IAUA non-compliance with UIA Articles and ByeLaws: August 2014

(NOTE: Items underlined in green are the relevant items of the Articles that IAUA do not comply with, and the wording in green italics explains why it is in breach.)

1) PREAMBLE ADOPTED IN LAUSANNE, 1948 regarding the principals of the UIA which is supposed to unite architects internationally and is meant for “facilitating and furthering free contact between architects, irrespective of nationality, race, religion, professional training and architectural doctrines” so that “They shall thereby be in a position to participate more effectively in the improvement of man's living conditions by the reconstruction of devastated cities and villages, the elimination of slums, the advancement of less developed regions, and the raising of housing standards by making their contribution to a better understanding between men and peoples by continually striving for the fulfilment of their aspirations for material and spiritual well-being;

and are resolved to contribute to the progress of human society and to the strengthening of peace.

Yet (Architecture in Israel is totally at odds with this Preamble as its whole building enterprise is based for the benefit of one section of the population to the detriment of the other section. Israel deliberately denies Palestinians in both Israel and the OPTs equal services, especially no services to the ‘unrecognised villages’ which are all scheduled for demolition, and where the tactic is used to allow Palestinian neighbourhoods to deteriorate into slums and dereliction -then preventing them from maintaining of improving their properties, which are requisitioned if they dare to try. Israel is building illegal settlements to progress only Israeli-Jewish society while destroying and limiting and discriminating against its Palestinian citizens and holding Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza under its total control and siege.  The accelerated expansion of settlements makes a viable Palestinian state impossible, and has prevented any chance for peace. Israel is now in the process of committing widespread urbicide and genocide in Gaza, condemned by the UN.)

2) ADDENDUM TO THE PREAMBLE, ADOPTED IN CAIRO, 1985

The Preamble can have meaning only in a world with peace among nations. The greatest

obligation of governments in relation to humanity is the preservation of peace as the basis for

realising the needs and ambitions of people throughout the world. Governments should stop

production for war and use their resources for improvement of conditions for all humanity.

( Israel is doing all it can to destroy peace, never allowing any peace negotiations to succeed by relentless settlement building,  and is using architecture as an instrument of war  -building illegal settlements for its Jewish settlers, on forcibly stolen land using war to devastate and destroy Palestinian homes and cities- as being carried out on Gaza, in 2006, 2008/9, 2012 and now 2014. Lebanon was similarly destroyed in 1982 and in 2006).

3) ARTICLE 1

AIMS OF THE UNION

THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ARCHITECTS aims:

1.4 to maintain public confidence in the integrity and the ability of architects by

demanding that Member Sections of the Union ask their architects to act with the

highest moral and professional standards;

The IAUA has deliberately not done this, saying their architects can act according to their own political views, and they refuse to condemn them for participating in war crimes bringing great suffering to Palestinians in their illegal settlement building, and in Judaisation projects in East Jerusalem, the Naqab (Negev) and the Galilee where every project there involves forced removals, land expropriation, and apartheid in allocation of housing.

1.5  To develop progressive ideas in the fields of architecture, town planning, and the

built environment, as well as their practical application for the welfare of the

community;

Israel’s architecture is intrinsically non-progressive - it is racist, discriminatory, exclusive to Jewish Israelis in housing, and planning. Palestinian ‘unrecognised villages’ are deliberately deprived of infrastructure and services, while Israeli communities are immediately connected to everything as soon as they are setup, this is especially related to outposts set up on ‘grabbing every hill’ in the occupied West Bank, which though even illegal under Israeli law, are immediately wired up to services, eventually becoming ‘legal’ illegal Israeli settlements. While over 800 new Jewish settlements have been built, Palestinians cannot live or build in 93% of the requisitioned land of Palestine, and no new Palestinian town has been built in Israel since 1948, except for seven Bedouin sub-standard townships in the Naqab. Israeli architects have been deeply implicated in the state's expansionism.

 1.9 to highlight the role and identity of the architect in the contexts of quality,

sustainability, and cultural and community values, in relation to the public, and to

public and semi-public authorities, emphasising the holistic nature of architecture

and urban design;

Israeli architects build for the benefit of Jewish Israelis, and cannot be holistic in nature if it excludes half its population that negates community values. Palestinian ‘unrecognised villages’ are deliberately denied all services, and are under persistent threat of demolition, within Israel proper.

1.11 to work towards the establishment of internationally accepted and recognised

standards of competence to practice and mutual recognition of qualifications, and to

encourage in each country the protection of the rights and status of the architect

and the recognition of the architect’s role in society;

The IAUA disclaims any responsibility to do this, and ignores and participates in the intrinsically apartheid nature of the whole profession of architecture as practiced, which it refuses to condemn, in relation to the complete provision for Jewish Israelis, and discriminatory or refusal of normal societal provision for Palestinians, either as citizens of the Israeli state or as occupied people in the West Bank, and blockaded Gaza under total Israeli control .

Article 10.
(1) "The common objectives of all professional organisations are to establish and promote the highest standards of ethical conduct and excellence in the practice of the professions, to regulate the professional conduct of the members of the professions and to cooperate with their allied professional organisations. (2) In line with the foregoing objectives, it shall be mandatory upon a professional organisation to take appropriate action on any formal complaint for unethical conduct filed against any member of its profession by a co-professional, a client, a professional organisation or a government regardless of the residence of the complainant".

Noting  Article 10 that the UIA ethical code for consultants says it should take action even if an outside body makes a complaint to the UIA about the misconduct of architects in building illegal settlements.

ARTICLE 2

MEMBERSHIP

2.2 UIA Members shall be representative of the interests of the majority of professionally qualified architects residing and practising in the country, group of  countries (as defined in Bylaw II.3), or territory that they represent.

Although the IAUA claims it has Palestinian architects in their associations, the Palestinians can only build in seven percent of Israel and usually only for their own communities. Abed Badran who was on the IAUA’s national Board said “he has now announced his resignation from the IAUA board and had expressed his disappointment that he was “unable to lead [the association members] anywhere.”

ARTICLE 20

INACTIVE MEMBERS, DISMISSAL, AND EXPULSION

20.3 Members who do not observe or comply with any provision of these Articles and Bylaws may be expelled from the Union by decision of the Assembly, taken by a ¾ majority of those voting. This decision is without appeal.

(This clause indicates that the Assembly can take the decision to expel a member for non-compliance

with the Articles and Bye Laws,of which the IAUA are clearly in breach. Yet setting the majority decision at an impossibly high figure of a ¾ majority shows it is not serious about the serial breaches of the codes by member states, and unwilling to enforce its own codes and ideals, that are the basis of the whole ethos of the UIA, and the essence of its existence. If it cannot uphold these ideals then its very existence comes into question. )

ARTICLE 7

THE ASSEMBLY

7.2.2 Approve or reject, in accordance with these Articles and Bylaws, decisions or resolutions proposed to the Assembly by the Council or other subordinate bodies of the Union.

7.2.3 Determine the general policy of the Union for the following three years.

7.2.4 Approve or reject the admission, re-admission, or expulsion of Members, as provided for in these Articles and Bylaws.

(This can actually be tabled by the UIA Council before the General Assembly itself, or dealt with the Bureau,  and should not need the 150 day rule of notice. It has the RIBA 19 March Resolution for suspension of the IAUA as a proposal which can be enacted)