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UN / SYRIA PEDERSEN
STORY: UN / SYRIA PEDERSEN
TRT: 03:22
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 15 MARCH 2021, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
15 MARCH 2021, NEW YORK CITY
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3. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“The Syrian tragedy will go down as one of the darkest chapters in recent history – the Syrian people are among the greatest victims of this century.”
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5. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“They have been injured, maimed and killed in every way imaginable – their corpses even desecrated. They have been snatched from the streets, thrown into prisons or abducted, disappeared, mistreated, tortured, paraded in cages, and ransomed or exchanged in prisoner swap deals.”
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7. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“They have faced human rights violations on an enormous and systematic scale and endured countless violations of international humanitarian law. They have seen the largest Security Council-listed terrorist organisation in recent memory take over a third of their country – a group so violent and extreme that it enslaved women and girls and sold them in markets. They have seen foreign fighters flooding into their country.” 8. Multiscreen
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“They have fled Syria, often only to face further poverty and discrimination, or worse, perishing at sea in search of refuge. They have been dispossessed of their lands and homes. They have watched their middle-income country dragged back into de-development and destitution on such a scale that it will take generations to rebuild.”
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11. SOUNDBITE (English) Bernard Duhaime, Current Member and former Chair-Rapporteur of OHCHR’s UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances:
“Enforced disappearances are perpetrated unabatedly with impunity throughout Syria in clear violation of international law. The cases documented by our group illustrate an alarming pattern of arbitrary arrests of men in particular, at their homes or at checkpoints. Often several individuals are arrested at the same time in single raids. The impression left on the relatives is that the intention behind the carrying massive public arrests is to suppress dissent and to instill fear in the local community.”
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13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bassam Sabbagh, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Syria:
“It is clear to those following this session today that this is yet another attempt by some countries to seize the 10 year anniversary of the crisis in Syria as an opportunity to continue to rally against the Syrian State, levelling all kinds of accusations against it and promoting their failed policies.”
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15. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“While we are pleased that there has been relative calm, it also remains a great danger that the fragile calm could unravel. That is why I have stressed the need for consolidating this fragile calm and moving it into a true nationwide ceasefire.”
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The UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen today (15 Mar) told the Security Council that “the Syrian tragedy will go down as one of the darkest chapters in recent history,” and after 10 years of war, “the Syrian people are among the greatest victims of this century.”
Briefing the Council via video teleconference, Pedersen said Syrian civilians “have been injured, maimed and killed in every way imaginable – their corpses even desecrated. They have been snatched from the streets, thrown into prisons or abducted, disappeared, mistreated, tortured, paraded in cages, and ransomed or exchanged in prisoner swap deals.”
He said, “human rights violations on an enormous and systematic scale” have been committed, and Syrians have “endured countless violations of international humanitarian law.”
The Special Envoy said, “they have seen the largest Security Council-listed terrorist organisation in recent memory take over a third of their country – a group so violent and extreme that it enslaved women and girls and sold them in markets. They have seen foreign fighters flooding into their country.”
He said displaced Syrians have fled the country, “often only to face further poverty and discrimination, or worse, perishing at sea in search of refuge.”
Their middle-income country, he said, has been “dragged back into de-development and destitution on such a scale that it will take generations to rebuild.”
Also addressing the Council, the former Chair-Rapporteur of OHCHR’s UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, Bernard Duhaime, said, “enforced disappearances are perpetrated unabatedly with impunity throughout Syria in clear violation of international law.”
He said, “often several individuals are arrested at the same time in single raids. The impression left on the relatives is that the intention behind the carrying massive public arrests is to suppress dissent and to instill fear in the local community.”
For his part, Syrian Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh said, “it is clear to those following this session today that this is yet another attempt by some countries to seize the 10 year anniversary of the crisis in Syria as an opportunity to continue to rally against the Syrian State, levelling all kinds of accusations against it and promoting their failed policies.”
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Pedersen said, “while we are pleased that there has been relative calm, it also remains a great danger that the fragile calm could unravel. That is why I have stressed the need for consolidating this fragile calm and moving it into a true nationwide ceasefire.”
To move forward, the UN envoy stressed that the Syrian Government, opposition and key international players must identify not only what they hope to achieve, but how they can advance resolution 2254, which calls for a ceasefire and political settlement in the country.
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