Con­tact:

Brian Con­can­non, Jr., Esq., Insti­tute for Jus­tice & Democ­racy in Haiti, brian@ijdh.org, +1–541-263‑0029 (Eng­lish, French, Creole)

Mario Joseph, Av., Bureau des Avo­cats Inter­na­tionaux, (in Haiti), mario@ijdh.org, +509‑3701-9878 (French, Cre­ole, English)

Maria-Elena Kolovos, Bureau des Avo­cats Inter­na­tionaux (in Haiti), mariaelena@ijdh.org, +509‑4688-9968 (English)

Ira Kurzban, Esq., Kurzban, Kurzban, Weinger Tet­zeli & Pratt P.A., ira@kkwtlaw.com, +1–305-992‑3356 (English)

Over 5,000 Hait­ian Cholera Vic­tims Sue UN, Seek­ing Justice

Attor­neys deliver claims request­ing com­pen­sa­tion and con­struc­tive action for the UN’s intro­duc­tion of cholera to Haiti

Tues­day, Novem­ber 8, 2011, New York, Port-au-Prince — On Thurs­day, Novem­ber 3, 2011, over 5,000 Haitians, all vic­tims of cholera or rel­a­tives of vic­tims, sub­mit­ted claims to the United Nations (UN) and the United Nations Sta­bi­liza­tion Mis­sion in Haiti (MINUSTAH), for dam­ages from MINUSTAH’s Octo­ber 2010 intro­duc­tion of cholera into Haiti.  The cholera epi­demic has killed over 6,600 Haitians and sick­ened over 475,000 to date.  The epi­demic is ongoing.

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 peace­keep­ing sol­diers arriv­ing from coun­tries expe­ri­enc­ing cholera epi­demics; 2) dump­ing untreated wastes from a UN base directly into a trib­u­tary of Haiti’s longest and most impor­tant river, the Art­i­bonite; and 3) fail­ing to ade­quately respond to the epidemic.

The cholera vic­tims demand indi­vid­ual com­pen­sa­tion, an ade­quate nation­wide response by the UN, and a pub­lic apol­ogy.  They insist that the nation­wide response include med­ical treat­ment for cur­rent and future vic­tims and clean water and san­i­ta­tion infra­struc­ture, the only solu­tion to the cholera epidemic.

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.”

Brian Con­can­non, IJDH’s Direc­tor, added, “The major­ity of the petition’s facts come from UN reports.  The UN devel­oped much of the law we cite.  Our clients are chal­leng­ing the insti­tu­tion to act con­sis­tently with what it knows to be true and just.”

For more infor­ma­tion, includ­ing case doc­u­ments and back­ground mate­ri­als, see www.IJDH.org.

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To down­load press release (Eng­lish), click here.

Espanol: http://ijdh.org/archives/22893

Français: http://ijdh.org/archives/22861

Kreyol: http://ijdh.org/archives/22864