02/24/2014 // West Palm Beach, Florida, US // JusticeNewsFlash // Justice News Flash // (press release)
Miami, FL – The United Nations is being criticized by Haitian community advocates for not issuing a response to a lawsuit seeking compensation for those in Haiti affected by a widespread cholera outbreak. As reported by the Associated Press (AP), a friend-of-the-court brief was filed in federal court in Manhattan last week by the Haitian Lawyers Association and Haitian Women of Miami in support of a motion seeking court affirmation that the U.N. had been properly served with the suit.
The lawsuit was filed in October by the Boston-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, the law firm of immigration attorney Ira Kurzban, and the human rights group Bureau des Avocats Internationaux.
Beatrice Lindstrom, a lawyer with the institute, is quoted by the AP as stating of the case, “We’ve tried for four months to serve the papers on the U.N., sending process servers to the United Nations headquarters. When they get there, they’re denied access.”
The lawsuit alleges that the U.N. aided in spreading the disease when it contaminated the Artibonite River in Haiti with cholera-infected human waste starting in 2010. Thousands have died in connection with the cholera outbreak in the country.
The plaintiffs are suing for unspecified damages in the lawsuit.
This report is provided by Justice News Flash – Florida Legal News
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