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STORY: GENEVA / SYRIA COI
TRT:
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 SEPTEMBER 2014, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior of Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, arrival of Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro
3. Close up, US delegate
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:
“Once again I appear before you. And once again, I am left with no choice but to describe a war which worsens every day. I have run out of words to depict the gravity of the crimes committed inside Syria. As the numbers of victims climb ever higher, their stories and their pain seem increasingly obscured by the extent of the tragedy.”
5. Pan down, from ceiling of Human Rights Council meeting room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:
“If you want to know the effect this war has had, you must listen to its victims. Their voices shine a piercing light upon the brutal crimes being committed daily. Today, we are releasing to you, with their consent, redacted testimonies of those who have suffered egregious violations of international law. They include a child injured in a missile attack on a school in Aleppo city, a man tortured in Damascus’ Mezzeh detention facility, and a pregnant woman left adrift after losing her husband and parents. Desperate, they remain hopeful that their stories can prompt the action and dialogue necessary to bring this hideous war to an end.”
7. Pan, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:
“ISIS has committed massacres, including the killing of civilians at the Al- Shaar gas fields in eastern Homs and the execution of hundreds of captured Government soldiers in Ar-Raqqah in July and August. Captured members of other armed groups have also been executed and their bodies publicly displayed. Reports have been received of the killing of hundreds of people from the Al-Sheitat clan in Dayr Az-Zawr. In addition to the executions of two journalists and an aid worker, ISIS has continued to subject scores of Syrians to the same fate in public squares in the north and east of the country.”
9. Close up, Russian delegate
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:
“ISIS deliberately exposes children to violence. Children are encouraged to attend executions. Later they wander past corpses displayed on crucifixes in public squares. ISIS has prioritized the indoctrination of children. The group teaches children ideology under the guise of education, trains them in the use of weaponry and uses them to participate in hostilities. As recently as last month, armed children were seen at ISIS checkpoints in Al-Hasakah governorate.”
11. Wide shot, delegates
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:
“ISIS and the anti-Government armed groups are not, however, the sole agents of death and destruction inside Syria. The Syrian government remains responsible for the majority of the civilian casualties, killing and maiming scores of civilians daily – both from a distance using shelling and aerial bombardment and up close, at its checkpoints and in its interrogation rooms. Checkpoints are often the starting point of a horrific journey of disappearance, torture, sexual abuse and, for many, death.”
13. Wide shot, delegates
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:
“We have implored the parties and influential states to forge a peaceful settlement. We have asked the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. But we have been faced with inaction. This inaction has allowed the warring parties to operate with impunity, without due respect for the rules of engagement and nourished the violence that has consumed Syria. Its most recent beneficiary is ISIS.”
15.Wide shot, Human Rights Council meeting room
Islamic State militants (ISIS) are committing massacres in Syria and deliberately exposing children to violence, delegates at the Human Rights Council in Geneva heard today.
Presenting the latest report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, the Commission’s Chair, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, said that he had run out of words to depict the gravity of the crimes committed inside Syria.
He said that inaction to forge a peaceful settlement has ‘nourished the violence that has consumed Syria’ and allowed ISIS to benefit.
Delegates heard that Syrian children are encouraged to attend executions and are exposed to corpses displayed on crucifixes in public squares. The report said that ISIS has prioritized the indoctrination of children, teaching them ideology under the guise of education, training them to use weapons and using them to participate in hostilities.
The report documented massacres committed by ISIS, including the killing of civilians at the Al-Shaar gas fields in eastern Homs and the execution of hundreds of captured government soldiers in Ar-Raqqah in July and August.
Pinheiro said that captured members of other armed groups have also been executed and their bodies put on public display. He said that reports have been received of the killing of hundreds of people from the Al-Sheitat clan in Dayr Az-Zawr and that, in addition to the execution of two journalists and an aid worker, ISIS has continued to execute scores of Syrians in public squares in the north and east of the country.
However, Pinheiro said that the Syrian government remains responsible for the majority of civilian casualties, killing and maiming scores of civilians every day, both from a distance, with shelling and aerial bombardment and up close, at its checkpoints and in its interrogation rooms.
He said that checkpoints are often the starting point of an horrific journey of disappearance, torture, sexual abuse and, for many, death.
