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STORY: OHCHR / SUDAN HUMAN RIGHTS
TRT: 03:42
SOURCE: UNTV CH / OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
DATELINE: 01 MARCH 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“For nearly eleven months now, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as well as their affiliates, have been fighting a ruthless, senseless conflict. They have killed thousands, seemingly without remorse. They have manufactured a climate of sheer terror, forcing millions to flee. They have killed thousands, seemingly without remorse. They have manufactured a climate of sheer terror, forcing millions to flee. They have let the people who could not - or would not - escape, suffer, destroying medical services and blocking humanitarian aid.”
4. Wide shot, conference room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“They have consistently acted with impunity and a distinct lack of accountability for the multiple violations that have been committed, continuing to stagnate on any talks and negotiations which would achieve much needed peace safety and dignity for the people of Sudan.”
6. Wide shot, conference room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“In the space of eleven months, at least 14,600 people have been killed, and 26,000 others injured. Actual figures are undoubtedly much higher. The toll encompasses thousands of civilians, including many children and women. Many humanitarian and health workers have also lost their lives as they worked under fire to help people in need.”
8. Wide shot, conference room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“Sudan has become a living nightmare. Almost half of the population – 25 million people – are in urgent need of food and medical aid. Some 80 percent of hospitals have been put out of service. The apparently deliberate denial of safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian agencies within Sudan itself constitutes a serious violation of international law and may amount to a war crime. I call - again - on the warring parties to meet their legal obligations by opening humanitarian corridors without delay before more lives are lost.”
10. Wide shot, conference room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“With more than eight million forced to flee within Sudan and to neighbouring countries, this crisis is upending the country and profoundly, threatening peace, security and humanitarian conditions throughout the entire region.”
12. Wide shot, conference room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“Right now, I am afraid to say there is a gaping hole in effective dialogue towards ending this war. I encourage all States with influence to increase pressure on the two parties and their affiliates to negotiate a peaceful solution to this catastrophe, and to pursue and sustain a ceasefire.”
14. Wide shot, conference room
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“The fighting parties must agree to return to peace, without delay. Perpetrators of the horrific human rights violations and abuses must be held to account, without delay. And without delay, the international community must refocus its attention on this deplorable crisis before it descends even further into chaos the future of the people of Sudan depend on it.”
The crisis in Sudan is a tragedy that appears to have slipped into the fog of global amnesia, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk told the UN Human Rights Council today (01 Mar).
“For nearly eleven months now, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as well as their affiliates, have been fighting a ruthless, senseless conflict. They have killed thousands, seemingly without remorse. They have manufactured a climate of sheer terror, forcing millions to flee. They have killed thousands, seemingly without remorse. They have manufactured a climate of sheer terror, forcing millions to flee. They have let the people who could not - or would not - escape, suffer, destroying medical services and blocking humanitarian aid,” he said.
“They have consistently acted with impunity and a distinct lack of accountability for the multiple violations that have been committed, continuing to stagnate on any talks and negotiations which would achieve much needed peace safety and dignity for the people of Sudan,” he added.
Presenting a new report to the Council on violations and abuses of international human rights law committed by the warring parties in Sudan between April and December 2023, the High Commissioner, “In the space of eleven months, at least 14,600 people have been killed, and 26,000 others injured. Actual figures are undoubtedly much higher. The toll encompasses thousands of civilians, including many children and women. Many humanitarian and health workers have also lost their lives as they worked under fire to help people in need,” he said.
He called on all States with influence to increase pressure on the two parties and their affiliates to negotiate a peaceful solution to this catastrophe, and to pursue and sustain a ceasefire.
“Sudan has become a living nightmare. Almost half of the population – 25 million people – are in urgent need of food and medical aid. Some 80% of hospitals have been put out of service. The apparently deliberate denial of safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian agencies within Sudan itself constitutes a serious violation of international law and may amount to a war crime. I call - again - on the warring parties to meet their legal obligations by opening humanitarian corridors without delay before more lives are lost,” Türk said.
“With more than eight million forced to flee within Sudan and to neighbouring countries, this crisis is upending the country and profoundly, threatening peace, security and humanitarian conditions throughout the entire region,” the High Commissioner stated.
“Right now, I am afraid to say there is a gaping hole in effective dialogue towards ending this war. I encourage all States with influence to increase pressure on the two parties and their affiliates to negotiate a peaceful solution to this catastrophe, and to pursue and sustain a ceasefire,” he said.
“The fighting parties must agree to return to peace, without delay. Perpetrators of the horrific human rights violations and abuses must be held to account, without delay. And without delay, the international community must refocus its attention on this deplorable crisis before it descends even further into chaos the future of the people of Sudan depend on it,” he said.
