Five Canadian diplomats and their families filed a lawsuit claiming the Canadian government did not sufficiently deal with the mysterious symptoms they suffered from while they were serving in the embassy in Cuba on Wednesday, according to The Washington Post.
The lawsuit also claims Ottawa interfered with their ability to seek medical care for the strange injuries.
“Throughout the crisis, Canada downplayed the seriousness of the situation, hoarded and concealed critical health and safety information, and gave false, misleading and incomplete information to diplomatic staff,” the statement of claim said.
The plaintiffs include five diplomats, two spouses, and seven children who are suing for 28 million Canadian dollars ($21 million).
The court filing was made one week after Canada announced it was withdrawing up to half of its diplomatic staff from Cuba after another diplomat was suffering from the symptoms, marking the 14th Canadian that has been hit with the illness sometimes called "Havana syndrome."
So far a total of 40 Canadian and American diplomats and their family members have suffered from the mysterious symptoms in Havana.
“I know that they were deeply concerned by news of the most recent diplomat who fell ill,” said Paul Miller, the lawyer representing some of the plaintiffs who spoke to The Post. “It really bothered them.”
The lawsuit also alleges the Canadian government restricted where the plaintiffs could go for treatment.
Two Canadian diplomats and their families wanted to seek treatment from the facility that was also treating the brains of American diplomats at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Brain Injury and Repair, but they said Canadian officials used diplomatic channels in the U.S. to tell the center to stop testing the Canadians.
“If you’re ill, no matter how you become ill, you’d like to think that you have a choice of who you can go see to get treatment,” Miller said.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government had the "foremost concern" for the health and safety of Canada's diplomats and families while they served overseas, but declined to comment on the lawsuit.
American and Canadian officials are still puzzled by the strange symptoms that include brain injuries, dizziness, nosebleeds, difficulty concentrating, and loss of hearing.
Neurologists have testified that brain scans of the victims appear similar to those who have had concussions, but none of the victims suffered head trauma.
American diplomats started reporting symptoms in November 2016 but the State Department did not begin evacuating some of its personnel from Cuba until 2017.
The lawsuit says it is around early 2017 when an American neighbor told one of the plaintiffs about the mysterious symptoms being caused by an attack from a foreign power and how some were being evacuated to the U.S.
The plaintiff was experiencing those same symptoms so he relayed the information to Canadian Ambassador Patrick Parisot but the embassy told him not to share that information with any family members or colleagues.
But during that wait, more Canadian diplomats and their family members fell ill in Havana.
The plaintiffs claim they were told the symptoms were "psychosomatic," and that some were doubtful of their legitimacy.
John Kingman Phillips, another lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said the issue of why Canada left its diplomats in place while the U.S. was evacuating is a pivotal issue.
“The stakes are the degree to which Canada will step up, protect and keep from harm our diplomats at their postings,” he said.
Several of the newly arrived diplomats were posted inside the houses where diplomats already experienced symptoms, according to the lawsuit.
One diplomat even complained about the housing situation but was told “budgetary constraints were determinative.”
The plaintiffs said it wasn't until April 2018 that Canada evacuated family members of the diplomats and forbade them from bringing them to their work in Cuba.
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / Desmond Boylan
