A panel of independent U.N. experts who investigated the source of a deadly cholera epidemic that killed thousands of Haitians has concluded that United Nations peacekeepers from Nepal "most likely" introduced the strain into the Haitian population.
The panel's findings mark a dramatic retreat from their earlier, 2011 finding that found it impossible to assign responsibility for the strain's origins; the evidence was incomplete evidence, they said at the time, and too many things -- inadequate water, lousy sanitation -- contributed to the 2010 epidemic's spread.
The latest findings will increase pressure on the United Nations to acknowledge responsibility for introducing cholera into the country. In February, the United Nations invoked diplomatic immunity in dodging legal responsibility for paying compensation to victims and their families. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and his top advisors specifically invoked the panel's earlier, ambivalent findings in arguing that the U.N. bore no legal responsibility for the epidemic.
But now the four scientists -- Alejandro Cravioto, Daniele Lantagne, G. Balakrish Nair, Claudio F. Lanata -- who wrote the original report say that new evidence that has come to light in the past two years. While not conclusive, that evidence has strengthened the case against the United Nations. Full story...
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The panel's findings mark a dramatic retreat from their earlier, 2011 finding that found it impossible to assign responsibility for the strain's origins; the evidence was incomplete evidence, they said at the time, and too many things -- inadequate water, lousy sanitation -- contributed to the 2010 epidemic's spread.
The latest findings will increase pressure on the United Nations to acknowledge responsibility for introducing cholera into the country. In February, the United Nations invoked diplomatic immunity in dodging legal responsibility for paying compensation to victims and their families. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and his top advisors specifically invoked the panel's earlier, ambivalent findings in arguing that the U.N. bore no legal responsibility for the epidemic.
But now the four scientists -- Alejandro Cravioto, Daniele Lantagne, G. Balakrish Nair, Claudio F. Lanata -- who wrote the original report say that new evidence that has come to light in the past two years. While not conclusive, that evidence has strengthened the case against the United Nations. Full story...
Related posts:
- In Haiti the UN's behaviour is a far cry from being the conscience of the world...
- How the UN caused Haiti's cholera crisis but won't be held responsible...
- UN soldiers raping 18-year-old boy in Haiti...
- 51 Indian soldiers accused of rape while peace-keeping in the Congo...
- Pakistan UN peacekeepers jailed for Haiti sex abuse...
- Did Nepal's UN soldiers infect Haiti with cholera?
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