29 Mar 2012

UN / HUMAN RIGHTS

The Human Rights Committee is wrapping up its 104th session after considering civil and political rights in Yemen, Turkmenistan, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Cape Verde and recommending, among other things, that the amnesty law that paved the way for former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave office be repealed. UNTV

Posted at: March 29, 2012 4:07 pm

Duration: 02:07

Available in: SD

DOWNLOAD

Full script

STORY: UN / HUMAN RIGHTS  
TRT: 2.07
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 29 MARCH 2012, NEW YORK

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters

29 MARCH 2012, NEW YORK

2. Wide shot, press conference 
3. Cutaway, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Krister Thelin, Human Rights Committee: 
"The second area of concern is in the domestic laws, as well as in the cultural tradition, there is a risk of serious sexual exploitation of young girls. It has to do with issues of the fairly low marriage age, which we recommend should be raised in order to comply with international standards. They have a tradition of premarital arrangements whereby so-called 'virginal silence' is construed as consent and they need to repeal this provision in their law." 
5. Cutaway, journalist 
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Krister Thelin, Human Rights Committee:
"You will find in paragraph 6 on Yemen that we do indeed pronounce ourselves on the amnesty law and recommend that it should actually be repealed in order for it to be in compliance with international human rights law." 
7. Cutaway, journalist 
8.  SOUNDBITE (English) Krister Thelin, Human Rights Committee:
"We have noted generally that the concern is that Turkmenistan is a closed society. No NGOs are presently admitted and that has been the case for quite a number of years and we encourage obviously the state part to issue visas for NGOs." 
9. Cutaway, journalist 
10.  SOUNDBITE (English) Krister Thelin, Human Rights Committee:
"As you know, Guatemala has undergone a period – a long period of civil war and serious social upheaval and armed conflict. And, of course, it takes time for these wounds to heal. And here we notice that they have a national reparation programme, which is targeting the economic side of things. But they need also to address the historical memory side of things, the cultural and social side of it, in order for the country to come together again." 
11. Med shot, journalist
12. Wide shot, press conference ends.

STORYLINE:

Reporting on its recommendations for better civil and political rights protections in Yemen, Turkmenistan, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Cape Verde – the five countries it considered during its current session - the Human Rights Committee said today that Yemen should raise its marriage age and repeal the amnesty law for former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Swedish judge Krister Thelin also said the Yemeni legal provisions by which "virginal silence' is construed as consent" in premarital arrangements should also be repealed.

Thelin said the Committee was concerned that, as a closed society Turkmenistan had not admitted international NGOs to visit for a number of years. Consequently, the Committee encouraged the government to issue visas for them, he said.

He also suggested the Guatemalan government should bolster its national reparation programme, which focuses on economic effects of its the armed conflict rather than the cultural and social fallout. To heal the lingering wounds from its civil war and allow its people to come together, Guatemala needed to address the historical memory of that conflict, he said.

The Human Rights Committee is an 18-member expert body that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in all countries that have ratified it. The Committee meets in Geneva or New York and normally holds three sessions a year. Its 104th session began on 12 March will conclude 30 March.