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1st LD: UN has "moral responsibility" to victims of cholera epidemic in Haiti, Ban says

Xinhua, August 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

The United Nations has "a moral responsibility to the victims of the cholera epidemic" and for supporting Haiti in overcoming the epidemic and building sound water, sanitation and health systems, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said here Friday.

The statement was prompted by a decision handed down Thursday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York which upheld a lower court's decision the United Nations cannot be sued in U.S. courts. However, the decision could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A class action suit was brought on behalf of victims of a cholera outbreak in Haiti contending UN peacekeeping forces from Nepal brought the disease to the island nation following a massive earthquake in January 2010, which killed more than 220,000 people and displaced 1.5 million. There had been an outbreak of cholera in Nepal.

The secretary-general said the decision "upheld the immunity of the Organization from legal proceedings ... in accordance with the UN Charter and other international treaties," Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman, said while reading a statement.

"The secretary-general deeply regrets the terrible suffering the people of Haiti have endured as a result of the cholera epidemic," the statement said. Enditem