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U.S. judge rules Haitians cannot sue U.N. for cholera epidemic
Source: Reuters
U.S. judge rules Haitians cannot sue U.N. for cholera epidemic
BY DAVID INGRAM
NEW YORK Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:12pm EST
(Reuters) - Thousands of Haitians killed or sickened by a cholera epidemic that they blame on U.N. peacekeepers cannot sue the United Nations in a U.S. court because the U.N. has legal immunity that only it can waive, a judge has ruled.
In a decision late on Friday, Judge J. Paul Oetken of U.S. District Court in Manhattan dismissed a lawsuit filed by human rights lawyers seeking compensation for the cholera victims.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs said they would appeal the ruling.
The outbreak has killed more than 8,600 people and infected over 707,000 since October 2010, according to the U.N.
Oetken wrote that the U.N.'s ability to block lawsuits was established by a 1946 international convention and was made clear again in a 2010 ruling from a U.S. appeals court in a case of alleged sex discrimination.
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BY DAVID INGRAM
NEW YORK Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:12pm EST
(Reuters) - Thousands of Haitians killed or sickened by a cholera epidemic that they blame on U.N. peacekeepers cannot sue the United Nations in a U.S. court because the U.N. has legal immunity that only it can waive, a judge has ruled.
In a decision late on Friday, Judge J. Paul Oetken of U.S. District Court in Manhattan dismissed a lawsuit filed by human rights lawyers seeking compensation for the cholera victims.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs said they would appeal the ruling.
The outbreak has killed more than 8,600 people and infected over 707,000 since October 2010, according to the U.N.
Oetken wrote that the U.N.'s ability to block lawsuits was established by a 1946 international convention and was made clear again in a 2010 ruling from a U.S. appeals court in a case of alleged sex discrimination.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/10/us-un-haiti-lawsuit-idUSKBN0KJ0PX20150110
