While
Lawyer Suing
UN Is
Threatened in
Haiti,
MINUSTAH Is
"Aware" But
Nothing More
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 8,
updated Oct. 9
-- Long after
Mario Joseph
and other
lawyer had
petitioned the
UN for
introducing
cholera to
Haiti, six
months ago a
block from the
UN Inner City
Press asked
Joseph what he
thought of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
responsiveness.
Joseph
replied,
surprisingly
diplomatic
given the
delay, that immunity
should not
mean impunity.
Last
week the UN's
top envoy in
Haiti Mariano
Fernandez
told Inner
City Press
that
he
could not
answer on
cholera, since
a legal claim--
Joseph's --
remains
pending.
Now,
Mario Joseph
and other
lawyers
including
Newton
St-Juste and
Andre
Michel are
facing death
threats in
Haiti for
their work.
So Inner City
Press on
Monday asked
Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
if the UN's
mission in
Haiti,
MINUSTAH, had
within its
mandate to
offer
protection to
human rights
lawyers under
threat in the
very city the
UN has hung
around in for
years, Port au
Prince. Video
here, from
Minute 8:24.
Nesirky
replied
that "we're
certainly
aware of the
report" -- it
would be hard
not to be --
but "if I have
anything
further on
that, I'll let
you know."
Is
that a
sufficient
response from
the UN, given
its presence
and deeds
in Haiti?
Update
of October 9:
23 hours after
the question,
the UN sent
Inner City
Press the
below,
slightly
expanding on
its answer -
the UN is
"looking into
the situation"
--
From:
UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Tue, Oct
9, 2012 at
11:39 AM
Subject: Your
question on
Haiti
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Concerning
your question
from
yesterday, the
UN Mission in
Haiti,
MINUSTAH, is
aware of the
reports and is
looking into
the situation.
Watch
this site.
, 
