News
Haiti: UN reduces peacekeeping force – extends mission for 1 more year amid cholera controversy
The UN faces a prolonged battle over MINUSTAH which was originally sent to end political strife in 2004 and also played a key role after the January 2010 earthquake which killed more than 250,000 people.
Lawyers from the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking compensation from the United Nations. The lawyers have previously sought US$100,000 for the family of each victim who died and US$50,000 for each survivor.
Medical studies have increasingly pointed to a UN link to the cholera.
But the United Nations said in February that the legal complaint was “non-receivable” under a 1946 convention setting out the UN’s immunities for its actions.
The UN has since refused to comment on the court case, which in a worst case scenario could cost billions.
“The UN remains committed to do all it can to help the people of Haiti overcome the cholera epidemic,” a UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, said Wednesday when asked about the damages claim.
