After
UN Brought
Cholera to
Haiti, Dodges
ICP Qs &
Service of
Legal Papers
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 18 --
With the UN
falling so low
as to dodge
service
of legal
papers for
having brought
cholera to
Haiti,
Inner
City Press at
the December
18 noon
briefing asked
Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
three
questions.
What
of the UN's
own report
saying deaths
from cholera
in Haiti
doubled
from July to
October, this
year, from 43
to 88?
What of the
same strain of
cholera,
originally
from Nepal,
now spreading
in Mexico? And
did the UN
agree,
or disagree,
with the quote
on its own
IRIN from
Nepal's Army
spokesman
that "The UN
has already
made it clear
that our
Nepali
soldiers had
nothing to do
with the
epidemic"?
Nesirky
said
he would get
back with an
answer. At
dusk on
December 18,
as
he
and Ban
prepared to
fete at the UN
Censorship
Alliance ball
four
blocks west on
42nd Street,
Nesirky sent a
response to
only the first
of the three
questions,
nothing on
Mexico or
Nepal's claim:
Subject:
re:
Haiti
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date:
Wed, Dec 18,
2013 at 3:06
PM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Regarding
your
question about
Haiti, see
below our
answer:
Since
its
outbreak in
October 2010,
cholera has
affected an
estimated
694,842 people
and claimed
the lives of
8,494 people
(as of 10
December
2013).
From
January
to early
December 2013
alone, Haiti
reported more
than 56,174
cases and 550
deaths.
Concerted
national
and
international
efforts have
resulted in a
steady
reduction in
the number of
people
affected and
killed by
cholera over
the last three
years. The
number of
suspected
cases has been
reduced
significantly
every year,
from 352,033
cases in 2011
to 101,722
cases
in 2012 to
56,174 cases
in 2013.
The
number
of people
perishing due
to the disease
stands at
1.22%,
slightly over
the 1%
internationally
recognized
global target
for
effective
cholera
control but
far below 2.2%
observed at
the end of
December 2010.
What
about Mexico?
What about
accountability?
What about at
least
accepting or
not dodging
service of
legal papers
seeking an
adjudication
of the UN's
responsibility?
Watch this
site.