IT’S now more than six weeks since it became public knowledge for the governments and people of our Caribbean Community that the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, had conveyed the very shocking decision to the President of Haiti, Michel Martelly, of the world body’s rejection of compensation claims affecting some 5000 Haitian cholera victims. But to this day, as far as this columnist is aware, there has been NO official public reaction to the UN’s callous position to evade its moral responsibility and to summon, instead, to its rescue “legal immunity” against the compensation claims by these Haitians, who are also citizens of CARICOM.
They are victims of a cholera epidemic that has already killed an estimated eight thousand (8,000) Haitians with approximately 200 new cases being reported daily as of last month.
Except for the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson, who has often served as a CARICOM special adviser on Haiti, there continues to be a deafening public silence, all around officialdom within our 15-member Community, starting from President Martelly. Why?
President Martelly, at least, would be in possession of the dossier submitted back in November 2011 to the UN Secretary General’s office by the Boston-based human rights organisation, Institute for Justice and Democracy.
What makes this situation even more dreadful is the general awareness, beyond our Caribbean region, that there exists scientific evidence of more than two years ago of the cholera epidemic being linked to then serving UN peace-keeping soldiers from Nepal.
As Mr Patterson, also a leading member of the region’s legal profession, told me in a telephone interview last month, “it is simply appalling, a most reprehensible behaviour for the UN to claim immunity against compensation…moreso when scientific evidence substantiates that the cholera epidemic was originally introduced in Haiti at the time by peace-keeping soldiers from Nepal under UN command…”

PRESIDENT MARTELLY
Well, having kept his public silence since learning from Ban Ki-Moon of the rejection of compensation claims for the Haitian cholera victims, it was felt that President Martelly would have taken the opportunity of his official two-day visit to Guyana last month – primarily to meet with Secretary General of CARICOM, Irwin LaRocque and the general staff– to at least offer a brief public comment on the painful, controversial stand by the UN.
No such luck. While, as I have learnt, he did express personal “appreciation” for the public stance adopted by Mr Patterson and promised to “engage” with the UN on the non-compensation decision, President Martelly opted to keep his public silence when he flew out of Guyana and there has been no media reports out of Port-au-Prince of his disclosing ANY specific initiative to engage the UN on a seemingly callous disregard for the plight of the Haitian cholera victims.
This is all the more insensitive when the President of Haiti ought to know that for a grave human rights issue such as this, the preferred option should at least be a public statement of concern in favour of the rights of the cholera victims.
Certainly not public relations talk about “engagement” with the UN and unwillingness to say even that much publicly before returning to Haiti. As far as is known he is still to engage with interested parties, for instance, the Institute for Justice and Democracy. This is not a matter for quiet diplomacy.
It’s a time for governments and leading non-governmental organisations of our region that really care about the basic rights of our citizens of CARICOM – to  be crying “shame” against the UN’s rejection of compensation claims for surviving cholera victim.
They can perhaps join with, for instance, Myrtha Desulme of the Jamaica Haiti Society in urging for “justice to be done”.
When she urged for “justice to be done” in a recent statement shared with regional colleagues, Myrtha recalled scientific evidence offered in a ‘study’ made available in August 2011, that compared the “genomes of bacteria from Haitian cholera patients with those found in Nepal around the time in 2010 when UN peace-keepers left their country for Haiti…”
The horrific problems of Haiti’s social infrastructure were known before the unprecedented nightmare earthquake disaster of January 2010 and which had further complicated the country’s dread health threats.
Further, the decision-makers at the UN who may have influenced rejection of the humanitarian claims on behalf of Haitian cholera victims would also have been sufficiently sensitised to reports claiming “reckless disposal of waste into  Haiti’s large water system by peace-keeping foreign soldiers.
In the circumstances, while President Martelly, whose government is desperate to receive ALL the foreign aid it could garner for Haiti, appears to be playing footsy with the UN on the controversial rejection of compensation for Haitian cholera victims, there seems no valid reason for prevailing public silence by member governments of CARICOM.
      
*** PULL QUOTE: It’s a time for governments and leading non-governmental organisations of our region that really care about the basic rights of our citizens of CARICOM – to  be crying “shame” against the UN’s rejection of compensation claims for  surviving cholera victim.