After
19 in Congress
Write
UN on Haiti
Cholera, US
Tells ICP to Ask
UN About
It (Have)
UNITED
NATIONS, July
2 -- A month
ago, 19
members of the
US Congress
wrote
to UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon urging
him to take
responsibility
for the
introduction
of cholera
into Haiti.
Inner City
Press reported
on
the letter,
but has gotten
no
satisfactory
answer from
the UN.
On
Tuesday as the
US
took over the
presidency of
the UN
Security
Council
for July,
Inner City
Press asked
acting
Permanent
Representative
Rosemary
DiCarlo about
the letter. From the US
Mission
transcript:
Moderator:
We'll
go to Matt
Lee.
Inner
City Press:
For the new Free U.N. Coalition for Access, thanks
for
doing this...
In your
national
capacity, 19
members of
Congress wrote
to the
Secretary-General
last month
about the role
of the UN in,
they
said, the
introduction
of cholera
into Haiti,
urging them to
take
greater
responsibility
and for the UN
to do more.
And I wonder,
is
the Mission
aware of that
letter, and
has it taken
any action, or
been asked to
by those
Congress
people, to
ensure greater
UN action
on that issue?
Thanks.
Ambassador
DiCarlo:
Thanks for
your
question...
Haiti cholera.
I'm sorry, I
haven't seen
that letter,
and we'd have
to get back to
you on that. [
Video
here from
Minute 19:40.]
After
Ambassador
DiCarlo's
press
conference,
her lead
spokesperson
Erin
Pelton
promised an
answer. And lo
and behold, at
9:45 pm on
Tuesday
the following
came in, from
US Mission
spokesperson
Kurtis Cooper:
“The
cholera
outbreak
resulted in a
tragic loss of
life just when
Haiti
was struggling
to recover
from the
devastating
earthquake of
2010. As
part of the
United States’
broad
assistance
program in
Haiti, to
date the
United States
has provided
expertise and
more than $95
million to
respond to the
outbreak and
help prevent
additional
cases.
As for the May
30th letter to
the
Secretary-General,
we would refer
you to the UN
for a
response.”
The
problem is,
Ban Ki-moon's
spokespeople
refused to
even confirm
receipt of the
letter, much
less respond
to its
contents.
Similarly
on
the other
question Inner
City Press put to
Ambassador
DiCarlo on
Tuesday,
the UN
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations has
refused
for
more than
three days to
even answer
if they
support units
of the
Congolese Army
now named as
involved in
rape, torture,
conflict
gold
trade and
child
soldier
recruitment
in the Group
of Experts
report
which Inner
City Press exclusively
put
online on June
29, here.
The
US is the host
country to the
UN, and its
largest single
national
contributor.
It is in the
position to at
least get Ban
Ki-moon to
respond to
these Congress
members'
entreaty. Will
they? Watch
this
site.
* * *
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