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In response to interest in applying international standards to assess the human rights of Hurricane Katrina victims and make policy recommendations to address their needs, the U.S. Human Rights Network is coordinating a documentation project spearheaded by one of its members – the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI). Because the displacement is so widespread and groups serving the communities impacted cover many geographic regions, we are joining together as members of the Network in a collaborative effort to share information and document the impact of this disaster as comprehensively as possible.

The Hurricane Katrina Human Rights Documentation Project will:
► Support U.S. Human Rights Network members and other community-based groups in documenting human rights violations affecting those displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

► Gather stories and testimonies to produce briefs, reports, media and other educational materials to support relief services, community organizing and human rights advocacy efforts related to the crisis.

► Provide training and technical assistance on human rights, documentation and analysis for groups interested in participating in the report.

► Urge international observers and institutions to address the human rights needs of Hurricane Katrina survivors and provide monitoring.

► Encourage information sharing and collaboration among those documenting the impact of the disaster.

To learn more about the project and how to participate, please contact Sharda Sekaran at NESRI, 212-253-1771 or sharda@nesri.org.

For those groups generally interested in receiving and posting updates related to research and documentation on human rights and Hurricane Katrina (regardless of participation in the collaborative documentation efforts), the Documentation Caucus of the U.S. Human Rights Network hopes to serve as a clearinghouse for such information. To learn more about the U.S. Human Rights Network’s Documentation Caucus, please contact Cathy Albisa at NESRI, 212-253-1761 or cathy@nesri.org.

The US Human Rights Network was formed to promote US accountability to universal human rights standards by building linkages between organizations, as well as individuals, working on human rights issues in the US.

www.ushrnetwork.org

The National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) promotes a cultural and political commitment to a human rights vision for the United States that ensures dignity and access to the basic resources needed for human development and civic participation.

www.nesri.org

Sharda Sekaran
Associate Director
NESRI - National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
666 Broadway, Suite 625
New York, NY 10012
tel: 212-253-1771
fax: 212-253-1711
sharda@nesri.org
http://www.nesri.org

Statement on Hurricane Katrina Disaster

The National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) extends its deepest sympathies to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. NESRI also expresses serious concern about the failure of government to meet its humanitarian and human rights obligations to the victims. Thousands of people, primarily poor, Black and/or disabled, were not taken into account in the evacuation plan or provided with basic human rights such as clean water, food, medical care and decent shelter for days on end. Moreover, it remains unclear whether the right to permanent housing, education, health, work and a decent standard of living will be assured to all those displaced by the catastrophe. NESRI urges the U.S. government to take immediate corrective action and ensure the full range of human rights of those displaced by Katrina, as required by the United Nations Guidelines on Internally Displaced Persons. NESRI also urges local, state and national officials to undertake a serious inquiry into the human rights conditions that led to the extreme vulnerability of residents.

NESRI Commentary: Disaster Exposes National Human Rights Crisis
The images of survivors struggling through the chaos left in Hurricane Katrina’s wake are so consistent that it is impossible to ignore what they reveal about the state of race, class and human rights in the United States.

Matt Lauer of NBC’s Today Show, said on the air, “The great majority of the people we are seeing suffering right now are black and they are poor. These are the people who don't have a safety net in their daily lives and clearly there was no net prepared to help them in a situation like this. How much of a wake-up call does this have to be for the people of this country?”

As the rest of the world sees this footage, a provocative secret is revealed: the income inequities and scarcity of resources experienced by poor countries are prevalent here, in the world’s most rich and powerful nation, branded as the champion of freedom. For those inundated with our pop culture exports and wealthy national leaders, this is probably hard to believe but here it is, in a form too glaring to ignore.

An even more shocking blow to the U.S. public image is the fact that its poor people, denied their human right to live with security and dignity, are often criminalized and attacked for their desperation. As unaddressed need escalated to the point of catastrophe, government officials promised to show “zero tolerance” to those struggling to withstand the nightmare by following the law of survival and scavenging for sustenance.

The social safety net protecting people from abject poverty in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama wasn’t there before this tragedy and has not emerged in its wake. Moreover, it is increasingly being dismantled across the U.S. Despite the grand façade of national unity, all of us are not treated equally or given adequate resources to survive. Hurricane Katrina has washed away whole cities and exposed this ugly truth. Social and economic disparity is on the rise.

According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2004 was the first time on record that household incomes failed to increase for five straight years. The poverty rate went up to nearly 13%, and income inequality rose to near all-time highs last year. Meanwhile, the average CEO pay rose last year to 431 times what the average worker earned, according to a recent report from the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies and Boston-based United for a Fair Economy.

While economic and social needs are growing, social programs that provide basic services to secure the right to live with dignity are being cut. Take for instance Medicaid, the country’s largest provider of health coverage to the poor, which is now being slashed from state to state, as more and more people cannot afford health insurance. In 2004, according the U.S. Census, the number of people without health insurance climbed 859,000 to reach 45.8 million.

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumers Protection Act, that President Bush signed into law this year, is about to take effect in October. Yet another legislative decision favoring wealthy lenders and creditors over the nation’s poor and middle class, this law to curb people from filing for bankruptcy may add another layer of misery to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, if lawmakers do not intervene soon. Even if disaster survivors become exempt from the provision, its enactment will add to the burden of the many people in the U.S. finding it harder and harder just to get by.

The needs of poor people are frequently misunderstood or an afterthought, rather than seen as a government responsibility to the human rights of its people. In a climate where their existence is swept under the rug, it shouldn’t be surprising that the inability of many to evacuate from the hurricane due to lack of transportation was inaccurately viewed as some sort of baffling choice. Nor is it shocking that disaster relief efforts have shown a remarkable disregard and ignorance of the level of human need.

For those who have been paying attention to poverty in the U.S., the faces of those most devastated by the hurricane are painful to watch but also predictable in their color. Although income insecurity and violations of the fundamental human rights to health, social security, education and other social and economic rights are growing across racial lines, they are most prevalent in communities of color.

If the country were confronted with the images of those most impacted by preventable disease, under-funded schools, incarceration, infant mortality, hunger and homelessness, they would also be overwhelmingly black, brown or immigrant. However, whites are also facing these violations in increasing numbers. These issues are compelling, not only for moral reasons, but also because they are major indicators of state of human rights in the United States, which ultimately affects all of us.

Social and economic inequity brought instability and insecurity well before this catastrophe. In order to prevent future tragedies of this magnitude and protect human rights, we must be better at providing a basic safety net for all. The U.S. should not be forced by events this devastating to recognize the injustice of poverty, a much better target for “zero tolerance” than its victims.

Human Rights and Hurricane Katrina

Summary of UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement
The Guiding Principals on Internal Displacement issued by the Secretary General of the United Nations identify internationally recognized rights and guarantees of persons who have been forcibly displaced from their homes due to a number of factors, including natural disaster. Those who have been displaced from their homes but not crossed international borders are not refugees, but rather “internally displaced persons.”

National authorities are primarily responsible for ensuring the human rights of internally displaced persons; however the guidelines are relevant to intergovernmental agencies, non-governmental agencies and local authorities as well. The following is a summary of the guiding principles that are particularly relevant to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in the U.S. gulf region, but does not include all the principles contained in the guidelines:

Ø Internally displaced persons shall enjoy equally all the rights and freedoms as other persons in their country.

Ø Every human being has the right to dignity and physical, mental and moral integrity.

Ø Internally displaced persons have the right to request and to receive protection and humanitarian assistance from national authorities.

Ø Certain internally displaced persons, such as children, especially unaccompanied minors, expectant mothers, mothers with young children, female heads of household, persons with disabilities and elderly persons, shall be entitled to any necessary special protection and assistance.

Ø All internally displaced persons have the right to an adequate standard of living. At the minimum, regardless of the circumstances, and without discrimination, competent authorities shall provide internally displaced persons with and ensure safe access to: (a) Essential food and potable water; (b) Basic shelter and housing; (c) Appropriate clothing; and (d) Essential medical services and sanitation. Special efforts should be made to ensure the full participation of women in the planning and distribution of these basic supplies.

Ø All wounded and sick internally displaced persons as well as those with disabilities shall receive to the fullest extent possible and with the least possible delay, the medical care and attention they require, without distinction on any grounds other than medical ones. When necessary, internally displaced persons shall have access to psychological and social services. Special attention should be paid to the health needs of women, including access to female health care providers and services, such as reproductive health care, as well as appropriate counseling for victims of sexual and other abuses. Special attention should also be given to the prevention of contagious and infectious diseases, including AIDS, among internally displaced persons.

Ø Every human being has the right to respect of his or her family life. To give effect to this right for internally displaced persons, family members who wish to remain together shall be allowed to do so. Families which are separated by displacement should be reunited as quickly as possible.

Ø All internally displaced persons have the right to know the fate and whereabouts of missing relatives, and authorities shall make efforts to obtain and provide this information. Authorities shall inform the next of kin on the progress of investigations on missing relatives and notify them of any result.

Ø The authorities concerned shall endeavor to collect and identify the mortal remains of those deceased, prevent their despoliation or mutilation, and facilitate the return of those remains to the next of kin or dispose of them respectfully.

Ø Grave sites of internally displaced persons should be protected and respected in all circumstances. Internally displaced persons should have the right of access to the grave sites of their deceased relatives.

Ø Competent authorities have the primary duty and responsibility to establish conditions, as well as provide the means, which allow internally displaced persons to return voluntarily, in safety and with dignity, to their homes or places of habitual residence, or to resettle voluntarily in another part of the country. Such authorities shall make efforts to facilitate the reintegration of returned or resettled internally displaced persons.

Ø Special efforts should be made to ensure the full participation of internally displaced persons in the planning and management of their return or resettlement and reintegration.

Ø Every human being has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. To give effect to this right for internally displaced persons, the authorities concerned shall issue to them all documents necessary for the enjoyment and exercise of their legal rights, such as passports, personal identification documents, birth certificates and marriage certificates. In particular, the authorities shall facilitate the issuance of new documents or the replacement of documents lost in the course of displacement, without imposing unreasonable conditions.

Ø Authorities have the duty and responsibility to assist returned and/or resettled internally displaced persons to recover, to the extent possible, their property and possessions which they left behind or were dispossessed of upon their displacement. When recovery of such property and possessions is not possible, authorities shall provide or assist these persons in obtaining appropriate compensation.

The Guiding Principles shall be applied without discrimination of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, legal or social status, age, disability, property, birth, or on any other similar criteria.