Domicide Explained

Domicide (from Latin domus, meaning home or abode, and caedo, meaning deliberate killing, though used here metaphorically) is the deliberate destruction of housing by human agency in pursuit of specified goals.[1] This also encompasses the widespread destruction of a living environment, forcing the incumbent humans to move elsewhere.[2] 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, Balakrishnan Rajagopal.[3] [4]

Rajagopal has argued that international law should be amended to consider domicide to be a war crime.[5]

Examples

Notable historical examples of domicide include: the Bombing of Tokyo, which was the most destructive and deadly non-nuclear bombing in human history,[6] the bombing of Warsaw and Dresden and the destruction perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.[7]

The recent Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip is considered to be the one of the most destructive campaigns in history. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, advisor to the United Nations on dams and Special Rapporteur on adequate housing accused Israel of committing domicide in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war.[8] [9]

Further reading

See also: Bibliography of Genocide studies.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Porteous, Douglas . Domicide: The Global Destruction Of Home . Sandra E. Smith . McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP . 2001 . 9780773569614 . 12.
  2. Web site: Sullivan . Becky . 9 February 2024 . What is 'domicide,' and why has war in Gaza brought new attention to the term? . 21 May 2024 . National Public Radio.
  3. Web site: 2022-10-28 . 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 ]. 2024-01-05 . reliefweb.int . en.
  4. Web site: October 28, 2022 . "Domicide" must be recognised as an international crime: UN expert . Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
  5. News: Rajagopal . Balakrishnan . 2024-01-29 . Opinion Domicide: The Mass Destruction of Homes Should Be a Crime Against Humanity . 2024-01-29 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  6. Long . Tony . 9 March 2011 . March 9, 1945: Burning the Heart Out of the Enemy . . 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..
  7. Book: Collins, Andrew E . Disaster and Development . Routledge . 2009 . 9780203879238 . 109.
  8. Web site: 2024-03-05 . UN rights expert condemns ‘systematic’ war-time mass destruction of homes UN News . 2024-08-29 . news.un.org . en.
  9. Web site: Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal . United Nations Human Rights.

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