25 Jun 2012

UN / SYRIA CIVILIANS

As the shelling of Homs continues with hundreds of civilians trapped inside the city, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Security Council members to do more to “save innocent lives”. UN observers in the country have also reported armed assaults on civilians, execution-style killings and opposition forces firing from inside hospitals. UNTV

Posted at: June 25, 2012 5:02 pm

Duration: 2:36

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / SYRIA CIVILIANS
TRT: 2.36
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 25 JUNE 2012, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

25 JUNE 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Cutaway, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations:
"As we speak, the city of Homs and other areas are being shelled.  UN observers have risked their lives to report to the world on what they have seen. They have reported armed assaults on civilians, execution-style killings and opposition forces firing from inside hospitals. Across this geography of conflict, we simply must do more. We must do more to protect women and children in particular. More to prevent attacks against journalists.  More to save innocent lives."
5. Cutaway, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Valerie Amos, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
"Schools have been raided and used as military bases and detention centres, hospitals and health facilities have been targeted, anti-governments groups are also reportedly responsible for violations including torture, summary executions and abductions. Residents in the most affected areas are often unable to access water, food or medical care. It's imperative that civilians who wish to leave areas of fighting be allowed to do so safely."
7. Cutaway, delegates
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations:
"The regime has now killed around 15 thousand Syrian civilians. That is why the Joint Special Envoy's six point plan and two resolutions of this Council have demanded the withdrawal of Syrian troops and heavy weapons in order to facilitate the sustained reduction in violence. Without this first step the violence in all sides will continue, the UN supervision mission will not be able to resume its operations and the Annan plan will fail."
8. Cutaway, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
"The recent suspension of operations by the UN Supervision Mission in Syria is a testament to the gravity of the situation. It is a shame that this council continues to stand by rather than to stand up. We must take meaningful steps including by imposing binding sanctions under Chapter 7 to pressure the Syrian regime to comply with the Joint Special Envoy's six point plan and work towards a political transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people."
10. Cutaway, delegates
11. Wide shot, Security Council

STORYLINE:

"As we speak, the city of Homs and other areas are being shelled. UN observers have risked their lives to report to the world on what they have seen", Secretary-General Ban ki-moon told the United Nations Security Council today (25 June) about the situation in Syria while looking at the issue of the civilians in armed conflict.

Ban said that UN observers on the ground had reported armed assaults on civilians, execution-style killings as well as opposition forces firing from inside hospitals.

He stressed that in Syria and elsewhere, "we simply must do more" to protect the innocent lives of civilians, and women and children in particular.

Also speaking on Syria, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos said that schools had been raided and used as military bases and detention centres and that government opposition groups were responsible also for violations such as "torture, summary executions and abductions."

Amos added to the list that residents in the most affected areas were "often unable to access water, food or medical care".

Putting a number to the death toll, British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said that "the regime has now killed around 15 thousand Syrian civilians".

Lyall Grant said that without the withdrawal of Syrian troops and heavy weapons the violence in all sides will continue, adding that "the UN supervision mission will not be able to resume its operations and the Annan plan will fail".

Meanwhile United States Ambassador Susan Rice said it was "a shame" that the Security Council continued to "stand by rather than to stand up".

Rice stressed that the need for "meaningful steps" to pressure the Syrian regime to comply with the Kofi Annan's six point plan that would lead towards a political transition that met the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian population.

The UN estimates that over 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria and tens of thousands displaced since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 16 months ago.