65 U.S. Congressmen demand UN accountability for Haiti cholera outbreak

(WASHINGTON) – Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), along with 65 other Members of Congress, wrote Ambassador Samantha Power, the Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), about the UN’s inadequate response to the cholera epidemic in Haiti. Specifically, the letter detailed how in October 2010, UN peacekeepers in Haiti introduced cholera to the Caribbean nation and urged the UN to take immediate legal responsibility for the resulting harms. While the UN has expressed a desire to repair the damage, to date, no significant action has been taken. Following transmission of the letter to Ambassador Power, Rep. Conyers issued the following statement:

“As we approach the fourth anniversary of the tragic earthquake that devastated Haiti, much work remains to be done to rebuild and rehabilitate the Caribbean nation. Unfortunately, this effort has been imperiled since October 2010, when United Nations peacekeepers operating out of a base camp nearby Port au Prince inadvertently introduced cholera to the Haitian people. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Haitians have been hospitalized, and thousands of Haitians have died. The UN has a moral and legal obligation to repair the harm resulting from its peacekeeping operations,” said Conyers.