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