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STORY: GENEVA / DRC PROTEST HUMAN RIGHTS
TRT: 1:27
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 23 JANUARY 2018 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1 Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
2 Wide shot, briefing room
3 SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“We are deeply concerned about what appears to be a recurring pattern of repression – including through the use of force – of demonstrations in the DRC in the context of rising political tensions. Last Sunday, the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC* recorded at least six deaths during demonstrations in Kinshasa, with 68 people wounded, 121 people arrested and the firing of tear gas into churches in various parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo”
4 Med shot, journalists
5 SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“Among those injured on Sunday was a UN human rights officer, a colleague of ours, who was kicked and punched by security forces in Kinshasa while trying to conduct human rights monitoring of the demonstrations. Military police also fired tear gas towards at least three UN patrols, thus restricting their movements and impeding them from carrying out the UN’s mandate of monitoring the human rights situation in the country.”
6 Wide shot, journalists
7 SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“We urge the Government to investigate all incidents where security forces may have used excessive force against demonstrators and UN personnel. Those held responsible for the killings and injuries must be brought to justice without delay.”
8 Wide shot, journalists
United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said those responsible for the killings and injuries during Sunday protests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo “must be brought to justice without delay.”
As death tolls and injuries mount in the repression of demonstrations in the DRC, the UN’s human rights office has expressed its deep concern at what appears to be a “recurring pattern of repression” of demonstrations against those who oppose the Government. In a new development, security forces are also appear to be targeting UN human rights workers.
Talking to reprters in Geneva Tuesday (23 Jan) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said “we are deeply concerned about what appears to be a recurring pattern of repression – including through the use of force – of demonstrations in the DRC in the context of rising political tensions. Last Sunday, the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC* recorded at least six deaths during demonstrations in Kinshasa, with 68 people wounded, 121 people arrested and the firing of tear gas into churches in various parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
The renewed violence comes after the killing of nine people and the injuring of at least 98 others during the 31 December 2017 protests.
Shamdasani said “among those injured on Sunday was a UN human rights officer, a colleague of ours, who was kicked and punched by security forces in Kinshasa while trying to conduct human rights monitoring of the demonstrations.”
She added “military police also fired tear gas towards at least three UN patrols, thus restricting their movements and impeding them from carrying out the UN’s mandate of monitoring the human rights situation in the country. The UN mission in the DRC is taking up this incident with the authorities.”
Throughout the country, Internet and SMS services have been suspended since midnight on Saturday, 20 January night, following a similar 48-hour suspension around the 31 December protests. Tear gas was fired into and around churches in Kinshasa, Goma, Kisangani, Lubumbashi and Bukavu, while heavy deployments of the Congolese National Police and the armed forces, were reported in Mbandaka, Beni, Mbuji-Mayi and Butembo, particularly around places of worship. In Mbuji-Mayi, security forces prevented people from accessing a number of places of worship.
Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva “we urge the Government to investigate all incidents where security forces may have used excessive force against demonstrators and UN personnel. Those held responsible for the killings and injuries must be brought to justice without delay.”
