United Nations investigators will be in Detroit this month, just weeks after a bankruptcy judge ruled that poor people do not have a right to clean water for drinking or sanitation despite international human rights law.
"There is no such right or law," Steven Rhodes said.
Rhodes’ decision means crews can continue cutting off water for up to 400 customers a day. At the time of Rhodes’ September 29 decree, more than 24,000 accounts had already been blocked since the start of the year.
But in July, experts with the Switzerland based UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern about the massive shutoffs in Detroit.
“…when there is genuine inability to pay, human rights simply forbids disconnections,” said Catarina de Albuquerque, the expert on the human right to water and sanitation.
Leilani Farha, the expert on the right to adequate housing, expressed concern that children are being removed by social services from their families and homes because, without access to water, their housing is no longer considered adequate. “If these water disconnections disproportionately affect African Americans they may be discriminatory, in violation of treaties the US has ratified,” Farha added.
The Peoples Water Board Coalition, a grassroots group that announced the UN visit, said Alburqueque and Farha will attend a public town hall session October 19 at Wayne County Community College in downtown Detroit.
"There is no such right or law," Steven Rhodes said.
Rhodes’ decision means crews can continue cutting off water for up to 400 customers a day. At the time of Rhodes’ September 29 decree, more than 24,000 accounts had already been blocked since the start of the year.
But in July, experts with the Switzerland based UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern about the massive shutoffs in Detroit.
“…when there is genuine inability to pay, human rights simply forbids disconnections,” said Catarina de Albuquerque, the expert on the human right to water and sanitation.
Leilani Farha, the expert on the right to adequate housing, expressed concern that children are being removed by social services from their families and homes because, without access to water, their housing is no longer considered adequate. “If these water disconnections disproportionately affect African Americans they may be discriminatory, in violation of treaties the US has ratified,” Farha added.
The Peoples Water Board Coalition, a grassroots group that announced the UN visit, said Alburqueque and Farha will attend a public town hall session October 19 at Wayne County Community College in downtown Detroit.
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