Cholera victims in Haiti has finally decided to sue the United Nations to receive compensation for the 2010 cholera outbreak in Haiti after being denied of their requests.
Legal representatives of the Haiti cholera victims filed the case at the New York's U.S District court Wednesday. According to the lawsuit, the U.N should be held responsible on over 8,000 deaths and hundreds of people affected by the disease in 2010.
"Haiti today has the worst cholera epidemic in the world," said Miami attorney Ira Kurzban, who announced the lawsuit at a joint news conference with the human rights groups Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH).
The legal case demands for the U.N to compensate both by providing $100,000 for each death and $50,000 for each person who contracted the disease.
The U.N held its position that they have legal immunity under the 1947 convention. U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson has commented that the request for compensation was deemed "not receivable."
"The UN refused to even consider them. We then felt we had no choice but to file in a national court,” said IJDH director Brian Concannon to BBC.
Haiti, known to be one of the most unfortunate countries, had been cholera-free for more than a century. According to investigations, the 2010 outbreak was caused by U.N soldiers from Nepal who brought contaminated drinking water in Haiti. Cholera is prevalent in Nepal.
Cholera expert Daniele Lantagne , who did a research on the Haiti cholera outbreak, previously revealed on her final report that the U.N Camp was probably the source of the outbreak.
United Nations was established as an institution that aimed to promote human rights and social progress among others. However the case of Haiti somehow reduces that purpose.
