Haitian Advocates Sue UN for Cholera Epidemic in 2010

The U.N. (United Nations) is being blamed for the grave cholera epidemic in Haiti in 2010 and advocates from the country have sued the intergovernmental organization, Wednesday. It is claimed that the disease spread from the excrement discharged by the U.N. camps and killed around 8000 Haitians and infected more than 650,000 people in the country.

The forensic research points toward the Nepalese members of the United Nations' peacekeeping force called the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti for the cholera bacteria, apparently their sanitation system was below par. All the untreated sewage of the U.N. members was released into the Latem River tributary. The Haitians use this river water for their daily activities like bathing and brushing. This deadly disease was passed on through the contaminated river water.

The rights advocates filed the lawsuit against U.N.'s peacekeeping base, Wednesday, Oct. 9, in Manhattan's Federal District Court. They want the U.N. to accept full responsibility for the spread of cholera. Haiti had been cholera-free the past 100 years before this outbreak.

 "We are asking for the judge to find the United Nations liable," she said. "It has violated its legal obligations through reckless actions that brought cholera to Haiti," Beatrice Lindstrom, a spokeswoman for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, said in a phone interview, according to a New York Times report. She prepared this lawsuit for five cholera victims who needed treatment for this disease. She is also seeking compensation for their families and fellow countrymen.

The U.N. received negative remarks from various Haitian leaders including Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe at the annual United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Oct. 10. The Prime Minister said that the U.N. peacemaking group in Haiti behaved in an extremely reckless and careless manner regarding this matter and did not put in efficient efforts to curb the ailment.

On the other hand, U.N. secretary Ban Ki-moon said that no compensations will be given to the victims of the epidemic on the basis of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. But they still want to help in pulling Haiti out of this crisis.

"The United Nations is working on the ground with the government and people of Haiti both to provide immediate and practical assistance to those affected and to put in place better infrastructure and services for all," Farhan Haq, a spokesman for Mr. Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.