US judge tosses lawsuit vs. UN over Haiti cholera outbreak

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

US judge tosses lawsuit vs. UN over Haiti cholera outbreak
By JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press | January 9, 2015 | Updated: January 9, 2015 10:18pm

NEW YORK (AP) — The United Nations is immune from a lawsuit seeking compensation for victims of a deadly cholera outbreak, a U.S. judge said Friday in dismissing a case that government lawyers said could open the international body to an onslaught of litigation.

The suit stemmed from an outbreak that has killed more than 8,000 people and sickened more than 700,000 since human waste was dumped into Haiti's principal river in October 2010. Scientific studies have shown that cholera was likely introduced in Haiti by U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal, where the disease is endemic.

The lawsuit, filed by human rights groups and others, argued the U.N. hadn't screened the peacekeepers for the disease and was responsible for poor sanitation and waste disposal practices that spread it. Seeking unspecified damages, the suit said the U.N. sacrificed its immunity by not giving victims any avenue for compensation.

But U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken noted that the U.N.'s charter provides broad legal immunity and that the international body hasn't waived it.

"Where such an express waiver is absent, the UN and (its operation in Haiti) are immune from suit," Oetken wrote.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/US-judge-tosses-lawsuit-vs-UN-over-Haiti-cholera-6005516.php

[Demeter]

1. That just isn't right. If the UN isn't responsible, who is?

The Haitians?

The UN doesn't get to pardon itself...we have to break that entitlement attitude. Nobody is above the law, ESPECIALLY the artificial constructs of corporation, government, NGO, and what-have-you.

[stevenleser]

2. Unfortunately, what's "right" and what's "legal" are sometimes not the same thing. The law provides

immunity for the UN that is pretty absolute. And its the right thing for the majority of situations.

It's not an entitlement attitude. The UN doesn't have a whole lot of power and isn't in the position to refuse countries and groups offering aid in times of crisis. The onus has to be on those countries not to provide sick people to perform the aid work.

[Demeter]

3. I think it was intentional

Haiti has been punished for centuries for having the temerity to break away from slavery on its own.

[stevenleser]

6. Intentional from whom? That doesn't make any sense. nt

[Recursion]

9. Wait. Are you actually saying the cholera outbreak was intentional?

[Igel]

4. How about the carriers?

They carried the cholera.

Except that doesn't transfer enough money to the right people, even if it does punish the guilty--those most directly responsible.

I guess in the event of the next disaster, the UN, US, whoever, should first make sure they have sufficient insurance coverage and that should be the first priority in funding. "We've collected $300 million for relief efforts but, folks, that's not nearly enough to help the victims. At all. We need at least $550 million for insurance, and a $80 million reserve for the deductible, so until we reach $930 million we don't have one cent to send in even one aid worker."

Or aid workers should cover their butts. "Go and help the victims of an earthquake? Well, we can't tell what harm we may do as we try to be Good Samaritans. So the only truly human, charitable, compassionate thing to do is do nothing. Even blankets that we send might be infected somehow or introduce new insects and we can't be 100.0000% sure we won't make things worse."

Nobody's omniscient. Bad things happen. Punish those that are intentional, and do the best you can with those that are accidental. The latter is exactly what's been happening, and attempts to find an immediate, punitive solution to this will lead to bad consequences later.

[Demeter]

5. If you are a conscripted soldier, you go where you are told

You don't get a choice. Nepal may not even have had a choice...send your soldiers, or else we screw your nation!

No, the agency that sent them is the one with all the liability, and they should make recompense.

Cholera controversy

In October 2010, a Cholera outbreak was confirmed in Haiti—the first in Haitian modern history. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of August 4, 2013, 669,396 cases and 8,217 deaths have been reported since the outbreak first began in October 2010. MINUSTAH was linked with introducing the disease to the country by sources such as the CDC, the American Society for Microbiology, Yale Law School and the School of Public Health. The cause of the disease was attributed to faulty construction of UN sanitation systems in its base located in the Haitian town of Méyè. Many reports from Méyè stated that people had seen sewage spilling from the UN base into the Artibonite River, the largest river in Haiti that is most often used by residents for drinking, cooking, and bathing.

In December 2010, a study traced the Haitian cholera strain to South Asia. The UN conducted an independent investigation into the origin of the epidemic at the end of 2010. A panel of independent UN experts was assembled and their collective findings were compiled in a report. The panel determined that the evidence implicating the Nepalese troops was inconclusive. Though they admitted that the cholera strain was most likely from Nepal, it cited a confluence of factors that also contributed to the outbreak and that no one "deliberate action of, a group or individual was to blame". However, in 2013, the committee changed its statement concluding that the UN troops from Nepal “most likely” were the cause of the outbreak.

The Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), a Haitian coalition of lawyers, and the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), its US-affiliate, filed claims with MINUSTAH on behalf of 5,000 Haitian petitioners in November 2011. The claims asked for the installation of the water and sanitation infrastructure necessary to control the epidemic, compensation for the victims, and an apology. Fifteen months later, on February 2013, the UN stated that the case was “not receivable,” because it involved “review of policy matters”, citing the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.

In February 2013, the Haitian government created its National Plan for the Elimination of Cholera, a 10-year plan set to eradicate the disease. Two of the ten years will be devoted as a short-term response to the epidemic. The last eight will be to completely eliminate the disease. The projected budget for the plan is $2 billion. To support the initiative, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, pledged $23.5 million to combat cholera. However, following the pledge, there was much discontent with the UN’s progress. 19 Members of U.S. Congress urged UN to take responsibility for cholera in Haiti. In two separate occasions, members of the US Congress sent a letter to the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, urging her and the organization to ensure that the cholera initiative was fully funded and implemented quickly. Nineteen US Representatives also wrote to Ban Ki-Moon to express concerns about the seemingly lack of progress in the UN’s cholera response. Ban Ki-moon told members of the US Congress that the UN was committed in helping Haiti overcome the epidemic though no financial compensation to the victims would be granted. Since 2010, the UN has spent and/or committed more than $140 million to the epidemic.

On May 9, 2013, the Haitian Senate unanimously voted—save for one abstention—on a policy that would demand the UN to compensate Haitian cholera victims. Senators also proposed to form “a commission of experts in international and penal law to study what legal means, both nationally and internationally, could be used to prove MINUSTAH’s responsibility for starting the cholera outbreak.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Stabilisation_Mission_in_Haiti

[Judi Lynn]

7. Anyone who has taken the time to give any thought to Haiti's history would agree with you, Demeter.

Haitians have been treated hideously poorly since taking their independence from their brutal "masters" and we all know it. They have been abused in every conceivable way for daring to fight for their freedom. They have suffered ferocious circumstances from the very first.

They have been taught they are hated for their belief they should not be slaves. Time after time after time after time.

Thank you for your comments on this thread. You are so appreciated.

[Demeter]

8. Thank you, Judi Lynn, for keeping us up on this end of the world

Especially since there's no paper in my city, I'm grateful to have a source of hard news which is all in one place. Your aggregation is greatly appreciated.