Human rights lawyers sue UN over Haiti cholera outbreak

Jurist

The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) [advocacy website] on Wednesday filed a complaint [press release] against the UN [official website] for compensation of Haiti's cholera victims and their families. The complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] and comes amid the UN's refusal to compensate the victims earlier this year. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon [official website] stated [press release] that the claims brought on behalf of victims of the cholera outbreak in Haiti cannot be received. Ban relied on Section 29 of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN [materials] that requires the international body to "make provisions for appropriate modes of settlement" in which the UN is a party. The epidemic [CDC backgrounder] has killed more than 8,300 Haitians and sickened more than 650,000 since its introduction in 2010.