Hurricane Katrina was not only a domestic tragedy. The U.S. government’s insufficient efforts to prevent families from being uprooted, its inadequate emergency response, and the still-lagging recovery are at odds with internationally recognized human rights principles that the Bush administration has promoted in other countries. That’s the finding of “Hurricane Katrina and the Guiding Principles
New Orleans groups representing a broad range of housing and urban planning professionals, housing advocates, faith-based organizations, and human rights groups introduce the decision by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that calls on the US government “to increase its efforts in order to facilitate the return of persons displaced by
For more information and to arrange interviews, contact: Monique Harden, AEHR, 504-919-4590 (cell) Nathalie Walker, AEHR, 504-453-6791 (cell) Louisiana Community Group Confronts Conoco Phillips Board of Directors on Record of Environmental Racism and Human Rights Abuses May 14, 2008 (Houston, TX) . . . Today residents of the historic African American community of Mossville, Louisiana
April 19, 2011 Historic Fishing, Oyster Harvesting, and Shrimping Village to Memorialize the BP Oil Drilling Disaster in Plaquemines Parish Read More February 25, 2011 UN-appointed independent expert to study USA’s practices regarding the human right to water and sanitation Read More April 30, 2010 AEHR Statement on the BP Oil Drilling Disaster Read More
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (“OAS”) ruled in favor of admitting a human rights complaint filed by Advocates for Environmental Human Rights (“AEHR”) on behalf of people living in Mossville, Louisiana. The decision marks the first time that the Commission has taken jurisdiction over an environmental racism case
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson will meet with environmental justice orgranizations and community groups in New Orleans on Saturday, May 1st. At this meeting, AEHR seeks responses from the administrator on the following questions: According to the 2000 governmental-industry study, Deep Spill Joint Industry Project, the burning of an oil slick may be largely ineffective due
On April 20, 2010, a deep water oil rig under contract to BP exploded and later capsized after several hours of burning about 50 miles south of Venice, Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven people who worked on the rig died. While the cause for the explosion is yet unknown, what is known is
What If Kenneth Feinberg Resigned Tomorrow? The Perils of Ignoring a Rights-Based Recovery for America’s Gulf Region by Monique Harden & Nathalie Walker Co-Directors and Attorneys Advocates for Environmental Human Rights President Obama appointed Kenneth Feinberg to oversee a discretionary fund that is intended to pay for a host of damages arising from the BP
Media For media inquiries, please contact: Nathalie Walker Co-Director & Attorney (504) 799-3060 nwalker@ehumanrights.org
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Gulf Coast reconstruction policies by the Bush Administration have created a housing crisis that unjustly prolongs the displacement of thousands of predominantly African American residents, subjected workers to discrimination, exploitation, and abuse, prioritized the funding of charter schools that can exercise selective admissions criteria to exclude students,
