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STORY: UN / RIGHT TO FOOD
TRT: 01:49
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 23 OCTOBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
23 OCTOBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, presser
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Hilal Elver, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food:
“Yemen is really, seems to be like a clear example of the famine situation crimes against humanity. Because, there is a deliberate kind of siege that people cannot really reach food, and they block the harbours. In this case, there are two sides are using this. The coalition of the Saudis, together with Yemeni government, and the Houthis with some kind of help from the outside of Yemen.”
4. Med shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Hilal Elver, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food:
“If the Myanmar government is serious about it, they should accept the UN independent commission what’s going on. As long as they don’t accept, they will be under the question mark.”
6. Wide shot, dais
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Hilal Elver, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food:
“Sanctions against innocent communities, especially food situation, it’s almost criminal activity. You cannot use such a political pressure that directly innocent people will be suffering from. Because right to food is a fundamental right.”
8. Wide shot, dais
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Hilal Elver, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food:
“Not all famine is crimes against humanity. Famine can be in a much more, it could be, it could happen without responsibility of the government. But it could also happen with deliberate action.”
4. Wide shot, end of presser
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Hilal Elver, said Yemen is “a clear example” of famine as a crime against humanity.
Speaking to reporters today (23 Oct) in New York after presenting her report to the General Assembly, Elver said “there is a deliberate kind of siege that people cannot really reach food, and they block the harbours.”
She noted that “there are two sides” who are responsible of these action, namely “the coalition of the Saudis, together with Yemeni government, and the Houthis with some kind of help from the outside of Yemen.”
In the case of the Rohingya population in Myanmar, the Special Rapporteur said “if the Myanmar government is serious about it, they should accept the UN independent commission what’s going on.”
“As long as they don’t accept,” she said “they will be under the question mark.”
On the issue of economic sanctions as a tool of political pressure, Elver said “sanctions against innocent communities, especially food situation, it’s almost criminal activity.”
She said “you cannot use such a political pressure that directly innocent people will be suffering from” and noted that “right to food is a fundamental right.”
The Special Rapporteur stressed that “not all famine is crimes against humanity. Famine can be in a much more, it could be, it could happen without responsibility of the government. But it could also happen with deliberate action.”
