Report says U.S. Katrina response fails to meet its own human rights

New Orleans CityBusiness, Jan 16, 2008

The U.S. government's insufficient efforts to prevent families from being uprooted post-Hurricane Katrina, its inadequate emergency response, and the still-lagging recovery fail to meet internationally recognized human rights principles the Bush administration has promoted in other countries.

That's the finding of "Hurricane Katrina and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement," a report released today by the Institute for Southern Studies, a nonpartisan research center tracking the Katrina recovery.

A full version of the report is available at: http:// www.southernstudies.org/ISSKatrinaHumanRightsJan08.pdf

The study comes as Walter Kalin, representative of the United Nations Secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, begins a series of meetings with officials and residents in New Orleans, Houston and Mississippi.

Kalin and Chris Kromm from the Institute spoke at a 10 a.m. press conference today at the offices of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, 650 Poydras St., on how human rights law ensure a better future for Gulf Coast residents.

The report is the first in-depth look at how closely U.S. officials abide by the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement in the wake of Katrina. The United Nations adopted the Principles in 1998 to protect the rights of people uprooted by war, storms and other calamities.

"Leaders in Washington have embraced the U.N. Guiding Principles for helping disaster victims abroad," said Kromm, co-author of the study and Institute director. "But there's serious concern that the principles continue to be ignored at home in the Gulf Coast."

Hurricane Katrina displaced more than 1 million people Aug. 29, 2005, and tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents remain displaced. The U.N. standards clearly spell out the obligation of national leaders to prevent displacement, to protect human rights during displacement, and to help displaced people return home to safe and humane conditions.

Based on interviews with hundreds of Gulf Coast leaders and residents and an analysis of reams of data and research reports, the Institute concludes that the U.S. government failed to live up to the U.N. standards during all stages of the disaster -- with many Katrina victims still suffering the consequences. Failures include:

-- Prior to Katrina, the U.S. government didn't uphold its obligation to prevent displacement, cutting funds for fortifying New Orleans' levee system by 44 percent from 2001 to 2005 and leaving the city vulnerable to flooding. Inadequate commitment to coastal protection and other storm defenses continue to put millions of U.S. residents at risk of displacement.

-- As documented in the U.S. House of Representatives' official report on Katrina and other studies, U.S. officials didn't adequately protect the human rights of residents during displacement -- particularly vulnerable populations such as the poor, the sick, the elderly and children.

-- Federal leaders have failed to fulfill their obligation to end displacement and to ensure the displaced have a say in recovery, as evidenced by the many Gulf residents still in "temporary" housing or otherwise still uprooted.

"The failure of the U.S. government to live up to the U.N. Guiding Principles isn't an academic discussion," said Sue Sturgis, Institute editor and report co-author. "For the tens of thousands of people still displaced by Katrina, these Principles provide an invaluable framework that U.S. officials must urgently consider as the Gulf Coast continues its struggle to recover."

The study was produced in collaboration with the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement.

Hurricane Katrina and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement is the fifth major study released by the Institute tracking Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Previous reports released by the nonprofit center based in Durham, N.C. include Blueprint for Gulf Renewal (2007); A New Agenda for the Gulf Coast (2007); One Year after Katrina (2006); and The Mardi Gras Index (2006).