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STORY: OHCHR / YEMEN
TRT: 3:04
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 28 JANUARY 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
28 JANUARY 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations exterior
2. Wide shot, dais
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rupert Colville, spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Colleagues from our Yemen office were in Sa’ada this week as part of an inter-agency mission. The information they have collected paints a chaotic and desperate picture after the remand prison, which was believed to be holding 1,300 pre-trial detainees as well as 700 migrants, was struck.”
4. Med shot, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rupert Colville, spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We are working to verify the civilian casualties but so far, we understand that some 91 detainees were killed, many when the upper floor of one building collapsed, and 236 others were injured. But as I said those are kind of preliminary figures still. The most severely injured were taken to Al Jomhori Hospital in Sa’ada, which colleagues said was struggling to deal with the number of patients in need of urgent and life-saving treatment.”
6. Med shot, briefing room screen and podium
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rupert Colville, spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The Saudi-led coalition reiterated this morning that it is investigating the airstrikes. We urge them to ensure that the investigation is in line with international standards and is transparent, independent and impartial, to establish why the prison was hit, to ensure individual accountability for any breaches of international humanitarian law, and to identify measures and procedures required to prevent such incidents in the future. And during the recent visit by our team this week, we saw no signs indicating that this site, formerly a barracks, continues to have a military function. And in light of this, we have asked the coalition to share their information with us.”
8. Wide shot, journalists and podium
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Rupert Colville, spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“As the fighting intensifies through Yemen, we remind parties to the conflict that international humanitarian law must be scrupulously respected during the conduct of hostilities. This includes taking all feasible measures to verify targets are indeed military objectives at the time they intend to strike.”
10. Med shot, spokesperson
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Rupert Colville, spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“On a further note, we renew our demand that Ansar Allah immediately releases two UN staff members who work for the UN Human Rights Office and UNESCO respectively. Our colleagues have been unacceptably detained since early November in Sana’a without any information provided as to the grounds or legal basis for their detention, or any communication with their families. And we also recall the privileges and immunities accorded to staff of the UN system under international law, which are essential to the proper discharge of their official functions.”
12. Various shots, press conference
Information collected by a UN human rights office (OHCHR) team following an inter-agency mission to Yemen’s Sa’ada “paints a chaotic and desperate picture after the remand prison, which was believed to be holding 1,300 pre-trial detainees as well as 700 migrants, was struck,” according to a spokesperson.
On 18 January, the OHCHR warned about the escalating conflict in Yemen and its devastating impact on civilians. On 21 January, three airstrikes in quick succession by the Saudi-led coalition hit a detention facility run by Ansar Allah, also known as Houthis, in the northern city of Sa’ada, causing dozens of deaths.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva today (28 Jan) OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville said, “We are working to verify the civilian casualties but so far, we understand that some 91 detainees were killed, many when the upper floor of one building collapsed, and 236 others were injured. But as I said those are kind of preliminary figures still. The most severely injured were taken to Al Jomhori Hospital in Sa’ada, which colleagues said was struggling to deal with the number of patients in need of urgent and life-saving treatment.”
The OHCHR spokesperson added, “The Saudi-led coalition reiterated this morning that it is investigating the airstrikes. We urge them to ensure that the investigation is in line with international standards and is transparent, independent and impartial, to establish why the prison was hit, to ensure individual accountability for any breaches of international humanitarian law, and to identify measures and procedures required to prevent such incidents in the future. And during the recent visit by our team this week, we saw no signs indicating that this site, formerly a barracks, continues to have a military function. And in light of this, we have asked the coalition to share their information with us.”
Colville noted that, this year, as of 26 January, there have been 1,403 coalition airstrikes, and 39 cross-border attacks by Ansar Allah, most on Saudi Arabia but some on UAE.
He said, ““As the fighting intensifies through Yemen, we remind parties to the conflict that international humanitarian law must be scrupulously respected during the conduct of hostilities. This includes taking all feasible measures to verify targets are indeed military objectives at the time they intend to strike.”
“On a further note, we renew our demand that Ansar Allah immediately releases two UN staff members who work for the UN Human Rights Office and UNESCO respectively. Our colleagues have been unacceptably detained since early November in Sana’a without any information provided as to the grounds or legal basis for their detention, or any communication with their families. And we also recall the privileges and immunities accorded to staff of the UN system under international law, which are essential to the proper discharge of their official functions,” he concluded.
