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GENEVA / ZEID HUMAN RIGHTS
STORY: GENEVA / ZEID HUMAN RIGHTS
TRT: 03:39
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 07 MARCH 2018, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
RECENT - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations exterior
07 MARCH 2018, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, Human Right Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“Recent attempts to justify indiscriminate, brutal attacks on hundreds of thousands of civilians by the need to combat a few hundred fighters – as in Eastern Ghouta – are legally, and morally, unsustainable. Also, when you are prepared to kill your own people, lying is easy too. Claims by the Government of Syria that it is taking every measure to protect its civilian population are frankly ridiculous.”
4. Wide shot, delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“This month, it is Eastern Ghouta which is, in the words of the Secretary General, hell on earth; next month or the month after, it will be somewhere else where people face an apocalypse – an apocalypse intended, planned and executed by individuals within the Government, apparently with the full backing of some of their foreign supporters. It is urgent to reverse this catastrophic course, and to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court.”
6. Wide shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“This Council is aware that my Office has strong suspicions that acts of genocide may have taken place in Rakhine State since August. I am therefore not surprised by reports that Rohingya villages which were attacked in recent years, and alleged mass graves of the victims, are being bulldozed. This appears to be a deliberate attempt by the authorities to destroy potential evidence of international crimes.”
8. Med shot, German delegation
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“This discourse based on racism, xenophobia and incitement to hatred has now expanded so significantly that in several countries it is dominating the political landscape – as we saw during the election campaign in Italy in recent weeks.”
10. Wide shot, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“In the United States, I am shocked by reports that migrants intercepted at the southern borders, including children, are detained in abusive conditions – such as freezing temperatures – and that some young children are being detained separately from their families. Detentions and deportations of long-standing and law-abiding migrants have sharply increased, tearing families apart and creating enormous hardship. I deplore the continuing uncertainty about beneficiaries of the DACA programme.”
12. Med shot, videographer
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“In the past year, a new movement for justice has risen up to combat the abuse and sexual exploitation of women: the MeToo movement, an expression of solidarity and a force for dignity that is much needed, including in the wealthiest societies. Wherever I have travelled I have been privileged to meet women who defy restrictions on their freedom. These resilient and powerful women teach us – have, indeed, taught me – that every individual can help to reshape society, and the world.”
14. Wide shot, delegates
15. Wide shot, Human Right Council
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said claims by the Syrian government that it is taking every measure to protect its civilian population are “frankly ridiculous” adding, “when you are prepared to kill your own people, lying is easy too.”
Speaking at the Human Rights Council in Geneva today (07 Mar), Zeid said the Syrian conflict has entered a new phase of horror. He said in addition to the staggering bloodshed in Eastern Ghouta, escalating violence in Idlib was placing some two million people in danger while the Turkish offensive in Afrin was also threatening large numbers of civilians. He added that people in Government-controlled Damascus were also suffering due to a new escalation of ground-based strikes.
However, The High Commissioner stressed that attempts to justify “indiscriminate, brutal attacks on hundreds of thousands of civilians by the need to combat a few hundred fighters, as in Eastern Ghouta, are legally, and morally, unsustainable.” He said, “When you are prepared to kill your own people, lying is easy too; claims by the Government of Syria that it is taking every measure to protect its civilian population are frankly ridiculous.”
SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“This month, it is Eastern Ghouta which is, in the words of the Secretary General, hell on earth; next month or the month after, it will be somewhere else where people face an apocalypse – an apocalypse intended, planned and executed by individuals within the Government, apparently with the full backing of some of their foreign supporters. It is urgent to reverse this catastrophic course, and to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court.”
Turning to the situation of the Rohingya community in Myanmar, Zeid said his Office believed that ethnic cleansing was still underway in Rakhine State. He said the township of Maungdaw had been essentially emptied of its Rohingya community, and people continued to flee to Bangladesh because of systematic persecution and violence in other towns and villages; with reports of killings, rape, torture and abductions by the security forces and local militia. He added that there were apparently deliberate attempts to force the Rohingya population to leave the area through starvation, with officials blocking their access to crops and food supplies.
SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“This Council is aware that my Office has strong suspicions that acts of genocide may have taken place in Rakhine State since August. I am therefore not surprised by reports that Rohingya villages which were attacked in recent years, and alleged mass graves of the victims, are being bulldozed. This appears to be a deliberate attempt by the authorities to destroy potential evidence of international crimes.
The High Commissioner said he had also received reports of the appropriation of land inhabited by Rohingya and their replacement by members of other ethnic groups. He called on the Myanmar Government to take steps towards real accountability for these violations and to fully respect the rights of the Rohingya, including to citizenship.
Turning to Europe, Zeid pointed to the fact that over two-thirds of the national Parliaments in European Union countries now included political parties with extreme positions against migrants, and in some cases, Muslims and other minority communities. He said this discourse, “based on racism, xenophobia and incitement to hatred has now expanded so significantly that in several countries it is dominating the political landscape, as we saw during the election campaign in Italy in recent weeks.”
The human rights chief expressed concern about the current overriding focus of EU States on preventing migrants from reaching Europe, and rushing to deport many who do. He called on EU members to review their approach in the Mediterranean to ensure that they are not indirectly supporting the return of migrants to Libya, where migrants face a real risk of torture, sexual violence and other serious violations.
Zeid expressed shock by reports that migrants intercepted at the southern borders in the United States, “including children, are detained in abusive conditions such as freezing temperatures and that some young children are being detained separately from their families.” He added that detentions and deportations of long-standing and law-abiding migrants have also sharply increased, “tearing families apart and creating enormous hardship.” He deplored “the continuing uncertainty about beneficiaries of the DACA programme.”
Ahead of International Women’s Day, Zeid said it takes real courage to stand up for women's rights, including sexual and reproductive rights, in many parts of the world. He said women are suffering from increasingly regressive legislation, threats against activists and a renewed obsession with controlling their decisions in countries across every region. The High Commissioner said the MeToo movement is “an expression of solidarity and a force for dignity that is much needed, including in the wealthiest societies.” He said resilient and powerful women he had met in his travel taught him “that every individual can help to reshape society, and the world.”
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