Atlanta Tribunal Hearing

First Step on the Road to Restitution and Justice for Hurricane Survivors 

Eight Katrina Survivors and several expert witnesses shared their testimony to a panel of esteemed Judges about the numerous crimes committed against Survivors by the U.S. federal governmental agencies during and after Hurricane Katrina and the Great Flood of New Orleans. The findings of the hearing will be presented at the US Social Forum in Atlanta, Georgia June 27th – July 1st, 2007. The findings will also form a core body of evidence to be submitted at the International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in New Orleans August 29th – September 2nd, 2007.

The first hearing of the International Tribunal (a People’s Court) on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was held Saturday, April 14th, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia at Clark Atlanta University. More than fifty, mainly New Orleans Survivors or Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s) were present at the hearing. The Atlanta hearing was the first of several preliminary Tribunal hearings being organized in several cities throughout the US with substantial IDP populations. The Atlanta Tribunal hearing represents the first step in a long fight to expose the crimes committed by the U.S. federal government and a hard struggle to attain restitution for the Survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita through the application of international law.

The hearing was organized by the Atlanta Survivors Council and Solidarity Committee and supported by the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund, US Human Rights Network, NCOBRA, WACP.TV, Pure Love Heals Ministries, New Afrikan People’s Organization, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Black Male Community Empowerment Forum, Louisiana Committee Against Apartheid, Disabled in Action, UNIA, and the Millions More Movement. Video clips of the hearing can be viewed at www.wacp.tv.