This paper describes the results of an investigation into how the December, 2004 tsunami and its aftermath affected the human rights of the survivors. Teams of researchers interviewed survivors, government officials, representatives of international and local non-governmental organisations, UN officials, the military, police, and other key informants in India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Indonesia, and Thailand. We also analysed newspaper articles, reports released by governments, UN agencies, NGOs, and private humanitarian aid groups, and we examined the laws and policies related to survivors’ welfare in the affected countries. We found worsening of prior human rights violations, inequities in aid distribution, lack of accountability and impunity, poor coordination of aid, lack of community participation in reconstruction, including coastal redevelopment. Corruption and pre-existing conflict negatively impact humanitarian interventions. We make recommendations to international agencies, states, and local health service providers. A human rights framework offers significant protection to survivors and should play a critical role in disaster response. Asia Pac J Public Health 2007; 19(Special Issue): 52–59.
This paper is a revised and shortened version of a report issued in October, 2005 by the Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley and the East-West Center titled “After the Tsunami: Human Rights of Vulnerable Populations”. The full report may be viewed at www.hrcberkeley.edu. Accessed 26 April 2006.
Summary of the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 and Their Additional Protocols of June 8, 1977. Available at http://genevaconventions.org. Accessed 26 April 2007.
Article 12, International Covenant on Economic, Cultural, and Social Rights. (Entry into force January 3, 1976). Available at http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm. Accessed 26 April 2007. India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand all have ratified the treaty.
NojiE. The Public Health Consequences of Disaster.New York: Oxford University Press,1997.
13.
LogueJN. Disasters, the environment, and public health: improving our response.Am J Public Health1996: 86(9): 1207–10.
14.
Auf der HeideE. The importance of evidence-based disaster planning.Ann Emerg Med2006: 47(1): 34–49.
15.
Lopez-IborJJ, ChristodoulouG, MajM, SartoriousN, OkashaA (editors). Disasters and Mental Health.New York: John Wiley & Sons Ltd,2005.
16.
For a list of the major human rights treaties and declarations, see www.unhchr.ch/htm/intlinst.htm. Accessed 26 April 2007.
17.
Eighth Practitioners’ Forum on Human Rights in Development (UN Thematic Working Group on Human Rights in Development).Human rights implications of the 26 December tsunami, Friday, March 4, 2005, Bangkok, Thailand. See also Human Rights Issues in the Post-tsunami Context, INFORM, Human Rights Documentation Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka, February, 2005 and Wijemanne, Hiranthi, The Tsunami in Sri Lanka and Women, UNU Public Forum to Commemorate International Women's Day, 8 March 2005, Tokyo, Japan. All on file with authors. See also Amnesty International, The Role of Human Rights in the Wake of the Earthquake and Tsunami, A Briefing for Members of the Consultative Group on Indonesia, 19-20 January, 2005 and Action Network for Migrants (ANM), Situation Assessment of Migrants in the Tsunami-Affected Province of Phang Nga, January 26, 2005 (on file with authors). From very early on, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) put out regular reports of international aid and government responses via its Tsunami News and on its reliefweb website.
18.
Collaborating organizations were International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Kandy, Sri Lanka, College of Public Health, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, Human Rights Commission, Male, Maldives, Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (DEMOS), Jakarta, Indonesia, and Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India.
19.
The research in Indonesia occurred prior to the peace agreement signed by the Free Aceh Movement and the government of Indonesia on August 15, 2005. Our findings with respect to the militarization of aid likely were improved after the agreement although the fear of the populace is longstanding. Our findings in Sri Lanka were made prior to the agreement with the LTTE in June, 2005 to allow for aid distribution. However, that agreement was subsequently suspended by the Sri Lanka Supreme Court and was followed by assassinations and an increased violence. As of this writing, Sri Lanka is facing a return to civil war primarily in the northeast of the country.
20.
GostinL, MannJH. Towards the development of a human rights impact assessment for the formulation and evaluation of public health policies.Health and Human Rights1994; 1(1): 58–80.
21.
Global Exchange.Aceh: Peace After the Waters? Aceh: Challenges of Reconstruction and Peace One Year Later.San Francisco: Global Exchange, March, 2006.
22.
GangulyM. After the Deluge: India's Reconstrution Following the 2004 Tsunami.New York: Human Rights Watch2005: 17(3C),
23.
De ChickeraA. The Tsunami and Human Rights: A Framework for the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Process.Disaster Relief Monitoring Unit, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Colombo: 2005. See also Fernando, L. National Human Rights Commission's Response on Post-Tsunami. Colombo, Sri Lanka: 26th October, 2005
