Haiti Demands UN Accountability for Cholera Infection

[C. Flower]

Elsewhere on this site we've discussed the allegation and evidence that UN troops have introduced cholera into Haiti, causing a lethal epidemic.

Haiti is demanding accountability.

http://ijdh.org/wordpress/wp-content...onREDACTED.pdf

PETITION FOR RELIEF
Chief, Claims Unit
MINUSTAH Log Base, Room No. 25A
Boulevard Toussaint Louverture & Clercine 18Tabarre, Haiti
Cc: Office of the United Nations Secretary-General
I. INTRODUCTION
1. In October 2010, cholera broke out in the Artibonite region of Haiti. According to Haiti’s Ministère de la Santé Publique et de la Population, the disease has infected over 457,582 people and claimed over 6,477 lives as of October 2011. This request for relief and reparations is filed on behalf of over 5,000 victims of cholera in Haiti, who are the petitioners in this matter
(hereinafter “Petitioners”). The cholera outbreak is directly attributable to the negligence, gross negligence, recklessness and deliberate indifference for the health and lives of Haiti’s citizens by the United Nations (“UN”) and its subsidiary, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(“MINUSTAH”).

2. Numerous studies, including those of the UN itself; the United States-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 from Nepal.

3. The sickness, death, and ongoing harm from cholera suffered by Haiti’s citizens are a product of the UN’s multiple failures. These failures constitute negligence, gross negligence, recklessness, and deliberate indifference for the lives of Haitians. First, the UN failed to screen troops for cholera infection prior to deployment from Nepal, a country where cholera is endemic
and which had just reported a surge in infections. Second, it failed to maintain its sanitation facilities and waste disposal at the Mirebalais camp in Haiti, allowing contaminated human waste to run into the Meille River, a tributary of the Artibonite River. The Artibonite River is Haiti’s longest and most important river; it is a critical source of water for tens of thousands of Haitians who rely on it for drinking, bathing, washing clothes, and irrigation. Third, it failed to conduct accurate water quality tests in the camp and allowed testing equipment to fall into disrepair,thereby maintaining unsanitary and highly infectious conditions. Fourth, it failed to take
immediate corrective action to properly address the outbreak of disease, a product of the UN’s own failures, willfully delaying investigation and obscuring discovery of the outbreak’s source.

The petitioners are very clear on what they want.

5. The conduct of the UN and MINUSTAH has caused severe injury to and death of the country’s citizens. In this petition and others to follow, the victims seek effective remedy. They seek a fair and impartial hearing. They seek monetary compensation for their losses. They also seek redress in the form of the UN’s commitment to prevent the further spread of cholera in
Haiti. To this end, the victims request that the UN, in partnership with the Government of Haiti, fund and establish a comprehensive sanitation, potable water, and medical treatment program to protect Haitians’ health and lives. Finally, they seek a public acknowledgement by the UN and MINUSTAH of responsibility for the cholera outbreak and its associated harms. Such
recognition will signal to the Haitian people and the world that the UN honors accountability in principle and in practice.

More than a year after the earthquake and 18 months after the hurricane Haitians are still living in their thousands under canvas and plastic, and their country is still occupied by US and UN troops. Cholera they did not need.

[Kev Bar]

And who erected the canvas and plastic?

I recall a similar story, in that case as much a slur as a story, that black African UN troops had brought AIDS to Cambodia.

Where there are troops there are prostitutes.

Vietnam had had troops in Cambodia for a decade.

Perhaps the UN should have left them homeless and starving.

[C. Flower]

And who erected the canvas and plastic?

I recall a similar story, in that case as much a slur as a story, that black African UN troops had brought AIDS to Cambodia.

Where there are troops there are prostitutes.

Vietnam had had troops in Cambodia for a decade.

Perhaps the UN should have left them homeless and starving.

This is not a "story." It's substantiated through research and admitted by the UN.

Yes, and there are many scandals involving UN troops and prostitution.
Do you think it is acceptable for UN troops to introduce HIV ? Do you not think that would be preventable by fairly basic means ?

This is an odd response to negligence, admitted by the UN, that has caused thousands of deaths from cholera.The UN has no role in housing people in Haiti. I'm sure you are aware that their role is "stabilising" and policing.

http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/mi...ckground.shtml

[Kev Bar]

This is not a "story." It's substantiated through research and admitted by the UN.

Yes, and there are many scandals involving UN troops and prostitution.
Do you think it is acceptable for UN troops to introduce HIV ? Do you not think that would be preventable by fairly basic means ?

This is an odd response to negligence, admitted by the UN, that has caused thousands of deaths from cholera.The UN has no role in housing people in Haiti. I'm sure you are aware that their role is "stabilising" and policing.

http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/mi...ckground.shtml

They didn't introduce HIV despite the hysteria of those addicted to a cheap story.

And perhaps the government of Nepal hadn't the means, awareness or sophistication to screen troops being deployed on a humanitarian mission.

So let's all trounce on a third world country in our desire to beat the big bad US.

The UN has a role in the construction of the emergency camps.

I'll go dig out the details cos I had to write something about it recently.

[C. Flower]

[quote]

They didn't introduce HIV despite the hysteria of those addicted to a cheap story.

Then why did you drag it in? The cholera was proven to have come from the UN camp, so there is no comparison.

And perhaps the government of Nepal hadn't the means, awareness or sophistication to screen troops being deployed on a humanitarian mission.

The UN should routinely screen when sending foreign troops in. What other diseases are they going to disseminate to the lucky countries they are supposed to be helping? TB, HIV ? Of course they should screen. It's not down to Nepal, it's down the the UN.

So let's all trounce on a third world country in our desire to beat the big bad US.

What on earth are you talking about ? It is the Haitians who are rightly furious with the UN for bringing this epidemic down on them and there have been a number of protests. The media mocked the protestors as ignorant blacks until it emerged through research that they were right, then they turned their back on reporting it at all. Thousands have died and its still going on. Unless you are thinking of the mulitple occasions on which the US has invaded Haiti and imposed toxic dictators on it.

The UN has a role in the construction of the emergency camps.

I'll go dig out the details cos I had to write something about it recently.

By all means, but a) that is not what this thread is about, unless you are suggesting that this role is a justification for introducing cholera and b) their primary role is policing. Even before the earthquake they were there, and there were protest demonstrations against various abuses committed by them.

[Sam Lord]

Tropical storm Isaac, currently lolling along a western path south of the Dominican Republic, is expected to veer north later today, passing directly over Haiti and much of Cuba before heading on in the direction of Florida. At that stage it is anticipated that it will have strengthened to a hurricane.

Isaac is anticipated to drop substantial amounts of rainfall onto Haiti and poses serious risk of severe flooding and landslides. Haiti is particularly at risk of landslides because of the deforestation of the country.

There are an estimated 350,000 people still living in tents in Haiti some 2.5 years after the earthquake and there is serious concern about their safety.

While it will be sad to see Cuba hit yet again the organisation and hurricane preparedness of Cuba is nonpariel and they seldom lose lives.

Much of the concern about Isaac in the US is centered on whether it will hit Tampa where the Republican National Convention is scheduled to commence on Monday. If it does opponents of the Republican Party will be able to attribute it to God's retribution.

[Count Bobulescu]

Much of the concern about Isaac in the US is centered on whether it will hit Tampa where the Republican National Convention is scheduled to commence on Monday. If it does opponents of the Republican Party will be able to attribute it to God's retribution.

Ah Sam, exploiting the misfortune of the Haitians in order to take a cheap shot at the Yankee is unworthy of you. FYI, the D’s are not the party that does the god thing.

Meanwhile, at least three dead in Haiti from the storm.

[C. Flower]

Haiti is possibly the most ravaged country in the world, between invaders and its own predatory landowning class : even its top soil has gone.

[Sam Lord]

Ah Sam, exploiting the misfortune of the Haitians in order to take a cheap shot at the Yankee is unworthy of you. FYI, the D’s are not the party that does the god thing.

I actually knew that. It was an attempt at irony.