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GENEVA / ZEID DRC
STORY: GENEVA / ZEID DRC
TRT: 02:49
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 20 JUNE 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / RECENT
RECENT, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
20 JUNE 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, Human Rights Room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“Refugees from multiple villages in the Kamonya territory indicated that the Bana Mura have in the past two months shot dead, hacked or burned to death, and mutilated, hundreds of villagers, as well as destroying entire villages. My team saw children as young as two whose limbs had been chopped off; many babies had machete wounds and severe burns. One two-month old baby seen by my team had been hit by two bullets four hours after birth; the mother was also wounded. At least two pregnant women were sliced open and their foetuses mutilated.”
4. Wide shot, screen HRC
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“Victims also reported that members of local units of the Congolese army and police, as well as some traditional chiefs, have accompanied some Bana Mura attacks, and said some State agents are involved in arming and directing the militia.”
6. Med shot, delegates Portugal
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“Forty-two mass graves have been documented by the Joint Human Rights Office in the Kasais. There may be more. Several refugees have told my staff they were forced to bury victims in additional mass graves. We believe these grave sites were being investigated by the UN experts killed in March 2017. Their killings must also be fully investigated.”
8. Close up, name tag DRC
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“It is the duty of the Congolese authorities, army and police to protect the people, to act in accordance with human rights principles and to bring perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses to justice. Accountability for these shocking incidents must be assured. I regret that to date the Congolese Government has not fulfilled these obligations of protection and accountability.”
10. Med shot, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“I urge this Council to deploy an independent international investigation on the human rights situation in the Kasais, in cooperation with the authorities, my Office and other parts of the UN system. I will also remain in touch with the International Criminal Court.”
12. Wide shot, panel
The human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has deteriorated dramatically, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the Human Rights Council today (Tuesday) in Geneva.
He blamed the country's army and police as well as various other actors for fuelling ethnic hatred, resulting in extremely grave, widespread and apparently planned attacks against the civilian population in the Kasais.
Zeid said that “refugees from multiple villages in the Kamonya territory indicated that the Bana Mura have in the past two months shot dead, hacked or burned to death, and mutilated, hundreds of villagers, as well as destroying entire villages. My team saw children as young as two whose limbs had been chopped off; many babies had machete wounds and severe burns. One two-month old baby seen by my team had been hit by two bullets four hours after birth; the mother was also wounded. At least two pregnant women were sliced open and their foetuses mutilated.”
Zeid said “victims also reported that members of local units of the Congolese army and police, as well as some traditional chiefs, have accompanied some Bana Mura attacks, and said some State agents are involved in arming and directing the militia."
According to the High Commissioner, some 1.3 million internally displaced persons had fled and the Congolese Government had not fulfilled its obligations of protection and accountability. Zeid said that the Democratic Republic of the Congo could not be permitted to become a free-fire zone, where members of the security forces, armed groups and militias could kill with impunity.
The top human rights official said that “it is the duty of the Congolese authorities, army and police to protect the people, to act in accordance with human rights principles and to bring perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses to justice. Accountability for these shocking incidents must be assured. I regret that to date the Congolese Government has not fulfilled these obligations of protection and accountability.”
Over 30,000 refugees have been registered in Angola, and hundreds of refugees are currently arriving every week, indicating that atrocities have not abated.
The High Commissioner said that “forty-two mass graves have been documented by the Joint Human Rights Office in the Kasais. There may be more. Several refugees have told my staff they were forced to bury victims in additional mass graves. We believe these grave sites were being investigated by the UN experts killed in March 2017. Their killings must also be fully investigated.”
The High Commissioner urged the Council to deploy an independent international investigation on the human rights situation in the Kasais “in cooperation with the authorities, my Office and other parts of the UN system. I will also remain in touch with the International Criminal Court.”
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