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GENEVA / OHCHR REPRESENTATIVE EXPULSION YEMEN
STORY: GENEVA / OHCHR REPRESENTATIVE EXPULSION YEMEN
TRT: 01:53
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 8 JANUARY 2016 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rupert Colville, Spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
”He says he deeply regrets the decision by the government. Our team has, in his view, been performing well under extremely difficult conditions. The Government’s decision appears to be based on a number of misunderstandings, both of what my Office has been saying publicly, and of what the role of the UN is in a conflict situation. We fear this decision will hamper our work in the future in Yemen and the statements of the Government could compromise the safety of the remaining national and international staff.”
4. Wide shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Rupert Colville, Spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): ”Our job is not to highlight violations committed by one side and ignore those committed by the other. To the best of our ability, in a very fluid and dangerous environment, we have tried to monitor and report objectively on the human rights situation in Yemen. Unfortunately, both sides have very clearly committed violations, resulting in some 2,800 civilian deaths over the past nine months. Our role is to focus on human rights and the protection of civilians, and not on the politics.”
6. Close up, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rupert Colville, Spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“I would like to stress that part of our job is to try to prevent further violations, and in order to do so, when security permits, UN human rights officials consistently and impartially engage with all sides to a conflict. It is a mistake to view this as some sort of endorsement of an opposition movement’s position at the expense of the Government. We have been operating within a mutually agreed framework with the government.”
8. Wide shot, journalists
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, urged the Government of Yemen to reverse its decision to declare his Representative in the country persona non grata, saying that it was “unwarranted, counter-productive and damaging to the reputation of the Government and its coalition partners.”
During a press conference today (8 Jan) in Geneva, Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), quoted the High Commissioner saying that “he deeply regrets the decision by the government. Our team has, in his view, been performing well under extremely difficult. The Government’s decision appears to be based on a number of misunderstandings, both of what my Office has been saying publicly, and of what the role of the UN is in a conflict situation. We fear this decision will hamper our work in the future in Yemen and the statements of the Government could compromise the safety of the remaining national and international staff.”
The Representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sana'a has been currently on leave. At the moment there is an OHCHR team of about 18 people in Yemen, mainly local staff.
On Thursday, in his public statements, Yemen’s Minister of Human Rights gave a variety of reasons for the Government’s decision, including an assertion that the UN Human Rights Office had not paid enough attention to the situation in Taizz, and that it issued press releases with “incomplete information.”
Referring to the High Commissioner's press release, Rupert Colville said, “our job is not to highlight violations committed by one side and ignore those committed by the other. To the best of our ability, in a very fluid and dangerous environment, we have tried to monitor and report objectively on the human rights situation in Yemen. Unfortunately, both sides have very clearly committed violations, resulting in some 2,800 civilian deaths over the past nine months. Our role is to focus on human rights and the protection of civilians, and not on the politics.”
In a press release, the High Commissioner noted that the expulsion of his Representative is likely to complicate the UN Human Rights Office’s ability to implement a resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council in September which requested it to provide technical assistance and work with the Government of Yemen in the field of capacity-building and to identify additional areas of assistance to enable Yemen to fulfil its human rights obligations.
The resolution -- which was supported by the Government of Yemen -- also specifically requested the Office of the High Commissioner to assist a national independent commission of inquiry in carrying out its work in accordance with international obligations, and the Office is planning to deploy a specially recruited three person monitoring team within the coming weeks.
In keeping with the Human Rights Up Front Initiative, Colville emphasized that United Nations staff must never be threatened or sanctioned for doing their work, which is based on the UN Charter.
Colville also said, “I would like to stress that part of our job is to try to prevent further violations, and in order to do so, when security permits, UN human rights officials consistently and impartially engage with all sides to a conflict. It is a mistake to view this as some sort of endorsement of an opposition movement’s position at the expense of the Government. We have been operating within a mutually agreed framework with the government.”
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