Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / PAULO SÉRGIO PINHEIRO
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: UN / PAULO SÉRGIO PINHEIRO
TRT: 3.40
SOURCE:
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 JULY 2013, NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES
RECENT, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
29 JULY 2013, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, delegates at the general Assembly
3. Wide shot, Paulo Cesar Pinheiro at the podium
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, United Nations:
“Syria is in free-fall. Relentless shelling has killed thousands of civilians and displaced the populations of entire towns. An untold number of men and women have disappeared while passing through the ubiquitous checkpoints. Those freed from detention are living with the physical and mental scars of torture. Hospitals have been bombarded, leaving the sick and wounded to languish without care. With the destruction of thousands of schools, a generation of children now struggle to obtain an education.”
5. Cutaway, Syrian delegation
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, United Nations:
“The majority remain seriously fragmented, with fighters continually shifting allegiances, usually to better-resourced groups. Extremist elements are a minority but play an active role in hostilities.”
7. Cutaway, Russian delegation
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, United Nations:
“Civilians are the real victims of this prolonged war. Crimes that shock the conscience have become a dreadfuldaily reality in Syria. Over 800 days since the unrest first began, it is apparent that violations against civilians and hors de combat fighters by both sides continue with little regard to law or to conscience.”
9. Cutaway, Russian delegation
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, United Nations:
“One of the most insidious aspects of the Syrian conflict has been the disappearance of thousands of people from their homes, at checkpoints and from the streets. Across Syria, families wait in desperate hope that their loved ones will be safely returned to them.”
11. Cutaway, Brazilean delegation
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, United Nations:
Torture, as documented in our reports, continues to be committed on a widespread and systematic basis, most frequently inside the detention centres of Government intelligence agencies. Torture has also allegedly occurred inside state and military hospitals. Some anti-Government armed groups also torture captured soldiers during interrogations, employing the same methods used by intelligence agencies.”
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, United Nations:
“Those who supply arms to the various warring parties are not creating the ground for victory but rather the illusion of victory. This is a dangerous and irresponsible illusion as it allows the war to unfurl endlessly before us. As the conflict extends, it opens the door to further immense human suffering and the possible conflagration of an entire region.”
13. Cutaway, Swiss delegation
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, United Nations:
“It is time for the international community to act decisively. There are no easy choices. To evade choice, however, is to countenance the continuation of this war and its many violations. The conflict will not find its own peaceful solution. Its path does not flow towards negotiation. Nevertheless a return to a negotiation leading to a political settlement is imperative.”
15. Various shots, delegations
“Syria is in free-fall”, the Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said in his briefing to the General Assembly.
Addressing members of the General Assembly today (29 July) at the United nations in New York, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told delegates that “relentless shelling” had killed thousands of civilians and displaced the populations of entire towns. He added that “an untold number” of men and women had disappeared while passing through checkpoints, while those freed from detention “are living with the physical and mental scars of torture.”
He also said that while hospitals had been bombarded, the destruction of thousands of schools was leaving a generation of children without an education.
Pinheiro noted that while a majority “remain seriously fragmented”, with fighters shifting allegiances, “extremist elements are a minority but play an active role in hostilities.”
He also pointed out that “One of the most insidious aspects” of the conflict had been the disappearance of thousands of people from their homes. He said that “Across Syria, families wait in desperate hope that their loved ones will be safely returned to them.”
He denounced that torture, as documented in his reports, “continues to be committed on a widespread and systematic basis, most frequently inside the detention centres of Government intelligence agencies.”
Pinheiro noted that those who continue to perpetuate rights violations do not seem to have any fear of future accountability for their actions. Indeed, shining a spotlight on their unlawful conduct has not had the effect of stopping, or even slowing it.
He also stressed that “It is time for the international community to act decisively”, adding that a return to negotiation leading to a political settlement “is imperative”.
Established by the UN Human Rights Council in August 2011, the Commission also includes experts Karen Koning Abuzayd, Carla del Ponte and Vitit Muntarbhorn. It has been mandated to investigate and record all violations of international human rights law during the Syria conflict.
The Commission has provided 10 reports and updates so far, outlining a litany of “crimes that shock the conscience” which have become a daily reality for civilians, who are bearing the brunt of the conflict that began over two years ago. These include: indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombardment; disappearances; torture; sexual violence; and massacres.
