OHCHR / SYRIA HUMAN RIGHTS

STORY: OHCHR / SYRIA HUMAN RIGHTS
TRT: 01:36
SOURCE: OHCHR / UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS

DATELINE: 21 OCTOBER 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:
1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“An escalation in hostilities in northern Syria this month has resulted in the deaths and injuries of civilians. This worrying development was also marked by the targeted killing in eastern rural Aleppo of a social media activist and his pregnant wife.”
4. Wide shot, briefing room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We are very concerned for the wider population affected by the fighting, as well as the mass displacement of civilians.”
6. Wide shot, briefing room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We fear this latest rise in hostilities involving a number of parties, particularly Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and some of the Turkish-affiliated armed groups, could spread and impact other areas in north-western Syria, including Aleppo and Idlib.”
8. Wide shot, briefing room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Subsequently, over a seven-day period, from October 12 to 18, our Office verified the killing of at least seven civilians, including four women and three children in north-western Syria. At least 11 others were injured - two women, seven men, and two children. The total number of civilians killed and injured may be higher, this is only what we have managed to corroborate.”
10. Wide shot, briefing room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“It is essential that parties to the conflict take constant care to spare the civilian population and civilian objects in the conduct of hostilities.”

STORYLINE:
The UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said, “An escalation in hostilities in northern Syria this month has resulted in the deaths and injuries of civilians. This worrying development was also marked by the targeted killing in eastern rural Aleppo of a social media activist and his pregnant wife.”

At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva today (21 Oct), Shamdasani said, “We are very concerned for the wider population affected by the fighting, as well as the mass displacement of civilians.”

“We fear this latest rise in hostilities involving a number of parties, particularly Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and some of the Turkish-affiliated armed groups, could spread and impact other areas in north-western Syria, including Aleppo and Idlib,” she said.

“Subsequently, over a seven-day period, from October 12 to 18, our Office verified the killing of at least seven civilians, including four women and three children in north-western Syria. At least 11 others were injured - two women, seven men, and two children. The total number of civilians killed and injured may be higher, this is only what we have managed to corroborate,” Shamdasani said.

“It is essential that parties to the conflict take constant care to spare the civilian population and civilian objects in the conduct of hostilities,” the spokesperson said.

The UN Human Rights Office also calls on all parties that exercise government-like functions and effective control of the areas at stake to ensure that individuals’ right to life is respected and protected while guaranteeing people’s rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.

The UN Human rights office urges all States, particularly those who control armed groups or with influence over parties to the conflict, to use their power to ensure the de-escalation of military operations and the protection of civilians in northern Syria.