26 Mar 2010

UN / HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

At the conclusion of UN Human Rights Committee’s current session, experts discuss human rights abuses worldwide including the recent executions in Belarus. UNTV

Posted at: March 26, 2010 3:50 pm

Duration: 01:20

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE  
TRT: 1:20
SOURCE: UNTV  
RESTRICTIONS: NONE 
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ SPANISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 26 MARCH 2010, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior UN building

26 MARCH 2010, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Press Conference panel
3. Wide shot, Audience
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Rodley, Human Rights Committee expert from UK:
"It looks highly likely that these individuals have been executed despite the fact that the State, Belarus, was asked not to execute them. The names of the individuals are Andrei Zhuk and Vasily Yuzepchuk."
5. Wide shot, Audience
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Nigel Rodley, Human Rights Committee expert from UK:
"These two people have been executed despite the request of the committee that they not be executed pending consideration of their cases. Of course, the consideration will go ahead but it is a matter of dismay and indignation to the committee that this development has taken place."
7. Close-up, Photographer
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Fabian Salvioli, Human Rights Committee expert from Argentina:
"Violence against women [in Mexico] continues to be a matter of great concern to the Committee and especially the climate of impunity currently existing in Ciudad Juarez when it comes to this issue." 
9. Wide shot, Press Conference panel exit

STORYLINE:

The United Nations Human Rights Committee concluded its annual three-week session in New York today, having taken up the compliance reports of Argentina, Mexico, New Zealand and Uzbekistan.

Addressing reporters at a press conference, Nigel Rodney, an expert from the United Kingdom, decried the executions of two men by the State of Belarus "despite the request of the committee that they not be executed pending consideration of their cases."

Andrei Zhuk and Vasily Yuzepchuk were sentenced to death in 2009 and the Committee had asked the Government of Belarus not to execute the men while it reviewed the cases. In September and November, Belarus had asked the Committee to remove the stay request.

Rodley explained that consideration of the two men's cases will go ahead but specified that it remains "a matter of dismay and indignation to the committee that this development has taken place."

Fabian Salvioli, an expert from Argentina, also spoke with reporters regarding the Committee's review of the human rights situation in Mexico.

He told journalists that while violence against women continues to be a matter of "great concern" to the committee, it is the "climate of impunity" surrounding said violence in Ciudad Juarez that is "especially" worrisome.

During its ninety-eighth session, the Human Rights Committee, comprised of 18 independent experts serving four-year terms, also considered a range of issues aimed at improving interaction and communication with States parties and disseminating information about its work to the wider public.

The Committee's next session will be held in Geneva from 12 to 20 July 2010.