GENEVA, Nov 24: The United States, Sudan and Russia were the worst offenders in breaking the basic right to housing in 2004 due to their role in conflicts which have forced hundreds of thousands from their homes and domestic policies fuelling homelessness, a rights watchdog said on Wednesday.

The three governments stood out for their "appalling disregard" for a basic human right, said Scott Leckie, the executive director of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE).

COHRE estimates that one billion people are inadequately housed in the world and 100 million are homeless on any given night, while more than 20 million people are forcibly evicted without any legal recourse every year.

About 2.3 million people are homeless in the United States, where programmes to help those without shelter have been cut while major cities across the country have effectively been criminalising homelessness, according to COHRE.

"It's a disgrace that literally millions of people live on city streets or in homeless shelters in the wealthiest nation in the world," Leckie said. Low cost housing projects had been pared down in the US and despite recent strong sales house prices have risen to unaffordable levels for the poor and even the middle class in many parts of the country, COHRE said.

"One hundred million people in the United States are not home owners but tenants. Ninety-two per cent of them have no protection against pretty much arbitrary eviction," Leckie added.

"The US remains alone in its systematic written policy opposing the very existence of the right to adequate housing under international human rights law." Cohre also highlighted US military action in Iraq, notably the bombing of the city of Fallujah during an ongoing offensive against insurgents.

"By carrying out forced evictions and demolitions to collectively punish Iraqis who did not readily submit to occupation, US forces violated the Geneva Conventions," Leckie said.

The Geneva-based rights group slated Sudan's role in the strife-torn western region of Darfur over the past year, where government backed Janjaweed militia have attacked and pillaged villages.

"This scorched earth policy, which has led to the mass displacement of more than 1.6 million people from their lands and homes in Darfur, is clear evidence of complete disregard for human rights," Leckie said. -AFP