Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.

It is a scandal beyond belief. After starting a cholera epidemic in Haiti in 2010, which has so far claimed more than 8,000 lives, the United Nations has not only denied responsibility , but is using “ diplomatic immunity” status to deny the families compensation. To add insult to injury, th UN has launched a two billion dollar appeal to fight the very epidemic that is introduces to Haiti in the first place.
Reports indicate that it began in 2010 when the UN sent Nepalese peacekeepers to Haiti without first screening them for cholera and other diseases. Haiti was still recovering from massive earthquake when the infected soldiers dumped sewage into a river system used by the local people. More than 647,000 have since been infected with cholera and the numbers keep growing – this is in a country that had not seen a single case of cholera for a century.
According to journalist Jonathan Katz who has documented the crisis in Haiti, the UN tried to cover up the cause of the epidemic by hindering the work of public health investigators. However, scientists eventually identified the particular strain of cholera infecting people in Haiti as the same one that was circulating in Nepal then. The families of the victims claimed compensation from the UN. However, the UN claimed that their demands were “ not receivable’ and that it enjoyed legal immunity.

Critics say that immunity often translates into impunity. Since it was established, the UN has used “diplomatic immunity” o protect itself from being sued for all manner of atrocities that it has committed around the world. Diplomatic immunity means that the UN or its stuff members cannot be charged for negligence, theft, fraud, rape or even murder unless secretary – General allows for the lifting of the immunity in individual cases which rarely happens.
“ If a multinational company behaved the way the UN did in Haiti, it would be sued for Startospheric amounts of money,” wrote Amin Rosen in The Atlantic. “And that is for starters: Were Unilever or Coca Cola responsible for a cholera outbreak that killed 8,000 people and infected 640,000 or more and subsequently covering up its employee’s failure to adhere to basic sanitation standards, their executives would have difficulty visiting countries claiming universal legal jurisdiction. They would have to contend with Interpol red notices, along with occasional cream pie attack.”
The UN and its spin doctors have always denied wrong doing, even when it has led to loss of life. The most recent case is that of Zimbabwe where the UN denied that a cholera epidemic was underway in 2008, even while thousands of children were dying of the disease. The staff who alerted the UN bout the epidemic was fired apparently because senior UN officials did not want to upset President Robert Mugabe with the bad news.
(Adopted from Daily Nation, 18th March 2013)

Questions
a)Give reasons why the writer describes the United Nation’s conduct as a “scandal beyond belief.”
b)Why does the writer put “diplomatic unity” in quotation marks?
c)Describe the writer’s altitude towards the UN.
d)Give evidence form the passage to show that the law is selectively applied.
e)Without using the reasons given in number 1, show how the UN is portrayed in this passage.
f)Why does the writer give us the statistics of the victims of epidemic?
g)Give the meaning of the following Expressions as used in the passage:
i)Add insult to injury
ii) Stratospheric
iii)Contend

Answers

a)i) They started a cholera epidemic in Haiti in 2010 which had claimed 8000 lives.
ii)They have denied responsibility and claim diplomatic immunity
iii)They have launched a shameless two billion dollar appeal for the same epidemic that they introduced.
b)The use of quotation marks reveal sarcasm from the writer. This is because the UN staff has abused this privileges to get out of problems which they should be punished for.
c)He is unhappy / disgusted / contemptuous / disapproving.
Their conduct is described as scandal beyond believe.
He disapproves their diplomatic immunity which translates to immunity ( and any other relevant answer)
d)The law is selectively applied because:
i)If a multination company behaved the way the UN did in Haiti, it would be sued for stratospheric amounts of money.

ii) Were Unilever or Coca Cola responsible for a cholera outbreak, the executives
would have trouble visiting countries.

iii)They would contend with Interpol red notices

c) The UN is portrayed as :
i) Corrupt – UN tried to cover up the cause of the epidemic by hindering the work of public health investigators.
ii) Irresponsible – Sends peacekeepers without first screening them for cholera.
iii) Opportunistic – Misuse their diplomatic immunity to get away from crimes.
iv)Intimidating / dictatorial – The staffer who alerted the UN about the Zimbabwe epidemic is fired so as not to upset Robert Mugabe.

f)The statistics are given;
i) To emphasise the shocking / shameless conduct of the UN
ii)To shock the reader because the UN behavior is contrary to what we expect of them.
iii)To demonstrate the srious consequences of their conduct.

g) The meaning of the following expressions as used in the passage.
i) Add insult to injury – To make matters worse
ii) Stratospheric – Humongous / Huge/ Exaggerated
iii)Contend – To deal with a different situation

marto answered the question on February 26, 2021 at 10:57

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