UN sewage linked to Haiti cholera
The United Nations is saying for the first time that it was involved in the introduction of cholera to Haiti and needs to do “much more” to end the suffering of those affected, estimated at more than 800,000 people.
Researchers say there is ample evidence that cholera was introduced to Haiti’s biggest river in October 2010 by inadequately treated sewage from a UN peacekeeping base.
The UN has never accepted responsibility, and has answered lawsuits on behalf of victims in United States courts by claiming diplomatic immunity.
UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq’s statement referring to the UN’s “own involvement”, which was sent to the Associated Press yesterday, came a step closer to an admission of at least some responsibility and was welcomed by lawyers for the victims.
“This i s a major victory for the thousands of Haitians who have been marching for justice, writing to the UN and bringing the UN to court,” said Mario Joseph, a Haitian human rights attorney whose law firm has led a high- profile claim on behalf of 5000 cholera victims who blame the UN for introducing the disease.
In a decision issued yesterday, a US federal appeals panel in New York upheld immunity for the UN and affirmed a lower court’s 2015 judgment dismissing that case.
Cholera victims and their lawyers have 90 days to decide if they will seek an appeal with the US Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Haq said that the UN has been considering a series of options, and “a significantly new set of UN actions” will be presented publicly within the next two months.
He told reporters later that a UNappointed panel already looked into the UN’s involvement and found that a local contractor failed to properly sanitise the waste at the UN base.
“We’ve been trying to see exactly what we can do about our own particular role as this has been going on” and how “to bring this outbreak to a close”, he said.
Five UN human rights experts criticised the UN in a letter to top UN officials late last year for its “effective denial of the fundamental right of the victims of cholera to justice”.