UN chief apologizes to Haitians for cholera spread

New approach seeks to provide aid to communities

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 2, (Agencies): Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon apologized Thursday for the UN not doing enough to contain the spread of a cholera outbreak in Haiti, but he stopped short of apologizing for bringing the disease to the Caribbean nation.

Ban made his remarks in a speech announcing the UN’s new approach to cholera in Haiti, which seeks to provide aid to communities affected by the disease that has afflicted some 800,000 Haitians and killed over 9,000.

“On behalf of the United Nations, I want to say very clearly we apologize to the Haitian people. We simply did not do enough with regard to the cholera outbreak and its spread in Haiti. We are profoundly sorry for our role,” Ban said, speaking first in Creole, then repeating himself in French and English.

“This has cast a shadow upon the relationship between the United Nations and the people of Haiti. It is a blemish on the reputation of UN peacekeeping and the organization worldwide,” Ban added.

Researchers say cholera was introduced to Haiti by Nepalese troops who were part of a UN peacekeeping mission.

For years the UN had denied or been silent on longstanding allegations that it was responsible for the outbreak, while responding to lawsuits in US courts by claiming diplomatic immunity. In August, a US appeals court upheld the United Nations’ immunity from a lawsuit filed on behalf of 5,000 Haitian cholera victims who blame the UN for the epidemic.

After the ruling, Ban said he deeply regretted the suffering that cholera has caused and the UN had a moral responsibility to the victims.

Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said Ban’s apology did not go further because a panel that studied the outbreak attributed it to a number of factors.

“We now recognize that we had a role in this but to go to the extent of taking full responsibilUN ity for all is a step that would not be possible for us to take,” Eliasson told reporters before Ban’s speech.

Haiti’s Ambassador Jean Wesley Cazeau praised Ban’s new approach, which seeks to raise $400 million from UN member states to provide aid to the afflicted communities and to help eradicate the disease, but he squarely laid the blame for the epidemic on the peacekeepers.

“This approach, I’m happy to highlight represents a radical change of attitude away from the morally unjustifiable approach used until now by the UN regarding its responsibility in cases where it created or contributed to a serious health crisis by finally recognizing it has a fatal for in the outbreak and the terrible suffering by the Haitian people by admitting it has a moral responsibility,” Cazeau said. “The UN showed it can admit to making mistakes.”

Sen. Edward Markey, the top Democrat on the Senate’s Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, praised Ban’s apology in a statement.

“The people of Haiti have long deserved more than just acknowledgment for the pain and sacrifice they have suffered in great part due to UN negligence. The UN must now put its money where its mouth is and provide compensation to the Haitian people suffering from the devastation caused by the cholera epidemic,” Markey said.

Cholera, a disease that is transmitted through contaminated drinking water and causes acute diarrhea, is a major challenge in a country with poor sanitary conditions.

The cholera epidemic has claimed more than 9,000 lives in Haiti, the most impoverished country in the Americas, and infected 800,000 people. The United Nations reiterated its rejection of claims that it is also legally responsible for the damages from the health emergency.

“We do not change our basic legal position,” Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told reporters.

Ban insisted the UN has “a moral responsibility to act.”

“This has cast a shadow upon the relationship between the United Nations and the people of Haiti,” he said. “It is a blemish on the reputation of UN peacekeeping.”

The UN chief also formally presented the 193-nation General Assembly with a “new approach,” a two-pronged program to help the families of the cholera victims and support the battle against the disease.

The UN hopes the new proposal will raise $400 million over two years, but funding for prior UN assistance to Haiti has been slow to arrive.

Ban urged donors to finance the program. “On the scale of global humanitarian and development needs, limited sums are required to eliminate cholera in Haiti,” he pleaded.

“This mission is realistic and doable. Cholera is a treatable and preventable disease. It can be controlled and eliminated.”

Since the outbreak of cholera in Haiti and the ensuing accusations against the UN peacekeepers, the United Nations has steadfastly argued its missions enjoy diplomatic immunity from prosecution.

That immunity has been upheld by US courts in rejecting several lawsuits filed by victims seeking millions of dollars in damages for negligence. To lift that immunity would jeopardize UN peacekeeping operations, Eliasson said.

“This is a true apology,” he said, adding that Ban “wanted to do it before the end of his term” on December 31.

Philip Alston, UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said in an October report to the General Assembly that the UN’s position “flouted the applicable international law” and “undermined the credibility of the organization.”