Haiti group demands UN pay for cholera outbreak

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A human rights group says it has filed claims with the United Nations seeking damages on behalf of more than 5,000 Haitian cholera victims and their families.



The claims filed by the Boston-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti argue that the U.N. and its peacekeeping force are liable for hundreds of millions of dollars for failing to adequately screen peacekeeping soldiers.



They say the infected soldiers caused the outbreak when untreated waste from a U.N. base was dumped into a tributary of Haiti's most important river.



Haitian health officials say cholera has sickened nearly 500,000 and killed more than 6,500.



The group says it filed claims with the U.N. mission in Haiti and in New York.



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