International Tribunal on Katrina and Rita
• Testimony and Evidence Target Government Crimes and Shows People Are Stepping Up Their Fight for Rights
International Tribunal on Katrina and Rita
Testimony and Evidence Target Government Crimes and Shows People Are Stepping Up Their Fight for Rights
The historic International Tribunal on Katrina and Rita has systematically set the record straight for all to see and hear: The U.S. government is guilty of crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity. Witness after witness provided testimony of their experiences, including racism, brutality and killings by police and soldiers, unjust jailings and leaving prisoners to die in locked cells, repeated government refusals to provide water and food, waiting days for rescue while military vehicles drove by, the killings of innocent families and youth under the government’s “shoot to kill” orders and what soldiers referred to as “drop” orders -- meaning anyone they told to “drop” had to drop to the ground or be shot. Testimony also spoke to the on-going struggle to defend rights and to build up the people’s own fighting forces.
The Tribunal itself was an example of this stepped up effort. It provided a space for people to speak about the government repression and attacks on them before a formal tribunal of U.S. and international jurists. It served to bring large amounts of testimony and other evidence together, documenting the crimes of the government. And it has shown the great courage and spirit of resistance of the people of New Orleans. Despite every effort to crush them, the people are still fighting and indeed fighting with greater force and organization. Voice of Revolution salutes all the witnesses, prosecutors and judges, the organizers, translators (for French, Spanish and Portuguese) and all those who have joined in making this work a success!
The Opening Ceremony included presentations from the co-convenors of the Tribunal: Louisa Hanoune, elected representative to the National Assembly of Algeria; Cynthia McKinney, former Congresswomen from Atlanta, Georgia; Charles Barron, New York City Councilman; Tiyani Lybon Mabasa, President, Socialist Party of Azania (South Africa) and Edenice Santana de Jesus, Executive Director, CUT Trade Union Federation, Bahia, Brazil. International judges and delegations also included those from Brazil, France, Guadaloupe, Martinique, Mexico and Venezuela. Various activists also spoke about their work.
The Tribunal covered a wide range of subjects, including prisoners’ rights, police brutality, education rights, cultural rights, environmental racism, health rights, indigenous rights, labor and migrant rights, voting and health rights and more. In addition to witnesses, 50 more affidavits from survivors were taken during the Tribunal to add to the many already gathered. As well, numerous government reports, emails and other materials were presented by prosecutors to affirm the veracity of witness testimony and show that they were representative of many, many more examples of government crimes against the peoples of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region. On every front what was clear was the repeated refusal by government at all levels to take action to meet the rights of the people, before, during and after Katrina and Rita.
Voice of Revolution will provide a fuller report on the Tribunal in its next update. Below we provide photographs of the opening ceremony as well as some of the many witnesses.
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