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STORY: OHCHR / ZEID MYANMAR
TRT: 01:21
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 AUGUST 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
29 AUGUST 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Aerial shot, Palais Wilson exterior
2. Pan right, Zeid walking in hall
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“Unfortunately, what we feared appears to be occurring. Decades of persistent and systematic human rights violations, including the very violent security responses to the attacks since October 2016, have almost certainly contributed to the nurturing of violent extremism, with everyone ultimately losing.”
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“This turn of events is deplorable. It was predicted and could have been prevented.”
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“Such statements are irresponsible and only serve to increase fears and the potential for future violence.”
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“I am extremely concerned that the unsupported allegations against international aid organizations place their staff in danger and may make it impossible for them to deliver essential aid.”
7. Wide shot, Zeid walking in hall
8. Zoom in, Palais Wilson entrance
9. Wide shot, Palais Wilson exterior
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein expressed alarm today (29 Aug) at the violence and incitement in the north of Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
Zeid said, decades of “persistent and systematic human rights violations, including the very violent security responses to the attacks since October 2016, have almost certainly contributed to the nurturing of violent extremism, with everyone ultimately losing.” He said, “Unfortunately, what we feared appears to be occurring” adding that the “deplorable” events were “predicted and could have been prevented.”
Zeid condemned the attack against security forces on Friday which has led to the loss of many lives and the displacement of thousands of people. He urged all sides to renounce the use of violence and called on State authorities to ensure they operate in line with their obligations under international human rights law, adding that the State has a duty to protect all those within its territory, without discrimination. He said the perpetrators of the attacks on security personnel must be brought to justice, as must those who have been attacking the civilian population.
The High Commissioner warned called on the political leadership to condemn the inflammatory rhetoric and incitement to hatred that is proliferating, including on social media. He also expressed concern about claims by the State Counsellor’s Office that international aid workers were complicit in or supporting the attacks. Zeid said, “Such statements are irresponsible and only serve to increase fears and the potential for further violence.” He noted that the “unsupported allegations” against international aid organizations place their staff in danger and “may make it impossible for them to deliver essential aid.”
Zeid called on the Government of Myanmar to follow the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State headed by Kofi Annan for an integrated and calibrated response to the situation in the State. He also expressed concern that more than 8,700 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh since the attacks, adding to the tens of thousands who have been arriving in Bangladesh since October 2016. He appealed to the international community to help Bangladesh cope with the refugee influx.
