U.N. To Intervene In Detroit Water Shutoffs
UNITED NATIONS – Watch out, Detroit. Here comes the United Nations.
WND has learned that after issuing a statement last week condemning Detroit’s decision
to send water shut-off notices to tens of thousands of customers behind
in their payments, the U.N now plans to conduct confidential policy
discussions with the Obama administration to be followed by a formal
public report to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
On Monday, the U.N. Human Rights Council’s office in Geneva confirmed to WND that the U.N. plans to intervene directly in the Detroit water crisis, determined to apply international law to judge the U.S. in violation of human rights to safe water.
Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, DWSD,
announced in March it would send shut-off notices to customers with
balances more than $150 overdue or who are more than two months behind
in their payments. The department, which said nearly half of the 324,000
water and sewerage accounts are overdue, has put out 46,000 notices since March. About 4,500 accounts have had their water shut off.
In response to a WND inquiry, Madoka Saji, a
human rights officer in the Special Procedures Branch of the office of
the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland,
explained in an email Monday that the U.N. plans
to intervene directly in the Detroit crisis, because the Human Rights
Council has received formal allegations the Detroit water shut-off
threatens to violate U.N.-established human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation mandates.
Saji
explained that the U.N. High Commission on Human Rights special
rapporteur on safe water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque , must intervene directly with the U.S. government, first in a confidential manner and then in a public manner.
The Associated Press noted in a report June 25 that de Albuquerque can make recommendations and lend “moral weight,” but she has no enforcement power.
The U.N. in Geneva further pointed out that de Albuquerque encountered similar water disconnection cases in her first official “country mission” to the United States from Feb. 22 to March 4, 2011. Her final report, Aug. 2, 2011, recommended the U.S. adopt a federal minimum standard on affordability for water and sanitation in conformity with the U.N.’s International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights .
Although the United States signed the U.N.’s International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights on Oct. 5, 1977, during the administration of President Jimmy Carter, the U.S. Senate never ratified the treaty.
Saji explained to WND that de Albuquerque has a mandate to communicate with any nation violating the U.N. covenant, whether or not the nation has ratified the document as a treaty obligation.
In a U.N. news release June 25 , de Albuquerque stated water shut-offs due to non-payment are only justified “if it can be shown that the resident is able to pay but not paying,” further alleging that “when there is genuine inability to pay, human rights simply forbids disconnections.”
Read more at http://libertycrier.com/u-n-intervene-detroit-water-shutoffs/#clpLUKMqOGgDzX82.99
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