Victims Of Haiti Cholera Epidemic Threaten U.N. With Lawsuit Over Compensation

“Victims of Haiti’s cholera epidemic have given the United Nations a 60-day deadline to start talks about billions of dollars’ worth of compensation or face legal action,” BBC News reports, noting, “The U.N. is accused of negligently allowing peacekeeping soldiers to pollute Haiti’s water with cholera” (5/8). “Lawyers for the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti said they hoped to be able to settle with the United Nations but are ready to go to court in New York if that fails,” the Associated Press/U.S. News & World Report writes, adding, “The announcement was the group’s response to a U.N. letter in February saying it is legally immune and was not responsible for the cholera outbreak that has sickened nearly 500,000 people and killed over 7,750 people since the outbreak began in October 2010” (Spielmann, 5/8). “Institute lawyers say they are seeking $100,000 for the family of each victim who died from cholera and $50,000 for each survivor,” Agence France-Presse notes, adding, “That could take the potential claim into several billion dollars” (5/8). “The U.N. has repeatedly denied any responsibility for the cholera outbreak,” Al Jazeera writes. The news service examines the issue in a video report (5/9).

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