By Erica Laster                                                                                                                              Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – “Cholera is an extremely simple disease to cure,” comments Nigel Fisher, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator in Haiti.  Human rights groups are viewing the recent outbreak of cholera as a foreseeable health risk and the failure to counteract it a human right which the government has the responsibility to prevent and control.  The outbreak has claimed approximately 1, 186 lives In Haiti, with over 50,000 people seeking medical attention.

Easily treatable, the United Nations has blasted the international response and the lack of donor contributions to curb the disease. The United Nations recently appealed for a contribution totaling $164 million to counter the cholera outbreak in Haiti.  Only ten percent of the funds needed to curb the disease have been pledged.

Fear among Haiti’s sick has led to protests and violent responses in some provinces of Haiti.

Many Haitians suspect that Nepalese Peacekeeping forces are responsible for the outbreak.  With most forces camped alongside the river, river communities were the first to be hit, leading many to suspect the disease was brought to Haiti by soldiers in the country.   Last Monday, 7 peacekeepers of the United Nations were injured by protesters at Cap-Haitien, a northern city suffering from the epidemic.  The national police and the U.N. were forced to use teargas on hundreds of protesters attempting to burn a police station and a peacekeeping base.

Several other protests took place Thursday in Port-Au-Prince.  At first peaceful, the demonstration turned violent as protesters were hit with tear gas.  Young men overturned dumpsters, set fire to vehicles in the area and threw Molotov cocktails at posters of Presidential candidate, Jude Celestin.  Endorsed by the outgoing President Preval, many Haitians believe this is a sign that the November 28 elections will not be fairly decided.

One protester, Pierre Allodor, claims “The Haitian government is never do nothing for us. And we know the international government is still spending a lot of money for the Haitian people. But Preval, with his government, he still keeps their money to take back to the United States to buy some house.”

Unsanitary living conditions, poverty and a broken health care system were only exacerbated by the January earthquake.  Doctors Without Borders head of mission, Stefano Zannini, says “There is no time left for meetings and debate .”  With over 18,000 Haitians hospitalized from the disease, “the time for action is now.”

For More Information Please Visit:

Washington Post – 7 U.N. Troops Hurt, Attacked By Haitians Blaming Foreigners For Cholera Epidemic – 15 November 2010

CNN – U.N. Blasts Global Response To Haiti Cholera Outbreak As Inadequate – 20 November 2010

CNN – Anti-U.N. Protests Erupt In Haitian Capital – 18 November 2010

Human Rights Watch – Why Democracies Don’t Get Cholera – 25 October 2010