The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 21
Paragraph- Paragraph text
- Immediately after the publication of the panel's report in May 2011, a United Nations spokesperson was dismissive of the report on the grounds that it did "not present any conclusive scientific evidence linking the outbreak to the MINUSTAH peacekeepers or the Mirebalais camp". Senior officials have continued to rely on this defence. However, the more detailed and official response provided in a letter dated 25 November 2014 from Assistant Secretary-General Pedro Medrano Rojas, Senior Coordinator for the Cholera Response in Haiti, addressed to the special procedures mandate holders took a different tack. Although the letter is long and detailed, it curiously makes no mention of the panel's principal finding, which was, as noted above, that that "the source of the Haiti cholera outbreak was due to contamination of the Meye Tributary of the Artibonite River with a pathogenic strain of current South Asian type Vibrio cholerae as a result of human activity". In other words, MINUSTAH was indeed the source. Instead, after citing the panel's reference to poor water and sanitation conditions and inadequate medical facilities, Mr. Medrano suggested that the main outcome of the inquiry was the statement that the outbreak "was not the fault of, or due to deliberate action by, a group or individual". Similarly, regularly updated fact sheets describing the United Nations response continue to make no mention of the panel's principal conclusion in relation to MINUSTAH. It has been airbrushed out of the picture.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Year
- 2016
- Paragraph type
- Other
- Paragraph number
- 21
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