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UN / IRAQ
STORY: UN / IRAQ
TRT: 02:55
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 03 DECEMBER 2019, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
03 DECEMBER 2019, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeanine Antoinette Plasschaert, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI):
“Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis - from all walks of life - took to the streets, out of love for their homeland, emphasizing their Iraqi identity. All they are asking for is a country reaching its full potential for the benefit of all Iraqis. However, they are paying an unimaginable price for their voices to be heard.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeanine Antoinette Plasschaert, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI):
“There can be no justification for the many killings and heavy injuries of peaceful protesters. Yet this is precisely what we have been documenting since the first of October. The rules of engagement were reviewed by the government to minimize the use of lethal force – and indeed, more restraint was observed at the start of the second wave of demonstrations, in Baghdad in particular. Yet the harsh reality is that the use of live fire has not been abandoned, that nonlethal devices - such as tear gas canisters - continue to be used in an improper way causing horrific injuries or death, that unlawful arrests and detentions continue to take place - as do abductions, threats and intimidations.”
7. Wide shot, US Ambassador Kelly Craft at the dais
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Kelly Craft, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“The United States hears these cries of hope, and firmly supports the people of Iraq as they strive to build a country of prosperity for every citizen. This will mean embracing electoral reform, promoting good governance, addressing corruption, and expanding economic opportunity. But most importantly, it will require Iraq’s leaders to be responsive and accountable to all citizens. And as the Special Representative just said, it is the primary responsibility of the state to protect its people.”
9. Wide shot, Council
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Hussein Bahr Al-Uloom, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations:
“The Iraqi government has dealt with those demonstrators according to the constitution by protecting them and by avoiding any attack against them. There are strict instructions against the use of live ammunition and lethal weapons. The security forces are not engaging with the demonstrators or attacking them. They have adopted a defensive posture.”
11. Wide shot, Council
The Special Representative for Iraq, Jeanine Antoinette Plasschaert, today (03 Dec) told the Security Council that protestors in Iraq “are paying an unimaginable price for their voices to be heard.”
Briefing via teleconference from Baghdad, Plasschaert said that beginning in early October, “hundreds of thousands of Iraqis - from all walks of life - took to the streets, out of love for their homeland, emphasizing their Iraqi identity” and asking for “a country reaching its full potential for the benefit of all Iraqis.”
The Special Representative said, “there can be no justification for the many killings and heavy injuries of peaceful protesters.”
She told the Council that despite a review of the rules of engagement by the government, “the harsh reality is that the use of live fire has not been abandoned, that nonlethal devices - such as tear gas canisters - continue to be used in an improper way causing horrific injuries or death, that unlawful arrests and detentions continue to take place - as do abductions, threats and intimidations.”
In her briefing to the Council, US Ambassador Kelly Craft said, “the United States hears these cries of hope, and firmly supports the people of Iraq as they strive to build a country of prosperity for every citizen.”
Craft said this will mean “embracing electoral reform, promoting good governance, addressing corruption, and expanding economic opportunity” and will require “Iraq’s leaders to be responsive and accountable to all citizens.”
For his part, Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed Hussein Bahr Al-Uloom said the government “has dealt with those demonstrators according to the constitution by protecting them and by avoiding any attack against them.”
He stressed that “there are strict instructions against the use of live ammunition and lethal weapons” and “security forces are not engaging with the demonstrators or attacking them. They have adopted a defensive posture.”
Since 1 October, over 400 people have been killed and more than 19,000 injured during the protests, leading to the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi.
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