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A
cholera epidemic which began in October 2010 near the headwaters
of the Artibonite River, Haiti’s largest, has now killed over
6,600 Haitians and sickened over 475,000.
On Nov. 3, over 5,000 Haitian cholera survivors, or the families
of cholera victims who died, filed suit in Haiti and New York
against the United Nations (UN) and the UN Stabilization Mission
in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for introducing the deadly
Vibrio cholerae
bacteria
into Haiti through Nepalese soldiers who are part of the
military occupation force.
The 37-page
document, delivered in both English and French to the Claims
Unit Chief at MINUSTAH’s Log Base at the Port-au-Prince airport
and to the office of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York,
charges that the “UN
is liable for negligence, gross negligence, recklessness, and
deliberate indifference for the health and lives of Haitian
people resulting in petitioners’ injuries and deaths from
cholera.”
The
legal petition was written and submitted by attorneys Mario
Joseph of the International Lawyers Bureau (BAI) in
Port-au-Prince, Brian Concannon of the Institute for Justice and
Democracy (IJDH) in Boston, and Ira Kurzban of Kurzban Kurzban
Weinger Tetzeli & Pratt in Miami. They are requesting from the
UN financial compensation for petitioners, constructive action
to prevent cholera’s spread, and a formal acknowledgment of and
apology for the UN’s responsibility for bringing cholera into
Haiti.
“Until
MINUSTAH’s actions incited the cholera outbreak, Haiti had not
reported a single case of cholera for over 50 years,”
the lawyers wrote.
The victims’
petition explains that the UN and MINUSTAH are liable for
hundreds of millions of dollars for: 1) failing to adequately
screen and treat UN troops arriving from countries experiencing
cholera epidemics; 2) dumping untreated wastes from a UN base
directly into a tributary of the Artibonite River; and 3)
failing to adequately respond to the epidemic.
“This
claim provides the UN with a chance to demonstrate that it is
not above its own laws,” said lawyer Brian Concannon, who,
along with Ira Kurzban, held a press conference announcing the
suit at the Dag Hammarskjold Library auditorium at the UN
General Headquarters in New York on Nov. 8.
The complaint
exhaustively lays out how “[n]umerous
studies, including those of the UN itself; the [U.S.]-based
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Harvard Cholera
Group; Dr. Renaud Piarroux, whose report the Haitian and French
governments commissioned; the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in
Cambridge, England; and the International Vaccine Institute in
Seoul, Korea, have documented that the
Vibrio cholerae
virus
was introduced to Haitian waters by MINUSTAH personnel deployed
to Haiti from Nepal.”
One year ago, in
the face of damning media investigations and angry Haitian
demonstrations, the UN vehemently denied any responsibility for
importing cholera into Haiti.
“The
denial of responsibility for cholera is consistent with MINUSTAH
practice of blanket denial of all wrongdoing, no matter how well
documented,” said lawyer Ira Kurzban.
Most of the
petitioners are
from
the Mirebalais, St. Marc, Hinche, and Port-au-Prince
regions. “They include farmers, teachers, and caretakers
whose injuries or death have left families without means to meet
their basic needs,” the complaint states.
One
of the petitioners is a relative of one of the first cholera
victims who died on Oct.
22, 2010 at St. Nicholas Hospital in St. Marc, leaving behind
his wife and 12 children. When working in an Artibonite Valley
rice field, as he did each day, the victim “drank from the
canal that irrigates the field,” the complaint explains. “Soon
thereafter, he described to his family a sensation in his
stomach ‘like boiling water.’ He began to vomit and spent the
night at home in excruciating pain. The next morning, he went to
the hospital. In the afternoon, he died.”
BAI
Managing Attorney Mario Joseph said, “This is an opportunity
for the United Nations to demonstrate that its stated ideals of
eliminating disease and encouraging respect for rights are not
just empty promises.”
The complaint
notes that
the
UN is supposed to establish, but has not, a standing claims
commission as required by the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA),
an accord signed between the UN and the Haitian government. “Under
the SOFA, the claims commission is the forum that has
jurisdiction to hear civil claims of Haitians injured by
MINUSTAH’s actions,” the lawyers wrote. “The UN has yet
to establish this commission, leaving victims without a clear
route to seek accountability and relief.”
Undeterred, the
lawyers sought out
Terseli Loial, MINUSTAH’s Chief Legal Officer. He instructed the
lawyers to file their petitioners’ claim with the chief of
MINUSTAH’s Claims Unit.
“Courts have declared that immunity cannot mean
impunity,” said Concannon. “If the UN refuses to provide
an effective forum for resolving these complaints, national
courts will.” |
