhri

As a UN special rapporteur on the right to food, I have watched for 19 months as Israel starves children. The world must act now

theguardian.com

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

New report in the @972mag on systematic destruction of homes in Gaza as the main strategy to commit genocide and annexation by making it uninhabitable for Palestinians. Western media - @FT @TheEconomist @guardian @Independent and @nytimes @washingtonpost @BBCWorld - wake up!

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

Home demolitions for suspects or even convicts are illegal as Indian Supreme Court has ruled. Terrorism suspects must be prosecuted and punished according to the law, not subject to collective punishment in act of rogue justice. India must stop this. thewire.in/law/jammu-ka...

Despite SC Ruling, J&K Authorities Demolish Homes of Pahalgam Suspects, Others, Without Notice

The families of at least two of the suspects said they had been displaced as a result of the action.

thewire.in

Balakrishnan Rajagopal@balaraj.bsky.social · last yr.

Glad to speak at the side event, “Rebuilding Gaza for Gazans” at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg. Urged urgent intervention before the genocide in Gaza results in total extermination or expulsion.

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