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STORY: GENEVA / YEMEN
TRT: 03:40
SOURCE: UNTV CH / FILE
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATTS
DATELINE: 5 SEPTEMBER 2017 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammad Ali Alnsour, Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Section of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR):
“Yemen has become the largest humanitarian crisis in the world as a result of combination of conflict, cholera and food insecurity. Out of 27.4 million people, 18.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and 10.3 million in acute need for help.”
4. Close up, journalist
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammad Ali Alnsour, Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Section of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR):
“The catastrophe is entirely man-made, and a direct result of the behaviour of the parties to the conflict including indiscriminate attacks. We have seen attacks on markets, residential areas, hospitals, schools, funeral gatherings and even fishermen and small civilian boats at sea.”
6. Medium shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammad Ali Alnsour, Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Section of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR):
“Sieges, blockades imposed by the parties to the conflict have had devastating impact. Major cholera outbreak since April this year has compounded the suffering of the people in Yemen with more than half a million suspected cases and almost 2,000 related deaths across the country. More than a third of all suspected cases affect children. Public and private infrastructure has collapsed, access to basic services remain low or are not existent.”
8. Close up, journalist
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammad Ali Alnsour, Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Section of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR):
“Since March 2015 when OHCHR began civilian casualty reporting, the Office has verified at least 5,144 civilians killed, 8,749 injured and this is updated figures as of 31 August.”
10. Close up, journalist
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammad Ali Alnsour, Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Section of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR):
“The coalition air strikes continue to be the leading cause of civilian casualties.”
12. Med shot, journalists
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Mohammad Ali Alnsour, Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Section of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR):
“OHCHR is also concerned about the increasing number of arbitrary or illegal detention and enforced disappearances of human rights defenders, religious leaders, humanitarian, journalists and political opponents. Since March 2015 OHCHR has documented 1,019 cases of arbitrary or illegal detention.”
14. Close up, journalist
15. Med shot, journalists
FILE – OHCHR
16. Various photos, ruins in Yemen
The immense suffering of civilians in the conflict in Yemen is an entirely “man-made catastrophe”, according to a UN human rights report published today at the United Nations in Geneva.
Speaking to journalists in the Swiss city today (5 Sep) , Mohammad Ali Alnsour, Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Section of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said that “the catastrophe is entirely man-made, and a direct result of the behaviour of the parties to the conflict including indiscriminate attacks. We have seen attacks on markets, residential areas, hospitals, schools, funeral gatherings and even fishermen and small civilian boats at sea.”
The report mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, records human rights violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law over three years, since September 2014. “Since March 2015 when OHCHR began civilian casualty reporting, the Office has verified at least 5,144 civilians killed, 8,749 injured and this is updated figures as of 31 August”, Alnsour said.
He said that “Yemen has become the largest humanitarian crisis in the world as a result of combination of conflict, cholera and food insecurity. Out of 27.4 million people, 18.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and 10.3 million in acute need for help.”
The report found that the governorates most affected by the conflict were Aden, Al-Hudaydah, Sana’a and Taizz.
“Sieges, blockades imposed by the parties to the conflict have had devastating impact", Alnsour said, adding that "Major cholera outbreak since April this year has compounded the suffering of the people in Yemen with more than half a million suspected cases and almost 2,000 related deaths across the country. More than a third of all suspected cases affect children. Public and private infrastructure has collapsed, access to basic services remain low or are not existent.”
The Popular Committees affiliated with the Houthis and the army units loyal to former President Abdullah Saleh (the Houthi/Saleh forces) were responsible for some 67 per cent of the 1,702 cases of recruitment of children for use in hostilities. UN Human Rights monitors frequently observed children as young as 10 who were armed and uniformed, manning checkpoints. Houthi/Saleh forces were also found to be responsible for widespread arbitrary or unlawful detentions.
Alnsour said “The coalition air strikes continue to be the leading cause of civilian casualties.”
According to the report, some 3,233 of the civilians killed were reportedly killed by Coalition forces.
Alnsour also expressed the concern about the increasing number of arbitrary or illegal detention and enforced disappearances of human rights defenders, religious leaders, humanitarian, journalists and political opponents, adding that “since March 2015 OHCHR has documented 1,019 cases of arbitrary or illegal detention.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights repeated again his call on the international community to set up an independent, international investigation into the allegations of very serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Yemen.
