OHCHR / TURK GLOBAL UPDATE HRC

STORY: OHCHR / TURK GLOBAL UPDATE HRC
TRT: 06:55
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 07 MARCH 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST:
1. Wide shot, meeting room
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“I am aware that discussions of complex human rights issues may be difficult or sensitive, for some. Others may feel they are best whispered behind closed doors. Yet, we need to regain the space where we can discuss them in a constructive and open spirit, undisturbed by the tug of geopolitics and bearing in mind that nobody is perfect. In the spur of the moment you may not like what you hear but over time you may appreciate what we had to say. My only consideration, and in fact my duty, is to stay true to the mandate, the normative human rights framework and the imperative of improving people's lives.”
3. Med shot, meeting room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Contempt for the human being reaches agonizing levels when war breaks out, and violence becomes a daily occurrence. One quarter of humanity is living today in places affected by violent conflict, and it is civilians who suffer the most. Peace is precious and fragile. We must nurture it. First and foremost, by respecting the Charter of the United Nations and international law, including international human rights law.”
5. Med shot, meeting room
6. SOUNDBITE (English)—Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Discrimination and racism are virulent threats, both to human dignity and to our relationships as human beings. They weaponize contempt. They humiliate and violate human rights, fueling grievances and despair, and obstructing development.”
7. Wide shot, meeting room
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“I am shocked to the core by the contempt for women, and women's equality, that is spawned across the Internet by some so-called “influencers,” feeding social attitudes that make it possible to ignore, or even condone, gender-based violence, and the pervasive commodification of women.”
9. Pan right, meeting room
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“More generally, the scope and magnitude of discrimination against women and girls makes this one of the most overwhelming human rights violations worldwide, and dismantling it will be a major focus of our work.”
11. Close-upshot, meeting room
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Vicious hate speech is directed not only at women and girls, but also people of African descent; Jews; Muslims; LGBTIQ+ people; refugees; migrants; and many other people from minority groups. Deliberate provocations, such as recent incidents of burning the Qu'ran, are intended to drive wedges between communities. This is deeply dangerous.”
13. Med shot, meeting room
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The violence that is so disproportionately inflicted on people of African descent by law enforcement officers is an example of the deep structural harm rooted in racial discrimination.”
15. Med shot, meeting room
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“To face these challenges of structural injustice and inequalities, we need to build economies that build trust in government and advance people’s rights and well-being. A human rights economy is one in which the aim of advancing human rights informs all national economic, fiscal, monetary, investment and business decisions.”
17. Med shot, meeting room
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Harsh restriction of the civic space is the Achilles heel – the fatal weakness – of governance. If I have one message to deliver to every Head of State or Government it is this: listen to the people – and in particular, to victims and defenders, the people who have the deepest experience of issues. They have something to say that you need to hear.”
19. Med shot, meeting room
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Transparent governance is critical, to repair harms and build resilience. Climate finance funds need to reach those most affected and most vulnerable, building in strong human rights safeguards.”
21. Wide shot, meeting room
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“In every country, I strongly encourage the following. Public access to information on environmental risks and Government policies. Full participation and consultation on environmental laws and measures, notably for indigenous peoples and others who are first in line for climate harms. And protection of those who raise concerns over environmental crimes or policies that result in harm.”
23. Wide shot, meeting room
24. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Bashing climate protests; designing laws that unfairly restrict activities that call the public's attention to climate harms; and allowing attacks on activists to go unpunished: these are tactics that harm all States and all human beings. This needs to be addressed urgently.”
25. Close-up, participant
26. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Conflict, discrimination, poverty, restrictions on civic space and the triple planetary crisis. We face the continued and compounding effects of these crises – while also confronting a surge of new human rights challenges, notably in the digital realm and involving artificial intelligence and surveillance. Fresh thinking, political leadership, renewed commitments, and dramatically scaled-up financing — with the centrality of human rights at their core — are urgently needed to meet these challenges.”
27. Med shot, meeting room

STORYLINE:

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Tuesday (7 Mar) delivered his global update to the 52nd UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, covering country situations and thematic issues.

“I am aware that discussions of complex human rights issues may be difficult or sensitive, for some. Others may feel they are best whispered behind closed doors. Yet, we need to regain the space where we can discuss them in a constructive and open spirit, undisturbed by the tug of geopolitics and bearing in mind that nobody is perfect. In the spur of the moment you may not like what you hear but over time you may appreciate what we had to say. My only consideration, and in fact my duty, is to stay true to the mandate, the normative human rights framework and the imperative of improving people's lives,” he said.

“Contempt for the human being reaches agonizing levels when war breaks out, and violence becomes a daily occurrence. One quarter of humanity is living today in places affected by violent conflict, and it is civilians who suffer the most. Peace is precious and fragile. We must nurture it. First and foremost, by respecting the Charter of the United Nations and international law, including international human rights law,” Türk said.

“Discrimination and racism are virulent threats, both to human dignity and to our relationships as human beings. They weaponize contempt. They humiliate and violate human rights, fuelling grievances and despair, and obstructing development,” he said.

“I am shocked to the core by the contempt for women, and women's equality, that is spawned across the Internet by some so-called “influencers,” feeding social attitudes that make it possible to ignore, or even condone, gender-based violence, and the pervasive commodification of women,” the UN Human Rights Chief said.

“More generally, the scope and magnitude of discrimination against women and girls makes this one of the most overwhelming human rights violations worldwide, and dismantling it will be a major focus of our work,” he said.

“Vicious hate speech is directed not only at women and girls, but also people of African descent; Jews; Muslims; LGBTIQ+ people; refugees; migrants; and many other people from minority groups. Deliberate provocations, such as recent incidents of burning the Qu'ran, are intended to drive wedges between communities. This is deeply dangerous,” he said.

“The violence that is so disproportionately inflicted on people of African descent by law enforcement officers is an example of the deep structural harm rooted in racial discrimination,” Türk said.

“To face these challenges of structural injustice and inequalities, we need to build economies that build trust in government and advance people’s rights and well-being. A human rights economy is one in which the aim of advancing human rights informs all national economic, fiscal, monetary, investment and business decisions,” he stressed.

Türk said, “Harsh restriction of the civic space is the Achilles heel – the fatal weakness – of governance. If I have one message to deliver to every Head of State or Government it is this: listen to the people – and in particular, to victims and defenders, the people who have the deepest experience of issues. They have something to say that you need to hear.”

“Transparent governance is critical, to repair harms and build resilience. Climate finance funds need to reach those most affected and most vulnerable, building in strong human rights safeguards,” Türk said.

Türk noted, “In every country, I strongly encourage the following. Public access to information on environmental risks and Government policies. Full participation and consultation on environmental laws and measures, notably for indigenous peoples and others who are first in line for climate harms. And protection of those who raise concerns over environmental crimes or policies that result in harm.”

He also said, “Bashing climate protests; designing laws that unfairly restrict activities that call the public's attention to climate harms; and allowing attacks on activists to go unpunished: these are tactics that harm all States and all human beings. This needs to be addressed urgently.”

“Conflict, discrimination, poverty, restrictions on civic space and the triple planetary crisis. We face the continued and compounding effects of these crises – while also confronting a surge of new human rights challenges, notably in the digital realm and involving artificial intelligence and surveillance. Fresh thinking, political leadership, renewed commitments, and dramatically scaled-up financing — with the centrality of human rights at their core — are urgently needed to meet these challenges,” the High Commissioner said in conclusion.