DETROIT, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - The United Nations will examine human rights in the United States, and will continue monitoring the situation in Detroit, UN Special rapporteur on the human right to water and sanitation Catarina de Albuquerque stated.
“There are several mechanisms, they are not blue helmets, there will not be troops coming to Detroit to connect water,” de Albuquerque told RIA Novosti on Monday.
“But there are different mechanisms at the UN to follow up on the situation of human rights in the US. And we hope that this dialogue continues, that this is not the end of the story.”
De Albuquerque and her colleague UN Special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing Leilani Farha just visited the city of Detroit, that appealed for the UN help several months ago. The authorities have allegedly been turning the water services off to those, who are more than 60 days behind on their bill and have not entered into a payment arrangement. The two UN rapporteurs have observed the impact of water shutoffs on the residents and their human rights, as well as the need for adequate housing.
They have concluded that the water shutoffs in this US city threaten a wide range of human rights, and promised to continue monitoring the situation.
“We [the United Nations] cannot change the situation; the situation has to be changed by those, who have responsibilities to govern the city, to govern the state, to govern the country,” de Albuquerque asserted. “Those are the ones who have human rights obligations. We just came to draw more public attention, to put a bit of pressure, to bring examples from other countries, to make noise basically.”
The rapporteur believes that the change will certainly take place, also because of the attention this issue is getting.
“Nationally and internationally there is pressure on the US, there is pressure on Michigan, there is pressure on Detroit to produce changes,” she underlined, noting that the measures, adopted by the mayor in this regard are not enough. “It is supporting some people, but those who are chronically poor are not being helped by this type of solution.”
The UN official emphasized that everyone is to blame for the current situation in Detroit, including the federal government, the state government and the city government.
“The city has to do more to implement human rights. If the city says I cannot do more, because I have no money, then other levels of government have to step in and support the city,” she said.
The social welfare state as well as the recognition of social rights are still weak in America and also contributed to the crisis in Detroit, according to the UN official.
