By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, April 9 -- Haiti shouldn't even be hosting a UN Peacekeeping mission, human rights lawyer Mario Joseph told the Press on Monday. The $800 million it is spending a year should instead be spent on reparations for having brought cholera, and on a new water system.
Inner City Press asked Joseph what he thought of the response, or non-response, of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has pointed again and again to the inconclusive findings of a panel whose members have since said the UN's role in bringing cholera to Haiti has been proved. Joseph replied that immunity cannot -- or at least, should not -- mean impunity.
His fellow panelist and translator, Brian Concannon of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, added that there should be a General Assembly resolution by member states, telling the UN -- that is, the Secretariat and Department of Peacekeeping Operations -- to be accountable for cholera.
Abby Goldberg of the New Media Advocacy Project told Inner City Press that the film she had just screened was intended to help civil society to demand accountability from the UN.
Inner City Press would suggest that future edits of the film put a face on the UN and personalize it. For months the claim for compensation has been "studied," without comment, by chief UN legal officer Patricia O'Brien. Ban Ki-moon has dodged questions about accountability, even while reading out speeches demanding it from others. The footage is there: now it's time to focus. Watch this site.
Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky on April 2, 2012, about the
Inner City Press: article about Haiti and cholera, and they go into great detail and they say that, even the members of the panel that the UN cites so much, say that new evidence tends to show that it was introduced by the UN. There is a quote by Mr. Banbury to the contrary, but virtually everything else in the article points to the UN and says it is… the UN’s refusal to take responsibility has led to further problems in Haiti. And so, I wonder, I have seen Mr. Banbury’s quote, but is there any reflection on the UN on the mounting evidence that they are responsible for the introduction of cholera into Haiti?
Spokesperson: Well, I think, as we have said on numerous occasions, there are a couple of points. One is that the UN has indeed received claims related to cholera in Haiti, and it is studying those claims. And this is obviously a highly complex matter which will require thorough consideration. And given the unique nature of the claim, needless to say, this will take some time. And I think, as you can appreciate, when it comes to claims, that is not unusual. The UN has advised the claimant that it is looking into the matter. So, that’s the first thing. The second thing is that, as you mentioned, there was the report of the independent Panel of Experts and, as you will recall, that Panel concluded that it was not possible to be conclusive about how cholera was introduced into Haiti. And as I say, the claims are being studied and, therefore, at this point, I don’t have any further comment, including on the New York Times story.
Inner City Press: just to make it a little more pointed, it seems like some of the panellists have now been quoted as saying that some subsequent scientific research makes the… they no longer stand behind the idea that it can’t be proved. They are saying it pretty much has been proved, so…
Spokesperson: Well, as I say, there was that Panel, there were the findings from that Panel, and clearly, at this point, given that the UN has received claims and those claims are being looked into, we don’t have any further comment right now, okay?
And not for the week since, either. Watch this site.
