11 Mar 2013

GENEVA / COMMISSION OF INQUIRY-SYRIA

The Syrian government is reportedly using medical care as a tactic of war, U.N. human rights investigators said today. The latest UN report into human rights abuses in the conflict says medical access is being denied on political and sectarian grounds. CH UNTV

Posted at: March 11, 2013 1:22 pm

Duration: 03:11

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: GENEVA / COMMISSION OF INQUIRY-SYRIA
TRT: 3.11
SOURCE: CH UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 11 MARCH 2013, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2012, PALAIS DES NATIONS, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

1. Wide shot, exterior Palais des Nations

11 MARCH 2013, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

2. Wide shot, Human Rights Council
3. Pan right, Human Rights Council
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic: 
"Our findings indicate in their conduct of hostilities, the parties to the conflict have failed to protect civilians. They have failed to take the necessary precautions in attack to spare civilians and to avoid the incidental loss of life. Moreover, they have frequently failed to distinguish themselves from civilians in the areas in which they operate, unnecessarily subjecting civilians to the brutality of war. As a consequence, indiscriminate and widespread shelling, the regular bombardment of cities, mass killing and the deliberate firing on civilian targets have come to characterize the daily lives of civilians in Syria."
5. Cutaway, podium
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:
"We have documented countless incidents in which medical care has been used as a tactic of war. Hospitals and medical clinics are being targeted, destroyed and medical personnel captured. Health care is viewed in terms of military gain by the parties to the conflict. Civilians are left to languish in dire need of treatment."
7. Cutaway, Russian delegation 
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Paulo Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:  
"If the national, regional and international actors fail to find a solution to the conflict and stop the agony of millions of civilians, the alternative will be the political, economic and social destruction of Syria and its society, with devastating implications for the region and the world."
9. Cutaway, Egyptian Delegation
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Ambassador of the Permanent Representative Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to Geneva:  
"Mr. President, despite our warnings, the commission has ignored the geo-political situation in the region. The commission has entered into a sectarian and racial campaign which is refused by the Syrian people."
10. Cutaway, Chinese Delegation
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations Human Rights Council: 
"Looking forward, might the Bosnian Kosovo hybrid tribunals domestically led processes rely on elements of international support, offer viable models for offering international assistance to the Syrian domestic system during or after transition as it considers questions of accountability, if the Syrians agree."
12. Cutaway, Qatar Delegation
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations Human Rights Council:
"The Assad regime bears the overwhelming responsibility. We continue to be appalled by the regime's ongoing disregard for human life and its indiscriminate use of force and heavy weaponry in residential areas including ballistic missiles and aerial bombings. We strongly condemn the regime's brutality and blatant violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law."
14. Pan right, Human Rights Council

STORYLINE:

The Syrian government is reportedly using medical care as a tactic of war, U.N. human rights investigators said Monday. The latest UN report into human rights abuses in the conflict says medical access is being denied on political and sectarian grounds.

Paulo Pinheiro, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, presenting its latest report to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva said one of the most alarming features of the conflict has been the use of medical care as a tactic of war.

Pinheiro, said that the commission has documented countless incidents in which medical care had been used as a tactic of war. He said that, "Hospitals and medical clinics are being targeted, destroyed and medical personnel captured. Health care is viewed in terms of military gain by the parties to the conflict. Civilians are left to languish in dire need of treatment."

Responding to the report finding, Syrian Ambassador Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui said that, "Despite our warnings, the Commission has ignored the geo-political situation in the region. The Commission has entered into a sectarian and racial campaign which is refused by the Syrian people."

Meanwhile United States Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, suggested that tribunals following the civil wars in Bosnia and Kosovo may provide an example for future justice in order to hold people responsible for the human rights violations.

Chamberlain Donahoe also said that the US "continued to be appalled by the regime's ongoing disregard for human life and its indiscriminate use of force and heavy weaponry in residential areas including ballistic missiles and aerial bombings."