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U.N. will not face justice over the Haiti Cholera outbreak
“We are disappointed in the ruling but not discouraged, and we have always assumed that this case was going to go to the appeals court,” Concannon said in a phone interview on Saturday.
Concannon said the U.N. was not entitled to immunity under the 1946 convention because it has failed to establish any kind of settlement process for the cholera victims, as required by the same convention.
U.N. spokeswoman Vannina Maestracci said the organization welcomed the decision and was in the process of reviewing it further. “Our focus in Haiti remains on our commitment to eliminating cholera in Haiti,” she said.
U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal likely caused the cholera outbreak when they were stationed near a major river and discharged raw sewage, according to the plaintiffs and a 2011 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cholera, which had not been documented in Haiti in almost 100 years prior to the outbreak, is an infection that causes severe diarrhea that can lead to dehydration and death, and is caused by poor sanitation.
Source: Reuters
