Friday, following a complaint filed in federal court in Brooklyn (NY) and the proceedings brought against the United Nations, lawyers on behalf of over 1,500 cholera victims in Haiti, handed a summons to the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon both personally and also as Chief Executive of the Organization of United Nations.

According to these lawyers a summons was delivered by hand to the Secretary of the United Nations (UN) as he entered to the "Asia Society" in Manhattan, to speak on Syria and Iraq. However, a spokesman for the UN denied the hand delivery, claiming that security guards of the Secretary General had intervened and that therefore Mr. Ban was not obliged to appear in court in Brooklyn.

Clarification that this lawsuit seeks to force the UN to assume its responsibilities, to compensate victims, and bring sanitation to the Haitian communities devastated that the UN has sworn to protect.

The victims' lawyers claim to have clear evidence that the United Nations is responsible for the contagion of cholera in Haiti. In addition they state that documents filed with the Court clearly shows that the UN has expressly waived its sovereign immunity, including in its 2004 agreement on the status of forces in Haiti.

"They [the United Nations] now must face a U.S. federal judge and explain why they feel they are immune from fulfilling that agreed-upon responsibility," estimated Tim Howard, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.

Recall that the UN has never officially acknowledged its responsibility in the epidemic, believing impossible to formally determine the cause of the disease also claiming that their mission in Haiti enjoyed judicial immunity.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-9624-haiti-cholera-new-complaint-against-the-un.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-7931-haiti-justice-request-for-compensation-of-victims-of-cholera-rejected-by-the-un.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-7388-haiti-health-ban-ki-moon-tuesday-launched-an-appeal-for-$22-billion.html

SL/ HaitiLibre