9 Aug 2012

AFGHANISTAN / CIVILIAN CASUALTIES

Conflict-related violence in Afghanistan is still having devastating consequences for civilians despite the decrease in casualties this year, according to a United Nations report released this week. UNAMA

Posted at: August 9, 2012 2:53 pm

Duration: 02:42

Available in: SD

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STORY: AFGHANISTAN / CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
TRT: 2.42
SOURCE: UNAMA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 8 AUGUST 2012, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, DSRSG Nicholas Haysom and James Rodehaver, Acting Director of UNAMA's Human Rights Unit taking their seats at the press conference
2. Cutaway, cameraman
3. Cutaway, reporters
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicholas Haysom, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan:
"The 3,099 civilians who were killed or injured in the last six months are just such ordinary Afghan citizens. Civilian deaths and injuries reduced by 15 percent in the first six months of 2012. Despite a reduction in civilian casualties overall, conflict in Afghanistan continued to inflict a disproportionate and unacceptable toll on Afghan women, children and men."
5. Cutaway, reporters
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicholas Haysom, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan:
"The reduction in civilian casualties is welcome but these gains are fragile. They do not reflect a move towards a peaceful society. On the contrary, the figures we are releasing today reflect an armed conflict that is exacting a toll on civilian lives similar in severity to the levels in 2009 and 2010. As we have repeatedly said, one civilian casualty is one too many."
7. Cutaway, reporters
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicholas Haysom, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan:
"In the last month alone, there have been five instances of attacks targeting imams in mosques, all during Ramadan. This is indicative of the alarming trend in targeted killings of civilians."
9. Cutaway, reporters
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Nicholas Haysom, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan:
"Despite these reductions, the use of airstrikes continues to cause more civilian casualties, particularly women and children, than any other tactic used by international military forces."
11. Cutaway, reporters
12. SOUNDBITE (English) James Rodehaver, Acting Director Human Rights Unit, UNAMA:
"Civilian casualties as a result of target killings have continued to rise at an alarming rate, 240 per cent if you compare this five weeks period with the same five weeks period of 2011 and this has included use of IEDs as a weapon of assassination which has been used in mosques, which are of course sites protected under international humanitarian law."
13. Cutaway, reporters
14. SOUNDBITE (English) James Rodehaver, Acting Director Human Rights Unit, UNAMA:
"We also received account of the Taliban's involvement in education system is increasing and could impact access of children, especially girls, to education."
15. Pan right, cameramen at press conference

STORYLINE:

Conflict-related violence in Afghanistan is still having devastating consequences for civilians despite the decrease in casualties this year, according to a United Nations (UN) report released this week.

The '2012 Midyear Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict' states that during the first half of the year, conflict-related violence led to 1,145 civilian deaths and 1,954 injuries. While these figures represent a 15 per cent decrease compared to last year, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) stressed that more needs to be done protect civilians.

Nicholas Haysom, the Deputy Head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, told reporters at a press conference Wednesday (8 August) in Kabul that the 3,099 civilian casualties documented in the report were "ordinary Afghans struggling to go about their daily lives in the midst of an armed conflict".

The report states that civilian deaths and injuries had reduced by 15 percent in the first six months of 2012, but Haysom warned that despite that reduction in civilian casualties, the "conflict in Afghanistan continued to inflict a disproportionate and unacceptable toll on Afghan women, children and men". He welcomed the reduction, but warned that "these gains are fragile. They do not reflect a move towards a peaceful society".

Haysom reported that in the last month there had been "five instances of attacks targeting imams in mosques, all during Ramadan. This is indicative of the alarming trend in targeted killings of civilians".

The Acting Director of UNAMA's Human Rights Unit, James Rodehaver, agreed that civilian casualties as a result of target killings "continued to rise at an alarming rate".

The report notes that anti-government elements were responsible for 80 per cent of civilian casualties, down 15 per cent from the same time period in 2011. UNAMA documented that pro-government forces were responsible for ten percent of the civilian casualties, down 25 per cent on the previous year, while the remaining ten percent of the casualty total could not be attributed to any party in the conflict.

The report recognizes that measures taken by pro-government forces to reduce civilian casualties have proven effective, but Haysom said despite those reductions, "the use of airstrikes continues to cause more civilian casualties, particularly women and children, than any other tactic used by international military forces".

Rodehaver also said attacks against schools have increased and the Taliban's interference in the running of schools has had an impact children's access to education, especially girls.