Yet another outrageous human rights atrocity by the US gov't

[ermitonto]

New Orleans prisoners left to drown after Katrina struck
By Fergus Michaels
1 October 2005
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oc...katr-o01.shtml

A statement issued by Human Rights Watch reports that the New Orleans Sheriffâ??s Department abandoned hundreds of prisoners in the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) compound for several days after Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29. The report documents a particularly brutal example of the indifference and contempt for human life that characterized every aspect of the governmentâ??s response to the disaster.

Prisoners interviewed by Human Rights Watch said they saw bodies of drowned inmates floating in the surrounding waters, and the human rights organization says many prisoners remain unaccounted for.

According to the Human Rights Watch report (â??New Orleans: Prisoners Abandoned to Floodwatersâ?�), officers who worked in building Templeman I and II, part of the OPP complex, state that prisoner evacuation commenced in their buildings on August 30, as waters began to rise to chest level. The prisoners of Templeman III were not afforded the same treatment, and were left stranded, locked in their cells, for two more days.

In interviews with Human Rights Watch, inmates of Templeman III, which had some 600 prisoners, said that they were not evacuated until Thursday, having spent three days without food or water. They said there were no correctional officers in the building to get the prisoners out.

The prison generators died, leaving the trapped inmates without lights or air circulation. The toilets ceased to function and the stench became unbearable. Those inmates on the ground floor of the prison had water up to chest level.

The situation for prisoners in Templeman III became increasingly desperate as the water continued to rise. Earrand Kelly, an inmate, told Human Rights Watch, â??We was calling down to the guys in the cells under us, talking to them every couple of minutes. They were crying, they were scared. The one that I was cool with, he was saying â??Iâ??m scared. I feel like Iâ??m about to drown. He was crying.â??â?� Dan Bright, another Orleans Parish Prison inmate said, â??They left us there to die.â?�

Corinne Carey, researcher for Human Rights Watch comments, â??At best, the inmates were left to fend for themselves. At worst, some may have died.â?�

Several corrections officers told Human Rights Watch there was no evacuation plan for the prison, despite the fact that it had been evacuated during floods in the 1990s. One described the situation as â??complete chaosâ?� as the storm approached.

A spokeswoman for the Orleans Parish Sheriffâ??s Department told Human Rights Watch she did not know whether the officers had left the building before the evacuation. She also said that search and rescue teams had gone to the prison and that â??nobody drowned, nobody was left behind.â?� However, this claim was contradicted by inmates who spoke to the human rights organization.

Many prisoners remain unaccounted for. According to the report, â??Human Rights Watch compared an official list of all inmates held at Orleans Parish Prison immediately prior to the hurricane with the most recent list of the evacuated inmates compiled by the state Department of Corrections and Public Safety (which was entitled, â??All Offenders Evacuatedâ?�). However, the list did not include 517 inmates from the jail, including 130 from Templeman III.â?�

Many of the prisoners who were left in these horrible conditions were being held for minor violations, and some had not even been charged.

A September 25 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on the same incident. It cited a letter from Paul Kunkel, who was being held on a misdemeanor charge. He wrote to a friend saying that guards had abandoned their posts on Sunday, the day before the hurricane hit.

â??I thought I was going to die in that jail,â?� Kunkel wrote. â??I was locked down in a cell made for two, with five people, no working toilet, no food and no protection. People were panicking, breaking windows, setting firesâ??anything to try to get someoneâ??s attention from the outside. No one knew if we were forgotten. Three days later, they cut the jail bars and let us out.â?�

He continued, â??The water was up to my chest. I was drinking that water for a day and a half. It was filthy and contaminated. But I did not know what else I could do. I wanted to live.â?�

The trauma for the inmates did not end when they finally made it out of the prison. Boats were used to move them to the Broad Street overpass. The Post-Gazette cited a letter from Robie Waganfeald, a friend of Kunkel, who wrote to his father, â??I sat in the sun from 8 am to 6 pmâ??10 hoursâ??[with] no water and with National Guardsmen threatening to shoot people. Some [prisoners] got hit with rubber bullets, others with pepper spray. It was the most humiliating, unjustifiable thing Iâ??ve ever seen.â?�

While Waganfeald was moved to another corrections facility six hours away, Kunkel was taken to a fenced-in field in Elayne Hunt Correctional Centre near New Orleans, where he was held for another four days along with several thousand other prisoners. He gave the following description of the conditions there:

â??We lived in 90-degree-plus sun with no protection from the elements. One day it poured, and the ground was wet and muddy. We were given one blanket, and we were freezing at night... Inmates were stealing blankets, and convicts were armed with homemade knives. There were no sanitary facilities. It was like a concentration camp. I [was] very afraid.â?�

Cynthia Meyers, Kunkelâ??s friend, commented that the two prisoners â??were part of a number of people who didnâ??t do anything serious but were left to drown. The pet animals have been treated better than those inmates. It says to me there is a total lack of compassion for these [people].â?�

ermitonto Reviewed by ermitonto on 10-04-2005. Yet another outrageous human rights atrocity by the US gov't New Orleans prisoners left to drown after Katrina struck By Fergus Michaels 1 October 2005 http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/katr-o01.shtml A statement issued by Human Rights Watch reports that the New Orleans Sheriffâ??s Department abandoned hundreds of prisoners in the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) compound for several days after Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29. The report documents a particularly brutal example of the indifference and contempt for human life that characterized Rating: 5

[beachguy in thongs]

I'm not sure how much of that is heresy. Either way, Bush has 1/8 to go.

I'm sorry, a little more. He's got some personal stuff.

[yocass]

eh... how is that the US government? All prisons were ordered evacuated, so wouldnt that be the sheriffs fault?

[ermitonto]

The sheriff is participating in law enforcement, which is part of the government.

[nicholasstanko]

dont bother replying to yocass when he asks stupid questions.

[yocass]

er and the us government is part of the UN.... so its the UNS, including CANADA and the UKs fault!!! Hey, not using logic is fun, no wonder you guys keep doin it!

[nicholasstanko]

er and the us government is part of the UN.... so its the UNS, including CANADA and the UKs fault!!! Hey, not using logic is fun, no wonder you guys keep doin it!

the UN is a body of many countries that meet to discuss issues that relate to world unity. the UN isnt a government body. The UN is a collective of different governments. The UN can only make suggestions and help settle disputes.


Obviously you know nothing about what the UN is. Your statement is laughable at best. You have further discredited anything you have to say.


Back to your yu-gi-oh cards now, yocass. the big kids would like to finish their meeting.

[yocass]

right... Point being? an illogical statement is just that... illogical, like the fact that the US government is responsible for a prison evacuation, which they actually did order in the first place...

[nicholasstanko]

right... Point being? an illogical statement is just that... illogical, like the fact that the US government is responsible for a prison evacuation, which they actually did order in the first place...

right...but obviously it wasnt done...


who sets the rules and mandates...the government..

who is responsible for ensuring said rules and mandates are carried out...the government...

if you were the CEO of a large corporation and you saw on the news one of your companies caught on fire...would you roll over and go to sleep or get to the bottom of it...it was the manager's fault for not following fire protocols that you put forth and approved...but whatever...that's his problem.

its a pretty big picture yocass...open up those eyes.

[yocass]

If I was a ceo of a big company Id have people in place under me to take care of things like that, since no one with a sense of... well anything but ignorance would expect me to get involved personally. Wait a tick, there ARE people under the president.. lets follow the trail till it stops at flooded prisoners. First we have what is known as a "national" government, and like I said, only ignorant fools would expect it to evacuate a lonely prison personally, considering there are rules set forth for such an occasion already. Then a "state" government... then a "city" government. Havent lost you yet, have I Nicky boy? Ok then there are rule enforcers/workers under this "city" government, such as ~gasp~ SHERIFFS and Police Chiefs, whos job is to take care of such things! Hooray, youve graduated! What'd you expect, Bush to come in and evacuate every prison/store/hotel/casino/house/kitty cat? So since your under the Canadian govt, if you smell like ass and walk around its the Canadian governments fault?