聯合國祕書長潘基文爲年海地爆發霍亂道歉

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon apologized to the people of Haiti on Thursday, more than six years after U.N. peacekeepers were blamed for causing a deadly cholera epidemic on the island nation.

“On behalf of the United Nations, I want to say very clearly: we apologize to the Haitian people,” Ban told an informal meeting of U.N. member states. “We simply did not do enough with regard to the cholera outbreak and its spread in Haiti. We are profoundly sorry for our role,” he added.

Ban's apology, his most direct to date, fell short of admitting that U.N. peacekeepers brought the potentially fatal illness to Haiti. “This has cast a shadow upon the relationship between the United Nations and the people of Haiti,” he said. “It is a blemish on the reputation of U.N. peacekeeping and the organization worldwide.”

It is widely accepted that Nepalese peacekeepers who were sent to assist Haiti in its recovery after the devastating 2010 earthquake, contaminated a branch of the Artibonite River with cholera. The river is the country's main water source for tens of thousands of Haitians. Subsequently more than 9,000 people died of the disease, and some 800,000 were sickened. Some of the victims sought compensation, suing the United Nations in U.S. District court, but the court ruled that the international organization is protected by diplomatic immunity.

The United Nations released a 16-page report on Thursday which details a two-track “new approach” to cholera in Haiti. It calls for $400 million in initial funding.聯合國祕書長潘基文星期四向海地人民道歉。六年前聯合國維和部隊被指責造成了海地霍亂的爆發。

潘基文在一次聯合國成員國非正式會議上說：“我代表聯合國，非常明確地表明，我們向海地人民道歉。” 他說：“我們沒有盡力避免霍亂爆發和傳播。我們對此深表歉意。”

這是潘基文迄今最直接的一次道歉，不過他沒有承認是聯合國維和部隊把這種可能致命的疾病帶到了海地。潘基文說：“這給聯合國和海地人民的關係蒙上了陰影。這是聯合國維和部隊和聯合國在全世界聲望的污點。”

很多人相信，一名感染霍亂的尼泊爾籍的維和部隊成員2010年被派遣到海地進行地震救援的時候，污染了海地的阿蒂博尼特河流。這條河是數以萬計海地人的主要水源。後來霍亂傳播造成9千人死亡，80萬人患病。一些受害者要求賠償，他們在美國的法庭向聯合國提出控告，但是法庭裁決聯合國享受外交豁免。

聯合國星期四公佈了一份16頁的報告，闡述了應對海地霍亂的雙軌道“新方式”，並提出初步投入4億美元。