Amnesty International: US govt violated HUMAN RIGHTS of Katrina victims

[Bluebear]

And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them. - Barbara Bush

NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. government and Gulf Coast states have consistently violated the human rights of hurricane victims since Hurricane Katrina killed about 1,800 people and caused widespread devastation after striking in August 2005, Amnesty International said Friday.

The report, entitled "Un-Natural Disaster," said the treatment of hurricane victims and government actions in housing, health care and policing have prevented poor minority communities from rebuilding and returning to their homes on the Gulf Coast.

In sum, government actions have amounted to human rights violations and "as a result, the demographics of the region are being permanently altered," the report said.

Amnesty took particular aim at New Orleans, where public housing was bulldozed, hospitals have been slow to reopen and the criminal justice system has been plagued by police brutality, lengthy pretrial detentions and an underfunded indigent defense system.

"You have the demolition of most of the public housing units in New Orleans without a one-for-one replacement as well as a lack of rebuilding affordable rental housing," said Justin Mazzola, an Amnesty researcher. "Orleans Parish Prison is now the largest mental health psych facility in the city of New Orleans."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iEWMYH1Lw8YyJjsbbaZtG2qJtASQD9EVJEMO0

[stray cat]

1. In that case everyone living in a rural small town or city without certain services

is a human rights victim

[Bluebear]

3. You are just an empathetic, progressive beam of light, aren't you?

[Solly Mack]

6. hehehehehe

[Bluebear]

8. imagine comparing Katrina to a small town without a library. Idiot.

:silly:

[ixion]

2. Their handling of it was criminally negligent, in my opinion

and I said so at the time.

[Odin2005]

4. This was ETHNIC CLEANSING, plain and simple.

[indepat]

5. Something like New Orleans drown while junior strummed de dummed?

:-)

[Solly Mack]

7. k/r

[Bluebear]

11. .

[SargeUNN]

9. I am a Katrina Survivor from Mississippi

I have long been trying to get people to realize what Katrina shows, but seems we don't want to revisit this shame. I am glad to see actions being taken and hope more will come. If we really investigated all the Katrina stuff, it would be impossible to not have the Bush Admin. arrested for crimes, but then it isn't as sexy as Tiger Wood's sexual misbehavior.

[damntexdem]

10. In other words, the Bushistas were successful in Louisiana.

And all Louisiana got for it was a lousy Jindahl.