The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development is preparing to demolish more than 4,600 public housing units in New Orleans, a move that constitutes a major violation of human rights and will dramatically exacerbate the affordable housing crisis that has gripped the city since Hurricane Katrina. The US Human Rights Network deplores this action, which is both punitive and unnecessary, and calls on its members and activists from around the country to take action in response.

Under the HUD plan, backed by the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO), the units slated for demolition would be replaced with only 744 new public units, an 82 percent reduction. This despite the fact that HANO’s own calculations show it would be far cheaper to repair and retain the existing apartments, the majority of which are located in four public housing projects and sustained minimal damage from Katrina, than to demolish them and rebuild only a fraction. The plan will cost HUD a staggering $762 million.

The eradication of public housing would come at a particularly bad time in New Orleans. Rents have doubled in the city since Katrina, as has the number of homeless, now estimated at 12,000. That number will rise if the HUD plan is completed; of the 4,600 targeted units, about 2,000 are currently occupied. And FEMA has announced that it plans to evict as many as 50,000 residents living in temporary trailers throughout the region by next May.

The human rights implications of this outrageous scheme are numerous and sweeping. The right to adequate housing is guaranteed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has been reinforced in subsequent international agreements to which the U.S. is a party. Under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, the federal government is required to provide “basic shelter and housing” to internally displaced persons. The Principles also state that authorities must “establish conditions, as well as provide the means, which allow internally displaced persons to return voluntarily…to their homes.” This right of return has been systematically denied to thousands of Gulf Coast residents who have been scattered across the country, and the HUD plan will further limit their prospects.

Moreover, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which the U.S. ratified in 1994, states that governments must “guarantee the right of everyone, … to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of … the right to housing.” The US Human Rights Network cited ongoing violations of this obligation in New Orleans in its report on U.S. compliance with ICERD, delivered to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on December 10.

The blatant and calculated assault on public housing in New Orleans is a threat to public housing across the U.S. and the right to housing in general. The failings of the authorities at every level before, during and after Katrina have been well documented and publicized, but they continue to act in a manner contrary to the basic rights and dignity of the citizens. If the federal, state and local officials can succeed in their apparent mission to cleanse the city of its poor, mostly African American residents, it bodes ill for all who care about human rights in this country.

Public housing residents in New Orleans have been fighting the demolition, backed by organizations and activists throughout the Gulf Coast. They have succeeded in delaying the plan, but they need help. Therefore, the USHRN urges its member organizations and individuals to take whatever steps they can to support the affected residents and prevent this latest egregious and intolerable violation of their rights.

Join the US Human Rights Network, which has been on the front lines in New Orleans since Katrina, and support the Hold the U.S. Accountable: Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)-Human Rights Campaign.
www.ushrnetwork.org