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OHCHR / ETHIOPIA HUMAN RIGHTS
STORY: OHCHR / ETHIOPIA HUMAN RIGHTS
TRT: 3:46
SOURCE: OHCHR CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 4 MARCH 2021 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1.Exterior shot, Palais Wilson, OHCHR Headquarters
2.SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Given the persistent reports of serious human rights violations and abuses we continue to receive, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has stressed the need for an urgent, objective, independent assessment of the facts on the ground in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.”
3.Exterior shot, Palais Wilson, OHCHR Headquarters
4.SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Deeply distressing reports of sexual and gender-based violence, extrajudicial killings, widespread destruction and looting of public and private property by all parties continues to be shared. Credible information also continues to emerge about serious violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict in Tigray from November last year. Without prompt, impartial and transparent investigations, we fear that the violations will continue to be committed with impunity, and the situation will remain volatile for a long time to come.”
5.Exterior shot, Palais Wilson, OHCHR Headquarters
6.SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The UN Human Rights Office has been receiving information about ongoing fighting across the region, particularly in the centre of Tigray region, as well as incidents of looting. Reliable sources have shared information about the killing of eight protestors by security forces between 9 and 10 February in Adigrat, Mekelle, Shire and Wukro. More than 136 cases of rape have also been reported in hospitals in Mekelle, Ayder, Adigrat and Wukro in the east of Tigray region between December and January, with indications that there are many more such unreported cases.”
7.Exterior shot, Palais Wilson, OHCHR Headquarters
8.SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We have also managed to corroborate information about some of the incidents that occurred in November last year, indicating indiscriminate shelling in Mekelle, Humera and Adigrat towns in Tigray region, and reports of grave human rights violations and abuses including mass killings in Axum, and in Dengelat in central Tigray by Eritrean armed forces.”
9.Exterior shot, Palais Wilson, OHCHR Headquarters
10.SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“A preliminary analysis of the information received indicates that serious violations of international law, possibly amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, may have been committed by multiple actors, including: the Ethiopian National Defence Forces, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Eritrean armed forces, and Amhara Regional Forces and affiliated militia.”
11.Exterior shot, Palais Wilson, OHCHR Headquarters
12.SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“With multiple actors in the conflict, blanket denials and finger-pointing, there is a clear need for an objective, independent assessment of these reports – victims and survivors of these violations must not be denied their rights to the truth and to justice. We urge the Government of Ethiopia to grant our Office and other independent monitors access to the Tigray region.”
13.Exterior shot, Palais Wilson, OHCHR Headquarters
14.SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The High Commissioner has also expressed concern at detentions this week in Tigray of journalists and translators working for local and international media. While the journalists have now been released, there have been worrying remarks by a Government official that those responsible for misleading international media would be held responsible. Victims and witnesses of human rights violations and abuses must not be hindered from sharing their testimony for fear of reprisals, the High Commissioner has stressed. The High Commissioner has welcomed recent statements by the Government on accountability and measures taken on access for humanitarian actors. We urged the authorities to ensure that those commitments are translated into reality.”
15.Exterior shot, Palais Wilson, OHCHR Headquarters
In a statement read by a spokesperson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called “for an urgent, objective, independent assessment of the facts on the ground in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.”
In a video address from the Headquarters of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in Geneva, the spokesperson for the OHCHR, Ravina Shamdasani said that “deeply distressing reports of sexual and gender-based violence, extrajudicial killings, widespread destruction and looting of public and private property by all parties continues to be shared. Credible information also continues to emerge about serious violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict in Tigray from November last year. Without prompt, impartial and transparent investigations, we fear that the violations will continue to be committed with impunity, and the situation will remain volatile for a long time to come.”
“The UN Human Rights Office has been receiving information about ongoing fighting across the region, particularly in the centre of Tigray region, as well as incidents of looting. Reliable sources have shared information about the killing of eight protestors by security forces between 9 and 10 February in Adigrat, Mekelle, Shire and Wukro. More than 136 cases of rape have also been reported in hospitals in Mekelle, Ayder, Adigrat and Wukro in the east of Tigray region between December and January, with indications that there are many more such unreported cases,” Shamdasani said.
The OHCHR found that war crimes and crimes against humanity, may have been committed by multiple actors, including: the Ethiopian National Defence Forces, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, Eritrean armed forces, and Amhara Regional Forces and affiliated militia.
“With multiple actors in the conflict, blanket denials and finger-pointing, there is a clear need for an objective, independent assessment of these reports – victims and survivors of these violations must not be denied their rights to the truth and to justice. We urge the Government of Ethiopia to grant our Office and other independent monitors access to the Tigray region,” Shamdasani said.
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