un rejects claims from cholera victims
TRANSCRIPT
UN rejectsrejects claimsclaims fromfrom
Cholera Cholera victimsvictims
In a terse
statement, the
spokesman for the
UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-Moon said the
damages claim was
'not receivable',
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
under a
convention that
grants
the United
Nations
immunity for
its actions.
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
Families of the victims
are demanding millions
of dollars in
compensation,
accusing the
UN of introducing the
disease to Haiti.
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
The The UN has never admitted
responsibility, despite
mounting evidence that
the epidemic was caused
by poor sanitation at a
peacekeeping camp.
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
A lawyer for the
cholera victims told the BBC that UN
immunity could not
mean impunity, and said the case would now be pursued in a
national court.
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
The lawyer, Brian
Concannon, said the
victims' legal team
would challenge the
UN's right to immunity
from Haitian courts,
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
on the grounds that
it hadn't established an
alternative mechanism
for dealing with
accountability
issues, as stipulated in
its agreement with
the government.
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
He also said lifting immunity
would not challenge UN
policy, which is protected by
the convention, but its
practice, such as how to test
troops for disease and
properly dispose of sewage.
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
There's evidence that
infected Nepalese
peacekeepers caused
the epidemic
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
by dumping untreated
waste into a key river
system, but the UN
insists it's impossible to
pinpoint blame
definitively.
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
Late last year
it launched an
initiative to eliminate
cholera in Haiti by
investing in clean
drinking water
UN rejects claims from cholera vict ims
and sanitation
systems, a move Mr
Concannon said he
considered an
unofficial response
to the victims' claims
Barbara Plett reports for the BBC 22 February 2013