27 Feb 2012

GENEVA / JUPPÉ SYRIA WRAP

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé today urged the United Nations Human Rights Council not to remain silent on what he called the “odious crimes” that the state of Syria was committing against its own people. He welcomed the appointment of Kofi Annan as the special envoy to Syria on behalf of the UN Secretary General and the Arab League. CH UNTV

Posted at: February 27, 2012 3:00 pm

Duration: 02:45

Available in: SD

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STORY: GENEVA / JUPPE SYRIA WRAP 
TRT: 2:45
SOURCE: CH UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: FRENCH / ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 27 FEBRUARY 2012, GENEVA

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, Palais de Nations
2. Med shot, French delegation
3. Med shot, United States delegation 
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Alain Juppe, Foreign Minister, France: 
"Today's emergency is Syria. The Council's duty is to express to the whole world its outrage the odious crowds that the Syrian state is committing against its people. We can not rest silent faced with the violence and barbaric repression, civilian massacres, bombarded towns, tortured children, the wounded killed in hospital, refugees leaving the country. France will not remain silent faced with these horrors that nothing, I repeat nothing can justify."
5. Cutaway, Syrian delegate
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Alain Juppe, Foreign Minister, France: 
"The Syrian authorities must respect their international obligations. We must also mobilise humanitarian aid and ensure that it reaches the population."
7. Cutaway, Russian delegate
8. SOUNDBITE (French) Alain Juppe, Foreign Minister, France: 
"The day will come when the civilian and military authorities in Syrai and above all President Assad will have to be held accountable, will be held accountable  before international justice for their acts  and faced with such crimes there can be no impunity." 
9 Cutaway, Iranian delegate
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Alain Juppe, Foreign Minister, France: 
"We spoke this morning in Brussels at the Foreign Affairs Council -- 27 members of the European Union - adopted a new sanctions path which was particularly strong both on the financial transactions of the Syrian central bank on access to the gold market which is a significant natural resource for the country and also an embargo on air freight and on new visas for a certain number of people compromised in the current repression." 
11. Med shot, Juppe listening in the Human Rights Council 
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Alain Juppe, Foreign Minister, France: 
"I said it several times that the military operation in Syria is not on the agenda. The situation in the region and of Syria itself is totally different from the Libyan case so we have no militarly plan today."
13. Various shots, Alain Juppe meeting new UN and Arab League special envoy to Syria Koffi Annan

STORYLINE:

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe today urged the United Nations Human Rights Council not to remain silent on what he called the "odious crimes" that the state of Syria was committing against its own people.

Juppe was speaking ahead of an emergency debate on Syria to be held at the Council on Tuesday. He said that the authorities must comply with their international obligations to allow humanitarian aid to the wounded and sick. He warned that the day would come when President Assad of Syria would have to account for his acts in the courts and said the international community was preparing the ground for a case at the International Criminal Court.

Speaking to reporters outside the Council, he said that EU (European Union) foreign ministers had agreed new sanctions against Syria on Monday targeting its central bank and seven cabinet ministers to try to curb funding for the government and increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad.

The measures, expected to be enforced this week, include prohibiting trade in gold and other precious metals with Syrian state institutions and a ban on cargo flights from Syria operated by the country's carriers.

He reiterated that he was opposed to military operations on the ground as requested by Saudia Arabia.
Juppe welcomed the appointment of Kofi Annan as the special envoy to Syria on behalf of the UN Secretary General and the Arab League.