“But in response to reporters’ questions on Thursday, Farhan Haq, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “. over the past year the U.N. has become convinced it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera”.
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“This is a groundbreaking first step towards justice”, said Beatrice Lindstrom of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), which is pursuing a class-action lawsuit against the UN.
It is also demanding that the United Nations issue a public apology and ensure that cholera is eradicated in Haiti by investing in water and sanitation infrastructure. The vibrio cholerae bacteria that causes cholera usually infects people who drink contaminated water. The organization reports that there have been more some 10,000 cholera-related deaths since the outbreak in 2010, though Doctors Without Borders have argued that the actual death toll is likely higher.
The U.N. countered Concannon’s class action lawsuit by saying it is immune under worldwide law from such legal actions. The United States is defending the U.N., since the agency is headquartered in NY.
With its temperate climate and infrastructure-including waste treatment facilities-decimated by the quake, Haiti provided ideal conditions for the bacteria to thrive, and the disease spread quickly.
A study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2011 noted that peacekeepers from Nepal, a country where cholera is endemic, introduced cholera to Haiti six years ago.
The admission was in response to a private report, drafted by New York University law professor and U.N. special rapporteur on human rights Philip Alston, which found that “but for the actions of the United Nations”, the crisis would not have occurred.
And now, almost six years later, the United Nations has admitted it played some role in the deadly outbreak. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration. It has answered lawsuits on behalf of victims filed in US courts by claiming immunity under a 1946 convention. “The secretary-general urges member states to demonstrate their solidarity with the people of Haiti by increasing their contributions to eliminate cholera and provide assistance to those affected”, the statement said. Cholera victims and their lawyers have 90 days to decide if they will seek an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We have considered all of plaintiffs’ arguments on appeal and find them to be without merit”, the USA appellate judges said.
Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said on CNN’s “Amanpour” on Thursday that the United Nations is seeking to combine “an element of compassion” with the organization’s strict legal position on immunity for actions of peacekeepers.
As the Times noted, the United Nations did not walk back its claim of immunity in its acknowledgement of some responsibility in the outbreak. “S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in NY affirmed a lower court’s January 2015 dismissal of a lawsuit brought in the worst outbreak of cholera in recent history”.
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But he said repeated appeals to the worldwide community have left the effort “seriously underfunded”. For more than five years, the Office of the Secretary-General has dodged blame and gone so far as to invoke immunity against lawsuits seeking to hold the United Nations responsible.
