UNITED NATIONS-United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon believes the world body has a moral responsibility to help Haiti’s cholera victims and their families and is working to develop “material assistance” for them, his spokesman said on Friday, Aug. 19.
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A U.S. appeals court has ruled that the United Nations can not be sued in American courts for the introduction of cholera in the Caribbean state of Haiti.
The organisation takes the view that it is protected for claims for compensation by diplomatic immunity.
Further, the United Nations intends to intensify its support to reduce, and ultimately end, the transmission of cholera, improve access to care and treatment and address the longer-term issues of water, sanitation and health systems in Haiti.
Philip Alston, a New York University law professor and UN special rapporteur who authored the UN draft report on the Cholera outbreak, also pointed out that the UN base could be the only plausible source of the disease.
The first victims of the outbreak lived near the base housing the Nepalese peacekeepers, where cholera had already broken out.
The secretary-general noted the decision “upheld the immunity of the Organization from legal proceedings.in accordance with the UN Charter and other global treaties”, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman, said while reading a prepared statement.
Researchers say cholera was first detected in Haiti’s central Artibonite Valley and cite evidence that it was introduced to the country’s biggest river from a United Nations base where Nepalese troops were deployed as part of a peacekeeping operation which has been in the country since 2004.
The impoverished Caribbean nation’s healthcare system is still suffering from the fallout of the 2010 natural disaster that killed about 300,000 people.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon, in a statement by a spokesman, also noted that a decision Thursday by a USA federal appeals court “upheld the immunity of the organization from legal proceedings” brought against it over the cholera crisis.
In a press release Thursday, the institute said the U.N.’s acknowledgment of its role in the crisis was a “significant shift” for the organization, which has spent six years refusing to admit any culpability.
“This is a major victory for the thousands of Haitians who have been marching for justice, writing to the United Nations and bringing the United Nations to court”, said Mario Joseph, a Haitian human rights lawyer representing victims of the epidemic. However, UN officials have insisted that the origin of the epidemic is undetermined.
“There still needs to be a public apology to the victims – to the tens of thousands of people who have suffered”. He noted plaintiffs have 90 days to respond to the decision and file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to government figures, cholera has sickened more than 800,000 people, or about 7 percent of Haiti’s population, and has killed more than 9,200 since the outbreak began in October 2010. “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.
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Cholera is a disease that spreads through contaminated water and causes nausea and severe diarrhea. In March, an average of 37 cholera deaths a month were recorded.
