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UN PhotoOHCHR / TURK DRC GOMA VISIT
STORY: OHCHR / TURK DRC GOMA VISIT
TRT: 02:34
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 17 APRIL 2024, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
1. Various shots, Travelling shots on the road out of Goma to Bulengo IDP camp
2. Various shots, Bulengo IDP camp
3. Various shots, HC Türk in Bulengo IDP camp
4. Various shots: IDPs in camp
5. Medium shot, HC meeting in camp office victims
6. Various shots, HC listening to the testimonies of victims FEMALE VICTIMS DO NOT WISH TO BE IDENTIFIED.
7. Wide shot, office camp
8. Wide shot, HC leaving office
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“I was here 2013. I'm back here today. And I have talked to people who tell me stories of horror, of what happened to them in their home area, why they had to leave because of massacres, because of violence, because of rape, because of terrible things that happen to them. They end up here again. Some of them have been displaced many times. Some of them don't know what the future is. They don't know what the future holds. And it is so absolutely critical that the mother of all rights, the right to peace is finally realized for the people around here.”
10. Med shot, IDPs looking on
11. SOUNDBITE (English)Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“what breaks my heart is to see a population exhausted by violence, exhausted by conflict, exhausted by the horrors of their daily life. They need to have a future. They need to see a future. And we all need to work towards that because that's what the most hope for.”
12. Various shots, HC being interviewed by press
During his visit this week to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Wednesday (17 Apr) visited a camp for internally displaced people near Goma in North Kivu.
In recent months, the security and human rights situation has significantly deteriorated in North Kivu province resulting in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing attacks by armed groups.
The number of displaced in North Kivu is 2.67 million out of around 7.2 million overall in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Some of those fleeing violence have sought refuge in and around Goma.
Amid the deteriorating security situation, the UN Joint Human Rights Office has observed a sharp increase in the number of victims of sexual violence, in the areas affected by the conflict as well as in IDP camps.
The UN High Commissioner went to Bulengo, an IDP camp near Goma, to meet and understand the plight of these victims.
He heard from several victims, who described how women were being attacked while fetching firewood to prepare meals. They further described the sexual violence to which women and girls were exposed.
“I was here 2013. I'm back here today. And I have talked to people who tell me stories of horror, of what happened to them in their home area, why they had to leave because of massacres, because of violence, because of rape, because of terrible things that happen to them. They end up here again. Some of them have been displaced many times. Some of them don't know what the future is. They don't know what the future holds. And it is so absolutely critical that the mother of all rights, the right to peace is finally realized for the people around here,” said Türk.
“What breaks my heart is to see a population exhausted by violence, exhausted by conflict, exhausted by the horrors of their daily life. They need to have a future. They need to see a future. And we all need to work towards that,” Türk said.
On Thursday, at the end of this visit, the High Commissioner is due to meet President Félix Tshisekedi and senior members of the Government in Kinshasa.
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