The Fight Against UN Impunity and Immunity in Haiti: the Cholera Scandal - Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti

The fight against UN impunity and immunity in Haiti: The cholera scandal - Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti

02 Assessing the accountability of the world’s leading institutions - Christina Laybourn

The movement to include people with disabilities in a human rights framework - Julia Wolhandler State of Civil Society/ Citizens demanding accountability in the international arena The fight against firmed that the contaminated tributary was immunity from legal prosecution for acts the source of the outbreak. of sexual violence, excessive use of force UN impunity and and other misconduct. Groups that had immunity in Haiti: Despite ample, unrefuted evidence been active in organising against MINUSTAH pointing to the UN, the organisation has impunity understood that making noise (fè the cholera not responded justly to demands that it bri in Haitian Creole) would be critical to accept responsibility, compensate victims persuading the UN to respond justly to the scandal and take action to strengthen Haiti’s water cholera epidemic. These groups initially took Mario Joseph and sanitation system in order to eliminate the lead in organising peaceful demonstrations Bureau des Avocats Internationaux cholera. The cholera outbreak received on cholera and also mobilised community renewed attention last October when the education campaigns on cholera prevention. Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI), a Introduction Haitian public interest law firm, and its sister The early demonstrations quickly grew into organisation in the United States (US), the an informal and decentralised movement In October 2010, an epidemic of cholera broke Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti of victims’ groups and community organi- out in Meille, Haiti for the first time in the (IJDH), filed an unprecedented class action sations across Haiti, staging demonstrations country’s recorded history. It soon became suit against the UN. Although the lawsuit from Cap Haïtien in the north to St. Marc in the worst single-country cholera epidemic in marks a crucial step, the fight for justice is the west and Les Cayes in the south. In the modern times. By the end of 2013, the disease largely being waged outside the courtroom. capital of Port-au-Prince, fourteen grass- had killed 8,500 people and sickened another While the UN continues to deny responsibility, roots groups established the Kolektif pou 700,000.1 Almost immediately after the first an informal network of victims, victims’ dedomaje viktim kolera an Ayiti, a collective victims fell ill, residents of Meille identified a advocates, journalists, lawyers, doctors, that organised demonstrations, held press UN peacekeeping base as the source of the scientists and other concerned citizens is conferences and engaged with local and outbreak.2 The base, located on the banks of successfully mobilising to challenge the global international media to raise the profile of the a tributary to Haiti’s principal river system, accountability framework and secure justice issue and shed light on the injustice. Groups provided housing for peacekeepers serv- for the cholera victims. such as Association Haitienne de Droit de l’En- ing in the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti vironnement (AHDEN), a non-profit environ- (MINUSTAH). The Meille residents had long mental law group, sought to engage the UN endured noxious odours emanating from the Exposing the injustice directly by writing to the UN Secretary-Gen- base and waste overflowing from its disposal eral and demanding a more just response. Organising in Haiti pits toward their homes when it rained.3 Demonstrations on cholera continue to date International journalists who conducted fol- MINUSTAH’s introduction of cholera to Haiti and have on several occasions attracted thou- low-up investigations at the base documented occurred at a time of mounting popular sands of people demanding that MINUSTAH sewage pipes emptying into the Meille tribu- discontent with the Mission for its perceived accept responsibility and provide compensa- tary.4 Shortly thereafter, epidemiologists con- lack of accountability to the population and tion for the victims. 99 State of Civil Society / Citizens demanding accountability in the international arena

Building international awareness transparency and accountability were pub- Asian type Vibrio cholerae as a result of human In the weeks and months immediately follow- licly dismissed as “attempts at stigmatiza- activity.”8 The findings came as no surprise to ing the outbreak, Haitian and international tion,”5 a counter-productive “blame game” the Haitian public or to others who had been news agencies reported heavily on cholera. and a “political” diversion from the human- monitoring the crisis, but added significant The Associated Press and Al Jazeera English itarian response,6 despite strong consen- credence to the movement and spurred an played a remarkable role in investigating sus among public health professionals that additional wave of media coverage pressuring the source and exposing UN responsibility understanding the origins of an epidemic is the UN to acknowledge responsibility, includ- for cholera before any official investigations critical to an effective response.7 Over time, ing hard-hitting reports by the BBC and The were underway. Haitian news outlets persis- however, the persistent organising – com- New York Times, among others. tently pressed the UN for answers at press bined with investigations and follow-up conferences and spread public from journalists and the release of Legal efforts to awareness through extensive scientific reports establishing seek justice radio coverage and newspa- a genetic link – pushed the per articles. Many inter- UN to conduct a thorough Seeking to brush aside the mounting evidence, national news agencies investigation into the the UN continued to skirt responsibility by were at first reluctant to source of the epidemic. citing the panel’s findings as inconclusive. report on the UN’s cul- In January 2011, the Faced with the UN’s unrelenting position, pability, however, serv- UN Secretary-General victims and grassroots groups in Haiti began ing instead as an echo relented to pressure to seek legal avenues for securing a just chamber for the UN to and announced the response. In the late summer of 2011 – as object to the allegations. appointment of a panel the one-year anniversary of the outbreak Activists worked hard to of independent experts to approached without an appropriate response educate the international study the origins of cholera from the UN – BAI began to organise victims press about the evidence and in Haiti. in the Central Plateau, the region hit hardest latest developments in the early by the outbreak. BAI worked with community investigations and genetic testing, which The international research team commis- leaders, who in turn mobilised victims to over time allowed for continuous coverage of sioned by the UN released its findings in May come forward and helped prepare over 5,000 the story and put pressure on the UN to con- 2011. The panel’s report included genetic and legal claims on their behalf. duct a formal investigation. epidemiological evidence tying the source of the outbreak to the MINUSTAH base, finding In accordance with the UN’s international Pushing for investigations into the source that “[t]he evidence overwhelmingly sup- law obligations to hear claims from individ- Despite these efforts, the UN rebuffed the ports the conclusion that the source of the uals harmed by its negligence and provide growing circumstantial evidence, denying the Haiti cholera outbreak was due to contamina- redress, BAI and IJDH submitted the claims very possibility of a causal link and refusing tion of the Meye Tributary of the Artibonite to MINUSTAH in Port-au-Prince and UN head- a formal investigation. Civil society calls for River with a pathogenic strain of current South 100 State of Civil Society/ Citizens demanding accountability in the international arena

quarters in New York in November 2011.9 The Accountability,” the authors explain how the responsibility for cholera has since become victims petitioned for remedies in the form of UN has a legal obligation to hear claims from the topic of numerous academic conferences, a) clean water and sanitation infrastructure Haitian cholera victims. Media outlets around panels and legal scholarship. The involvement to control the epidemic, b) fair compensation the world condemned the UN’s dismissal in of influential legal scholars is an invaluable for their losses, and c) a public acceptance of front-page stories and editorials. The edito- component in the movement for justice, as responsibility. Additionally, they requested rial board of The Washington Post newspaper their efforts lay the groundwork for systemic that the UN establish a standing claims com- stressed that “by refusing to acknowledge improvements to the international accounta- mission to hear the claims, as required by the responsibility, the United Nations jeopardises bility framework. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that gov- its standing and moral authority in Haiti and erns MINUSTAH’s operations in Haiti. These in other countries where its personnel are efforts were accompanied by a strong media deployed,”11 and The New York Times news- Public advocacy for a campaign that drew the paper’s editorial board just response attention of prominent urged the organisa- international media “The absence of tion to “acknowledge Continued organising in Haiti outlets, including daily responsibility, apolo- Throughout the crisis, the government of newspapers in the government leader- gise to Haitians and give Haiti has been notably silent in calling for global South. the victims the means UN accountability, in part due to the heav- ship has demanded to file claims against it ily interdependent relationship between the After more than a for the harm they say government and the UN. The absence of gov- year of silence, the UN greater activism on has been done them.”12 ernment leadership has demanded greater rejected the victims’ activism on the part of civil society. In Haiti, claims as “not receiv- the part of civil In October 2013, BAI advocates have continued to pressure both able,” without provid- and IJDH, working in the Haitian government and the UN by lobbying valid legal justifica- society.” collaboration with ing officials and continuing targeted demon- tion. BAI and IJDH then public interest lawyers strations. For example, in 2012, advocates requested mediation in the United States, mobilised to make cholera a central issue of a or an in-person meeting. Those requests filed a ground-breaking class action lawsuit UN Security Council visit to Haiti. A few days were also denied. The dismissal of the claims against the UN in a US federal court. The law- before the visit, cholera was not even on the was widely scrutinised by international law suit challenges the UN’s immunity on the basis Council’s agenda. BAI and IJDH provided brief- experts who found that it violated the UN’s that the organisation has violated its interna- ing packets to Council members and issued a legal obligations. In August 2013, Yale Law tional law obligations to provide remedies to press release urging them to address cholera. School and the Yale School of Public Health, victims of its harms. The lawsuit has spurred Major news outlets carried the press release, in partnership with AHDEN, released a defin- influential discussions on the deficiencies in which helped raise awareness of the issue as itive report on the UN’s role in the chol- the current framework for accountability of the delegates travelled to Haiti. Upon their era outbreak.10 In “Peacekeeping without international organisations. The UN’s legal arrival, the delegates were confronted by two 101 State of Civil Society / Citizens demanding accountability in the international arena

demonstrations that the BAI and its grass- ship with the Kolektif. Moreover, cholera vic- Andre Michel was illegally arrested and held roots collaborators had organised. In meet- tims and grassroots activists have continued by authorities. The targeting of human rights ings with members of the Haitian parliament, to connect with journalists and filmmakers to defenders has outraged Haitian civil society the delegates faced tough questions from leg- make their voices heard. Their participation as well as the international community. In islators who had been briefed on the cholera in numerous interviews and documentaries response, the Inter-American Commission crisis by BAI. Haitian journalists followed up has created compelling narratives about the on Human Rights (IACHR) granted two pre- with probing questions of their own during impacts of cholera and has humanised the cautionary measures directing the govern- the delegates’ press conference. In formal fight for justice. ment of Haiti to ensure human rights work- remarks to the Council after they returned to ers’ physical safety and their ability to work New York, three of the delegates publicly The cholera victims and their support- free from intimidation. The strong showing urged a more just response to the ers are advancing the move- of solidarity in Haiti and abroad has resulted epidemic. BAI and IJDH issued ment amid growing hostil- in a temporary reprieve for particular indi- a press release about their ity toward human rights viduals. Nevertheless, the overall political statements, which a jour- advocates. The lawyers climate in Haiti remains precarious for civil nalist in Haiti used as a leading the cholera society leaders. basis for questioning accountability efforts former US President in Haiti are increas- Haitian diaspora Bill Clinton, UN Special ingly coming under Early efforts to organise on cholera were Envoy for Haiti, about pressure for their centralised in Haiti, but the Haitian diaspora UN responsibility. In work. Threats and har- has also mobilised on the issue in influential response to the jour- assment against Mario ways. Several diaspora groups have joined nalist’s question, Clinton Joseph, Managing Attor- forces in Le Collectif Solidarité avec les vic- admitted that UN peace- ney at the BAI, escalated times du choléra that staged a demonstra- keepers were the “proximate in 2012. Joseph has been tion outside UN headquarters in New York cause” of the epidemic, resulting in the subject of illegal searches, to coincide with the Haitian prime minister’s the first public admission of responsibility by unjustified court summons and numerous address to the UN General Assembly in Sep- a UN official.13 death threats. In September 2012, the chief tember 2013. The demonstration brought prosecutor in Port-au-Prince resigned from activists into the streets, where they sang Other advocates in Haiti have taken legal his post after being pressured to issue an songs and held up signs demanding action. action to force the government into action, unlawful arrest warrant for Joseph and other Diaspora leaders have formed new initiatives including lawyers Newton Saint Juste and attorneys doing politically sensitive work. around cholera, such as the Cholera Jus- Andre Michel, and the Defenseurs des The situation has only deteriorated over tice Project, which is organising community Opprimés (DOP), a grassroots legal organ- time. In 2013, DOP Executive Director Patrice meetings across the United States to educate isation. DOP has also organised a series of Florvilus was the target of death threats and and mobilise the diaspora on the issue. In an public events and demonstrations in partner- unjustified criminal charges. Later in the year, important effort to make English-language 102 State of Civil Society/ Citizens demanding accountability in the international arena

information more accessible to Haitians, 48 human rights groups signed a letter asking far from taking adequate action to protect diaspora leaders in Canada have published the UN Secretary-General to respond to vic- the rights of its people and push the UN to a website that compiles key reports on UN tims’ claims and 30,000 people have signed provide a just response. responsibility in French.14 Others are raising an Avaaz.org petition that calls on the UN awareness by speaking out on television and to eliminate cholera in Haiti. Three hundred Advocates have also targeted the US govern- talk radio shows. The diaspora is also playing thousand people have viewed and shared ment, because of the United States’ status an important role in advocacy with the Hai- Baseball in the Time of Cholera, a documen- as a permanent member of the UN Secu- tian and US governments. In Haiti, members tary short about the human impacts of chol- rity Council and the largest donor to the UN of the diaspora are lobbying district officials era on one family in Haiti. and MINUSTAH, and because it is home to and cabinet ministers to ensure that victims UN headquarters as well as a large Hai- have access to health care. Most recently in Impact tian-American diaspora. The the United States, the National Haitian Amer- In Haiti, grassroots advocacy groundswell of public outrage ican Elected Officials Network (NHAEON) sent has turned cholera into a has reached the halls of a letter to the State Department urging the key political issue and has the US Congress, where US to take a position in the lawsuit that does created dissent within over 100 representa- not prevent the cholera victims from having the Haitian govern- tives have signed letters their day in court. While the US government ment regarding how to highlighting the UN’s did not heed this recommendation, choosing address UN responsi- responsibility and its instead to support UN immunity, the organis- bility. While the presi- obligation to respond ing continues on this issue. dent – who wields the more justly. In January most foreign relations 2014, Congressman John International solidarity powers to put pressure on Conyers, Jr. and 64 other Haitian civil society has partnered with the UN – remains woefully members of the House of solidarity groups abroad to build an inter- silent on the issue, the opposi- Representatives sent a letter national movement for justice. Members tion-controlled Senate has passed calling on US Ambassador to the of the US-based Haiti Advocacy Working numerous resolutions calling on MINUSTAH UN Samantha Power to assure that the US Group (HAWG), a coalition of civil society to provide reparations to victims of cholera. Mission to the UN “intensif[ies] efforts to find organisations working in Haiti, have played Notably, the day of the diaspora protest in a just solution” to the outbreak. By using its a leading role in advocating for a more just New York, Haitian Prime Minister Laurent voice to promote a just resolution to the chol- UN response. HAWG members are engag- Lamothe told the General Assembly that he era crisis, the US government can strengthen ing influential decision-makers such as key believes “that the United Nations has a moral accountability within the UN system and con- UN member states and members of the US responsibility in this epidemic,”15 marking the tribute to a constructive resolution. Congress. Using creative social media strate- first time the Haitian government has publicly gies, advocacy groups have led a number of acknowledged the UN’s responsibility in such The movement for justice is slowly but steadily campaigns on the issue. In November 2012, stark terms. Still, the Haitian government is pushing the UN toward a more just response. 103 State of Civil Society / Citizens demanding accountability in the international arena

In December 2012, the UN recognised its provided with compensation.”17 Former UN leaders of the movement – including Mario obligation to eliminate cholera in Haiti by Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Joseph of the BAI and Patrice Florvilus of announcing its support for the official cholera Lewis echoed the Commissioner’s words one DOP – have received threats and face con- elimination plan drafted by the governments month later, saying in a radio interview, “I tinuous harassment. Yet despite knowledge of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, known don’t think [liability] would compromise the that their lives could be in danger, the activ- as the Initiative for the Elimination of Cholera UN. In fact, I think it would do the UN a lot of ists press on. It is the resilience and courage in the Island of Hispaniola. Funding for the good to be seen as principled in the face of of the Haitian people that inspire others initiative has been slow, however, with the having caused so much devastation.”18 Their around the globe to join the movement. UN pledging only $23.5 million – a mere voices are spurring important conversations Laboratory scientists, university professors one percent of the total needed – and inside the UN and tipping the scales in favour and political leaders outside of Haiti – many other donors have so far failed to mobilise of a just response. of whom are separated by a time zone or the remaining funds.16 In October 2013, language barrier – are using the tools of the UN announced the establishment of a their professions to send a message to the joint commission to address the problem Conclusion UN that it cannot hide behind immunity. more holistically, though the commission’s They do this in the hope that one day soon, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. once wrote, mandate and potential impact remain the light of human conscience and the air of “Like a boil that can never be cured so long as unclear. Still, these are signs that momentum international opinion will give rise to justice it is covered up but must be opened with all for a just outcome is for the cholera victims. its ugliness to the natu- building. A growing ral medicines of air and number of current and “…it would do the light, injustice must be former UN officials exposed, with all the have publicly declared UN a lot of good to tension its exposure their support for the creates, to the light movement. Speaking be seen as princi- of human conscience at the Martin Ennals and the air of national Award for Human pled in the face of opinion before it can Rights Defenders be cured.”19 Through ceremony in October having caused so their grassroots organ- 2013, where lead ising, cholera activists attorney Mario Joseph much devastation.” have exposed a tragic of the BAI was being injustice. They have honoured, Navi Pillay, been met with fierce the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, resistance every step of the way by one of said she “stand[s] by the call that…those the most powerful actors in the world. The who suffered as a result of that cholera be 104 State of Civil Society/ Citizens demanding accountability in the international arena

1Epidemiological Update, Pan-American Health Organization, 23 Times, 12 October 2013, available at: http://www.nytimes. December 2013, available at: http://www.paho.org/hq/index. com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/haitis-imported-disaster. php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=23900+&Itemid= html?_r=0. 999999&lang=en. 13M Mosk, Bill Clinton, UN Envoy, Admits Peacekeepers as Source 2J Katz, UN worries its troops caused cholera in Haiti, Associated of Haiti Cholera, ABC News, 9 March 2012, available at: http://abc- Press, 20 November 2010, available at: http://www.nbcnews.com/ news.go.com/Blotter/bill-clinton-admits-united-nations-source- id/40280944/ns/health/t/un-worries-its-troops-caused-cholera- haiti-cholera/story?id=15885580. haiti/#.UupkP7SPOSo. 14For more information, please see: http://www.dossierhaitichol- 3Ibid. era.com

4Above fn 2. 15At UN, Haitian leader urges ‘second look’ at island nation, where real progress is taking hold, UN News Centre, 26 September 2013, 5M Terrien, Transcript of 28 October 2010 press conference, available at: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?News- Pan-American Health Organization. ID=46067&Cr=general+debate&Cr1#.Us7ukrSQOSp.

6Above fn 2. 16Cholera in Haiti: The UN Strain, The Economist, 15 July 2013, available at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/americas- 7P Farmer, Haiti after the Earthquake, (New York: Public Affairs, view/2013/07/cholera-haiti. 2011.) 17T Daniel, UN Official Makes Rare Case For Compensation For 8D Lantagne et al., Final Report of the Independent Panel of Haiti Cholera Victims, Huffington Post, 8 October 2013, available Experts on the Cholera Outbreak in Haiti, May 2011, available at: at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/un-haiti-compen- http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/haiti/UN-cholera-report-fi- sation-_n_4066697.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003. nal.pdf. 18R Annis, CBC News examines implications of Haiti cholera 9The UN shall provide for appropriate modes of settlement of lawsuit for UN operations worldwide, including in the Philippines, private law claims. Section 29 Convention on Privileges and Im- Vancouver Observer, 14 November 2013, available at: http://www. munities of the United Nations, Adopted by the General Assembly vancouverobserver.com/politics/commentary/cbc-news-exam- of the United Nations on 13 February 1946, https://www.un.org/ ines-implications-haiti-cholera-lawsuit-un-operations-worldwide. en/ethics/pdf/convention.pdf; The UN shall establish a standing claims commission to hear claims from third parties suffering 19M King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 16 April 1963, available injury, illness, or death attributable to the UN. Section 54-55, Sta- at: http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/docu- tus of Forces Agreement (SOFA), Agreement Between the United mentsentry/annotated_letter_from_birmingham/. Nations and the Government of Haiti Concerning the Status of the United Nations Operation in Haiti, available at: http://www.ijdh. org/2004/07/archive/agreement-between-the-united-nations- and-the-government-of-haiti-concerning-the-status-of-the-united- nations-operation-in-haiti/#.U1OILfmSyuk.

10Peacekeeping without Accountability, Transnational Develop- ment Clinic, Yale Law School, 6 August 2013, available at: http:// www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/Clinics/Haiti_TDC_Final_Re- port.pdf.

11Editorial board, United Nations must admit its role in Haiti’s cholera outbreak, The Washington Post, 16 August 2013, available at: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-16/opin- ions/41417425_1_cholera-outbreak-united-nations-haiti-and-haitians.

12Editorial board, Haiti’s Imported Disaster, The New York

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