The UN? That's where we turn for assistance? The UN where Saudi Arabia is
permitted to be a member of the Human Rights Commission? The UN where a
country's power relates to its monetary support? A recent human rights
report condemning Saudi Arabia was withdrawn when that country threatened to
withdraw its financial contribution. Does anyone think that the American
Empire will bow to international judgment about anything? I wonder if there
have been complaints to the UN about how the water is rationed for
Palestinians living in the West Bank? What about the Gazans whose water
supply is gone? The fact is, after all the publicity about Flint, the
problem hasn't been fixed. The issue with Detroit water has been going on
for years and it's just escalating. If anyone in our country has a right to
engage in violent revolt against the power structure, it's our African
American population. But it won't happen. The fear of it, the knowledge that
it's justified, Is probably the reason for the kinds of police tactics we
see in black communities.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2016 11:31 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] No Water For You!
http://socialistviewpoint.org/julaug_16/julaug_16_03.html
No Water For You!
Forty percent of Detroit will be deprived of life sustaining water: the UN
investigates human rights violations
By Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo
May 10, 2016Usually crimes against humanity take place behind closed doors,
in concentration camps, Abu Ghraib-like torture settings or Nazi Germany;
not so in 83 percent Black Detroit, Michigan. In the next few weeks, the
international community will witness with eyes wide open the city of
Detroits blatant violations of human rights. These crimes will be condoned
and executed by Detroit officials with the full knowledge of the White
House.
Access to water is considered a human right and access to safe and clean
water is a core mission of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
however, 40 percent of the residents of Detroit will be deprived of the
basic element of life: water. Children will go to school without baths and
senior citizens will be deprived of water to take medicine. Having lost
confidence in a U.S. national commitment to saving the lives of citizens,
advocacy groups have begun to petition the United Nations for an emergency
response.
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD), has begun shutting off
water to 3,000 people a week, and could soon cut off access to drinkable
water for 150,000 Detroit residents who have failed to pay recent water
bills.
Detroit was one of the cities hardest hit by international trade agreements,
such as NAFTA. Detroit is also a city targeted for ethnic cleaning of its
African population to make space for white professionals. Once a thriving
middle-class city, the union movement was crushed by the government and
business executives determined to drive wages down. At the end of the day,
these latest tactics are designed to induce forced relocations; a component
of ethnic cleansing that is sometimes politely and inaccurately called
gentrification.
The forced relocation tactics have changed over the years, with contemporary
methods eerily resembling Nazi-like strategies, such as deliberately
poisoning urban and domestic water supplies, depriving children and
households of life-maintaining and sustaining water and a decent education.
Black communitiesalready traumatized by the removal and imprisonment of
nearly one million African men and the murder by police of thousands of
unarmed young men and womenhave become soft targets for these unrelenting
attacks.
The United Nations Human Rights council criticized the United States for
police violence and racial discrimination, the Guantánamo Bay Detention
Facility and the continued use of the death penalty. Member countries
criticized the U.S. and recommended that it strengthen legislation and
expand training to eliminate racism and excessive use of force by law
enforcement.
Im not surprised that the worlds eyes are focused on police issues in the
U.S., said Alba Morales, who investigates the U.S. criminal justice system
at Human Rights Watch. There is an international spotlight thats been
shone [on the issues], in large part due to the events in Ferguson and the
disproportionate police response to even peaceful protesters, she said.
The recommendations from the Council seem tepid and dismissive of the scale
of the violence towards African-Americans. These same atrocities occurring
in any other country outside the U.S., such as Bosnia or Syria would cause
an international uproar and calls to prevent deaths from water deprivation
and to provide international protections for the targeted group. But, the
U.S. is the major donor to the UN and plays a leadership role on the UN
Security Council, making it virtually impossible for nations that would show
solidarity to African-Americans to act through this institution.
Nevertheless, UN member states do have a bully-pulpit to expose the human
rights violations occurring in the U.S.
However, when one considers the war-like tactics deployed against an unarmed
civilian population, such as, deliberate state-sponsored poisonings, murders
of unarmed civilians, forced relocations and imprisonment, one is left
asking what part of genocide does the UN not understand?
And the beat of genocide escalates.
The Detroit Peoples Water Board, Food and Water Watch, Blue Planet Project,
and Michigan Welfare Rights Organization submitted a comprehensive report to
the U.N.s special rapporteur that details the dire situation facing the
predominately Black population of Detroit:
Sick people have been left without running water and working toilets.
People recovering from surgery cannot wash and change bandages. Children
cannot bathe, and parents cannot cook
(F)amilies concerned about children
being taken away by authorities due to lack of water and sanitation services
in the home have been sending their children to live with relatives and
friends, which has an impact on school attendance and related activities.
Activists claim the city has been unfairly overcharging Detroit residents
for water to compensate for its significant financial woes.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 38.1 percent of Detroit residents are
living below the poverty line. The Detroit City Council just approved a
nearly nine percent rate increase for water.
Three U.N. human rights experts issued a statement declaring that
disconnection of water services because of failure to pay due to lack of
means constitutes a violation of the human right to water and other
international human rights.
Despite the tough times many people are facing, theyve been paying an
average of $64.99 a month, significantly higher than the national average of
about $40, and rates are only going up.
When I conducted an official country mission to the U.S. in 2011, I
encouraged the U.S. government to adopt a federal minimum standard on
affordability for water and sanitation and a standard to provide protection
against disconnections for vulnerable groups and people living in poverty,
said Catarina de Albuquerque, who is the U.N.s special rapporteur on the
right to safe drinking water and sanitation.
I also urged the government to ensure due process guarantees in relation to
water disconnection.
One of the experts, Leilani Farha, who focuses on the right to adequate
housing, also pointed out the racial implications of shutting off water to
the nearly 83 percent Black population. If these water disconnections
disproportionately affect African Americans, they may be discriminatory, in
violation of treaties the U.S. has ratified, said Farha.
These calls for justice are falling on deaf ears. While President Obama
concedes that the poisoning in Flint was a man-made disaster; this was
avoidable, this was preventable, the President did not deploy with all due
haste the full power of the federal government to solve this situation. In
fact, he primed the Flint community, in which over 8,000 children are
suspected of being lead poisoned to expect that it may take an additional
two years before lead pipes are replaced. But, he left Flint on a positive
note, asserting that, filtered water in the city was safe for anyone over
the age of six.
But not everyone is feeling the pain of water deprivation in Detroit.
That kind of pain seems to be reserved for families and communities. The
Detroit Water and Sewerage Department has decided not to pull the plug on
businesses in the city. Although the city claims that it started sending out
notices about the disconnections in March, the reports authors write that
they heard directly from people impacted by the water cutoffs who say they
were given no warning and had no time to fill buckets, sinks, and tubs
before losing access to water.
We really dont want to shut off anyones water, but its really our duty
to go after those who dont pay, because if they dont pay, then our other
customers pay for them, department spokesperson Curtrise Garner told Al
Jazeera America. Thats not fair to our other customers.
Businesses owe hundreds-of-thousands of dollars but a decision was made not
to disconnect the corporate community:
According to a department list, the top 40 commercial and industrial
accounts have past-due accounts totaling $9.5 million. That list includes
apartment complexes, the Chrysler Group, real estate agencies, a Laundromat
and even a cemetery.
The only people who apparently are in denial regarding the blatant, surgical
and genocidal attacks against them are unfortunately the targets of the
attack. Perhaps, Black folks are hoping that U.S.
genocidal policy towards our community will be confined to Flint and
Detroit. How else can you explain the silence and inaction of Black
communities across the country?
Black Agenda Report, May 10, 2016
http://www.Blackagendareport.com/detroit_human_rights_violations
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