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STORY: UN / TÜRK HUMAN RIGHTS INTERVIEW
TRT: 05:22
SOURCE: UNIFEED / UNICEF / WFP / OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WFP ON SCREEN / PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 14 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters
14 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and interviewer
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“What's happening in Gaza is beyond devastating. I'm outraged also that so many of our colleagues have been killed, 134 from UNRWA, one from the WHO, that our humanitarian system is not respected, that we are not able to provide what we would normally be able to do in a situation of war, and that human rights and international and entire law are violated on a daily basis in the most gravest of forms. And it is absolutely critical that accountability is part of any future arrangement, because we know that if impunity reigns and if the facts are not told, and if truth is not told, we will have grievances going on and on and on.”
FILE - WFP - 07 DECEMBER 2023, KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA, PALESTINE
4. Various shots, aftermath of bombing of home where 15 members of the Rabie family were killed
14 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“I'm very worried about the risk of atrocity crimes. I'm very worried about the situation in the West Bank in particular, because what we see is we since the 7th of October, over some 271 Palestinians have been killed, including 69 children. I'm worried about what this means in the future. I'm also extremely, extremely shocked by the dehumanizing language that I have seen, both from Hamas but also from Israeli military and political leaders.”
FILE - UNICEF - 03 DECEMBER 2023, JABALIA NEIGHBOURHOOD, NORTHERN GAZA STRIP, STATE OF PALESTINE
6. Wide shot, people carrying their personal belongings, walking amidst the rubble on the street
7. Aerial shot, scene of severely damaged buildings, rubble, and debris
FILE - UNICEF - 01 DECEMBER 2023, KHAN YOUNIS, SOUTHERN GAZA STRIP, STATE OF PALESTINE
8. Wide shot, rain over temporary shelters
9. Med shot, child walking through rain in camp of temporary shelters
10. Med shot, child near fire in camp of temporary shelters
14 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“Some of the communities, especially near the front lines, have not been able to get access to electricity again. We have the ongoing killings. We have serious human rights violations, in particular torture. That's happening when whenever there are whenever Russian forces are able to occupy territory. And yes, we just need to make sure that, again, accountability is going to be served.”
FILE - OHCHR - 07 OCTOBER 2023, HROZA, KHARKIV REGION, UKRAINE
12. Various shots, makeshift memorial for victims of bombing
13. Various shots, United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) staff speaking to local residents
14. Various shots, site of the blast
14 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“We have seen in so many other situations, if you look just at Bosnia and the wars in former Yugoslavia, but also Rwanda and other situations, you actually see people getting caught.”
16. Various shots, Türk and interviewer
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“If you look at Afghanistan, where you have basically a de facto authority that essentially systematically persecutes women because of and girls because of who they are. I mean, that is pretty much unheard of in the 21st century. And we really need to find ways and means to stop this. But it's not just it's not just there. We have also very serious issues in Yemen. We have it in in many in PNG, Papua New Guinea, for example, Iran and a few other places where indeed you have such systematic discrimination against women.”
FILE - UNICEF - 9 AUGUST 2022, ZADA-E-ALI VILLAGE, MOQUR DISTRICT, BADGHIS PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
18. Med shot, Mahjabeen feeding her children at home.
19. Various shots, Mahjabeen not eating while watching her children eat
20. Pan left, from Mahjabeen to her daughter
21. Various shots, Mahjabeen at the small shop near her house
14 DECEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“There is sometimes business interests that drive hatred. And we need to cut down on that. Actually, we need to call it out. We need to show these business models. And we also need to find ways and means, again, to bring humanity back to its core and to its fundaments. And I wish the messages of peace, of healing, of actually transforming hatred into positive actions gained more traction, both in media, but also in the discussions.”
23. Wide shot, Türk and interviewer
24. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“We can never give up hope and we can never give up our work. And I think within the tragedies of today, we can also see what the elements are that actually bring and get us out of this, away from this precipice and let us be hopeful for a future that is more peaceful and also more embracing of the other.”
25. Wide shot, end of interview
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk today (14 Dec) called for accountability for human rights violations committed in Gaza and Ukraine.
During an interview with UN News, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the High Commissioner said, “what's happening in Gaza is beyond devastating,” and stressed that human rights and international and entire law “are violated on a daily basis in the most gravest of forms.”
He said it was “absolutely critical that accountability is part of any future arrangement, because we know that if impunity reigns and if the facts are not told, and if truth is not told, we will have grievances going on and on and on.”
Türk said, “I'm very worried about the risk of atrocity crimes. I'm very worried about the situation in the West Bank in particular, because what we see is we since the 7th of October, over some 271 Palestinians have been killed, including 69 children. I'm worried about what this means in the future. I'm also extremely, extremely shocked by the dehumanizing language that I have seen, both from Hamas but also from Israeli military and political leaders.”
Turning to Ukraine, he said, “some of the communities, especially near the front lines, have not been able to get access to electricity again. We have the ongoing killings. We have serious human rights violations, in particular torture. That's happening when whenever there are whenever Russian forces are able to occupy territory. And yes, we just need to make sure that, again, accountability is going to be served.”
The High Commissioner pointed to previous situations where justice was achieved after the end of a conflict. He said, “we have seen in so many other situations, if you look just at Bosnia and the wars in former Yugoslavia, but also Rwanda and other situations, you actually see people getting caught.”
On women’s rights, he spoke of a pushback on gender and women's rights and said, “if you look at Afghanistan, where you have basically a de facto authority that essentially systematically persecutes women because of and girls because of who they are.”
Türk said, “we really need to find ways and means to stop this. But it's not just it's not just there. We have also very serious issues in Yemen. We have it in in many in PNG, Papua New Guinea, for example, Iran and a few other places where indeed you have such systematic discrimination against women.”
On hate speech and disinformation, he said, “there is sometimes business interests that drive hatred. And we need to cut down on that. Actually, we need to call it out. We need to show these business models. And we also need to find ways and means, again, to bring humanity back to its core and to its fundaments. And I wish the messages of peace, of healing, of actually transforming hatred into positive actions gained more traction, both in media, but also in the discussions.”
To conclude, the High Commissioner said, “we can never give up hope and we can never give up our work. And I think within the tragedies of today, we can also see what the elements are that actually bring and get us out of this, away from this precipice and let us be hopeful for a future that is more peaceful and also more embracing of the other.”
10 December 2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which aims to infuse societies with equality, fundamental freedoms and justice. It enshrines the rights of all human beings and is a global blueprint for international, national, and local laws and policies and a bedrock of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
