On Sunday, October 19, 2014, there was a "Special Visit to Detroit by the United Nations/ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights" Town Hall Meeting at Wayne County Community College District's downtown campus in Detroit, Michigan (USA).
At the meeting and according to "U.N. officials hear good, bad on Detroit water shutoffs",
Monica Lewis-Patrick, a member of the Detroit People's Water Board, one of the citizen groups that organized the hearing, led a chant with the crowd: "Whose water? Our water. Whose water? Our water."
Members of the group held signs and hung others along the walls: "Water is a Human Right," "Water Justice for All," and "Turn on the Water."
As residents recounted their personal tribulations with the loss of water, they were often supported vocally by the boisterous crowd.
"Today I charge genocide against the president of the United States," Lewis-Patrick said to cheers. "Today I charge genocide against Mayor Mike Duggan." [Emphasis mine]
In case you did not know,
It is sometimes incorrectly thought that genocide means the complete and definitive destruction of a race or people. The Genocide Convention, however, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1948, defines genocide as any killings on the basis of race, or, in its specific words, as “killing members of the group.” Any intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, racial, ethnic or religious group is genocide, according to the Convention. Thus, the Convention states, “causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group,” is genocide as well as “killing members of the group.”
Source: Civil Rights Congress, We Charge Genocide: The Historic Petition to the United Nations for Relief From a Crime of The United States Government Against the Negro People (New York: Civil Rights Congress, 1951), pp xi-xiii, 3-10
For the record, here is Articles 2 and 3 of the U.N. Convention on Genocide:
United Nations Human Rights Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide:
Adopted December 9, 1948
…
Article II
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
• Killing members of the group;
• Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
• Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
• Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
• Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Article III
The following acts shall be punishable:
• Genocide;
• Conspiracy to commit genocide;
• Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
• Attempt to commit genocide;
• Complicity in genocide.
...
Source: United Nations Human Rights Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
(In my humble opinion and based on the testimony I heard at the Town Hall Meeting, it seems the abovementioned genocidal acts relate directly and/or indirectly to the people living in Detroit who are impacted by the Water Shutoffs, Home Foreclosures, and much more)
Moreover, here is a two-minute video clip showing what the U.N. Special Rapporteurs (Catarina de Albuquerque and Leilani Farh) stated on Monday, October 20, 2014 during a press conference: "United Nations experts in Detroit to discuss water shutoffs"
In addition, according to the Joint Press Statement by Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living and to right to non-discrimination in this context, and Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation Visit to city of Detroit (United States of America) 18-20 October 2014, there are:
Disproportionate effects on vulnerable people and low income African Americans
About 80 percent of the population of Detroit is African American. According to data from 2013, 40.7 percent of Detroit’s population lives below the poverty level, 99 percent of the poor are African American. Twenty percent of the population is living on 800 USD or less per month, while the average monthly water bill is currently 70.67 USD. This is simply unaffordable for thousands of residents, mostly African Americans.
We were deeply disturbed to observe the indignity people have faced and continue to live with in one of the wealthiest countries in the world and in a city that was a symbol of America’s prosperity.
We were also distressed to learn from the low-income African American residents of the impossible choices they are being compelled to make – to either pay their rent or their medical bill, or to pay their water bill.
... The rights to non-discrimination and equality are core principles of international human rights law. Governments are obliged not only to refrain from discrimination in the design and implementation of laws and policies, but must strive to ensure substantive equality for all. The United States has ratified the United Nations Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination which explicitly prohibits and calls for the elimination of racial discrimination in relation to several human rights directly affected by water disconnections, including the right to housing and the right to public health.
Lastly, based on their visit to Detroit, here are the suggested recommendations from the
U.N. Special Rapporteurs (
Catarina de Albuquerque and
Leilani Farh):
Suggested recommendations:
We suggest that the City of Detroit restore water connections to residents unable to pay and vulnerable groups of people, stop further disconnections of water when residents are unable to pay, and provide them the opportunity to seek assistance that must be made available through social assistance schemes.
We also urge the City of Detroit, the state of Michigan and the national government to adopt a mandatory affordability threshold. In addition to this, specific policies should be adopted to ensure specific support to people who live in poverty.
We suggest that the City of Detroit provide urgent measures, including financial assistance, to ensure access to essential water and sanitation (minimum amount of water necessary for personal and domestic uses, which should be about 100 liters per person per day) and to housing when people are unable, for reasons beyond their control, to cover the costs themselves. In such measures, protection of vulnerable groups of people (those with disabilities, chronic illnesses, with children, etc) must be prioritized.
We recommend that the authorities make an urgent assessment of the public health consequences for the individual, schools and community of the water shut-offs, and take steps to mitigate adverse impacts.
We recommend Governments make every effort to ensure that the most vulnerable, including those who reside in Section.8 housing, are not evicted from or lose their housing as a result of water shut-offs or water bill arrears.
We recommend that the city of Detroit stop converting delinquent water bills to property liens for collection and enforcement through the tax foreclosure process. We further recommend that the Government advertise and make accessible property tax exemption programs for those living in low-income.
In the event that an individual or family is rendered homeless due to water shut-offs, the city of Detroit must have in place emergency services to ensure alternate accommodation with running water is available. Immediate and urgent steps must be taken to find long-term viable housing solutions for these residents.
We recommend that the Federal Government immediately undertake an investigation into the water shut-offs to determine if they are having a disproportionate impact on African Americans and other groups protected against discrimination.
Federal and state agencies with relevant authority should require water and sanitation utilities, as a condition for funding and permits, to collect data and report annually on water shut-offs by age, income level, disability, race, and chronic illness. This information should be made publically available. Any practice that has a discriminatory impact must be addressed and discontinued.
In our view, residents of Detroit should be ensured access to administrative and legal remedies, in particular those who are unable to pay current water bills and/or arrears or who want to challenge the amount of their water bills or the cutting-off of their water supply. These procedures must be made public and accessible, and adequately resourced.
Source:
Joint Press Statement by Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living and to right to non-discrimination in this context, and Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation Visit to city of Detroit (United States of America) 18-20 October 2014:
Thank you for your time.
Wed Oct 22, 2014 at 9:29 PM PT: F.Y.I.
Windsor Morning - Oct 22, 2014 - 9:02
UN Rapporteur in Detroit
How serious are Detroit's water problems? Serious enough that the United Nations sent some representatives to the Motor City this week. We spoke to Leilani Farha, UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing.
http://www.cbc.ca/...