UN Caused Spread of Cholera in Haiti, Says Rights Group

Following the cholera outbreak in Haiti in 2010 which left thousands dead, human rights lawyers have filed a lawsuit against the United Nations seeking compensation for the families for those who died as a result of sanitation lapses at a UN camp.

According to an NBC report, human rights lawyers say the outbreak killed around 8,300 people and made more than 650,000 ill, and was caused by contaminated waste from UN barracks. While the worst of the epidemic has eased, it still kills about 1,000 Haitians a year. The suit will be filed in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday despite the U.N.'s longstanding immunity to all legal claims of wrongdoing.

The report goes on to note that UN peacekeepers from Nepal, where cholera is widespread, brought a South Asian strain of the disease to Haiti. Before the exposure to cholera, the Caribbean country had been free from the disease for over 200 years.

Meanwhile, the UN argues it has legal immunity from such compensation claims and has formally rejected claims from Haitians affected. In a turn of events this week, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, made a rare case for compensation for the victims.

"I still stand by the call that victims of those who suffered as a result of that cholera be provided with compensation," Pillay said in a spirit of support.

Pillay's comments, which were streamed live on the Internet, were a rare admission by a U.N. official about the need to provide compensation.

Cholera is an infectious disease which causes severe diarrhea that can lead to dehydration and death. It occurs in places with poor sanitation.