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OHCHR / MYANMAR TORTURE
STORY: OHCHR / MYANMAR TORTURE
TRT: 2:28
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 MARCH 2021, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, press room
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The death toll has soared over the past week in Myanmar, where security forces have been using lethal force increasingly aggressively against peaceful protesters and continue to arbitrarily arrest and detain people throughout the country. Deeply distressing reports of torture in custody have also emerged. Hundreds of people who have been unlawfully detained remain unaccounted for and have not been acknowledged by the military authorities, and this amounts to enforced disappearances.”
3. Wide shot, dais and screen
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Confirming information is becoming increasingly difficult, particularly with the imposition of martial law in a number of townships in and around Yangon and in Mandalay, but also because many of the working-class neighbourhoods where people have been killed and displaced are easier to cut off through State-imposed communication blackouts.”
5. Wide shot, press room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We have, however, managed to confirm that at least 149 people have been arbitrarily deprived of their lives since the 1st of February, as a result of the unlawful use of lethal force against peaceful protestors in Myanmar. Of these, at least 11 were killed yesterday on Monday, and 57 over the weekend. There are many more reports of further killings that we have been not been able to corroborate yet.”
7. Wide shot, Shamdasani speaking to reporters
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Arrests and detentions have continued throughout the country, with more than 2,084 people remaining arbitrarily detained. At least 37 journalists have been arrested, of whom 19 remain in arbitrary detention. At least five deaths in custody have occurred in recent weeks, and at least two victims’ bodies have shown signs of severe physical abuse indicating that they were tortured.”
9. Med shot, Shamdasani speaking to reporters
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We are deeply disturbed that the crackdown continues to intensify, and we again call on the military to stop killing and detaining protestors. As the High Commissioner has stressed, all those with influence have a responsibility to take measures to bring an end to this State violence against the people of Myanmar.”
11. Wide shot, screen
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said it was “deeply disturbed” that the crackdown in Myanmar continues to intensify, and called on the military to “stop killing and detaining protestors,” adding that “all those with influence have a responsibility to take measures to bring an end to this State violence against the people of Myanmar.”
Speaking to reporters in Geneva today (16 Mar), OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said the death toll in Myanmar has “soared” over the past week, adding that security forces have been using lethal force “increasingly aggressively against peaceful protesters and continue to arbitrarily arrest and detain people throughout the country.” She said, “Deeply distressing reports of torture in custody have also emerged. Hundreds of people who have been unlawfully detained remain unaccounted for and have not been acknowledged by the military authorities, and this amounts to enforced disappearances.”
Shamdasani said confirming information is becoming increasingly difficult, “particularly with the imposition of martial law in a number of townships in and around Yangon and in Mandalay, but also because many of the working-class neighbourhoods where people have been killed and displaced are easier to cut off through State-imposed communication blackouts.”
The spokesperson said OHCHR managed to confirm that at least 149 people have been arbitrarily deprived of their lives since February 1, as a result of unlawful use of lethal force against peaceful protestors in Myanmar. Of these, she said, “at least 11 were killed yesterday on Monday, and 57 over the weekend. There are many more reports of further killings that we have been not been able to corroborate yet.”
These figures include people killed during a violent crackdown in the Hlaing Tharyar, a township in Yangon, by security forces after unknown actors set fire to Chinese-operated or invested factories. The military authorities also declared martial law in a number of townships in and around Yangon and Mandalay. Under these terms, military law would apply to civilians with both stricter curfews and subjecting offenders to military tribunals with no right of appeal.
Shamdasani noted that arrests and detentions have continued throughout the country, with more than 2,084 people remaining arbitrarily detained. She said, “At least 37 journalists have been arrested, of whom 19 remain in arbitrary detention. At least five deaths in custody have occurred in recent weeks, and at least two victims’ bodies have shown signs of severe physical abuse indicating that they were tortured.”
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