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GENEVA / IRAQ DEMONSTRATIONS REAX
STORY: GENEVA / IRAQ DEMONSTRATIONS REAX
TRT: 1:28
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 04 OCTOBER 2019, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior Palais des Nations
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson, OHCHR:
“We have seen a series of demonstrations across Iraq this week protesting against job scarcity and unequal provision of basic services. Most of the protestors are young and unemployed, demanding that their economic and social rights be respected.”
3. Close up, journalist
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson, OHCHR:
“We are worried by reports that security forces have used live ammunition and rubber bullets in some areas, and have also fired tear gas cannisters directly at protestors. UN human right staff have confirmed the deaths of 12 people in Baghdad.”
5. Close up, journalist typing
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson, OHCHR:
“We are concerned about reports that at least three journalists covering the protests have been detained, and two of them were subsequently released. These detentions risk deterring other journalists from reporting on the situation.”
7. Close up, journalist
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson, OHCHR:
“We call on the Iraqi Government to allow people to freely exercise their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”
9. Close up, journalist
10. Wide shot, room
11. Med shot, journalist
12. Close up, journalist writing
The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) voiced its concern today ( 04 Oct) following reports of an increasing spate of violence directed at protestors across Iraq, resulting in injury and death.
Amid unrest over unemployment and corruption, violence has been concentrated in the capital Baghdad with at least twelve confirmed dead. There have also been reports of up to 30 people killed during protests in neighbouring towns and cities, although this number has not yet been verified by the UN. Hundreds of people are reported to have been injured.
This “series of demonstrations” across Iraq this week, began as a “protest against job scarcity and unequal provision of basic services,” a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva, Marta Hurtado, told journalists. She said, “most of the protestors are young and unemployed, demanding that their economic and social rights be respected.”
The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert met with a number of protestors in Baghdad this week, emphasizing the importance for calm, and the need for a direct dialogue between the people on the street and Iraq’s leadership.
In a statement issued on Wednesday (02 Oct), she said that the protestors demands “for economic reform, jobs, reliable public services, accountability, prudent and impartial governance are legitimate and longstanding, urging the authorities to practice maximum restraint in dealing with the protestors.”
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today also expressed grave concern over reports “that security forces have used live ammunition and rubber bullets and have also fired tear gas cannisters directly at protestors.”
Calling on the Iraqi Government to allow people to freely exercise their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, OHCHR spokesperson Marta Hurtado said that “at least three journalists covering the protests have been detained”, although two have been subsequently released. Hurtado warned that “these detentions risk deterring other journalists from reporting on the situation.”
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