November 2007
The AC Phoenix
Tribunal to Shame US for Crimes
Against Katrina and Rita Survivors
By Talise D. Moorer
Amsterdam News Staff
On the brink of year two
since hurricanes Katrina and Rita
struck the Gulf Coast region of the
United States, more than 300,000
residents, mostly poor and Black,
still have been unable to return
home, due in large part to the dis
criminatory rebuilding and public
assistance efforts to help them re
coup from devastating losses.
For the survivors, August
29, 2007 is a day of reckoning: an
unprecedented international tribunal
will convene in New Orleans at the
Pan American Conference Center to
bring charges of racial discrimina
tion and the denial to the right to
return, as well as demand that the
U.S. government be held account
able for the crimes it perpetrated
against the marginalized and op
pressed people of the Gulf Coast—
people of African descent, indige
nous peoples, migrants, and the
poor—during and after Hurricane
Katrina.
Many Katrina and Rita sur
vivors, along with former Georgia
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney,
New York City Councilmember
Charles Barron, the People’s Hurri
cane Relief Fund (PHRF), the Mal
colm X Grassroots Movement, the
Center for Law and Social Justice at
Medgar Evers College and the U.S.
Human Rights Network, are con
joined in this massive demonstra
tion.
“The international tribunal is
necessary to further expose to the
world the U.S. crimes and violations
of the survivors of hurricanes
Katfina and Rita and to obtain jus
tice for the survivors,” said Joan P.
Gibbs, general counsel for the Cen
ter for Law and Social Justice and
the co-coordinator of the prosecution
team.
Dr. Kwame Kalimara is also
co-coordinator of the prosecution
team.
Beyond what unfolded be
fore our eyes in mass media during
and after the storm, Gibbs told the
AmNews that “it is critically impor
tant that we not let the world forget
that over 200,000 people were dis
bursed from the Gulf Coast
for reasons that have gone
unaddressed.”
Gibbs said the tribunal will
result in one comprehensive
review of charges concern
ing crimes before the
storm—repair of the levees
and the evacuation plan, for
example—and post-storm
crimes. A panel of interna
tional judges from through
out the African Diaspora
will participate. Findings will be filed
with the Inter-American Commission
of Human Rights; the Inter-American
Court and other international bodies.
As indicated on the web, the
PHRF and other supporters formally
demand that the U.S. government de
clare the victims of hurricanes Katrina
and Rita internally displaced persons
(IDPs) and that they be provided with
the basic rights and securities that
come with this designation, that the
U.S, government provide immediate
restitution to all Gulf Coast IDPs, re
gardless of race, income or property
holding status; and that government
officers, institutions and agencies re
sponsible for the death of over 2,000
individuals and the numerous human
rights violations and crimes commit
ted during and after Hurricanes
Katrina be held legally accountable
for their actions.
Gibbs, along with eight other
attorneys and an international delega
tion of government officials, scholars
and advocates, will bring together
hurricane survivors, expert witnesses;
human and civil rights prosecutors,
and both U.S. and international judges
to call into question government prac
tices before, during, and after the
storms that led to the disproportionate
impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita
on poor African American communi
ties.
For further details on how to
support or participate in the interna
tional tribunal, call (504) 301-0215.
Vo!, No Low
Ridert Allowed!
rACTSt
Voung men
were
molested
by older
and
stronger
Inmates.
They
became
suicidal
because
of what
happened
to them.
i.:
Prison
officials
tooh
away
their
belts to
prevent
them
from
hanging.
That ended
up being
a symbol
that the
young
man was
actually
someone’s
GIRLFRIEND!!
This style began
in PRISON!
This is not cool! It’s a disgrace!
Sagging is “A/of Coot!”
It is uiiacccptaMe
to girit,
women and ladies!