The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG , UNITED NATIONS
UNOG Bi-Weekly Press Briefing: Burkina Faso- Military Takeover - OHCHR
Soldiers in Burkina Faso ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré yesterday, Monday 24 January, dissolving the government and suspending the country’s constitution. UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet “deplores the military takeover and calls for immediate release of President Kaboré, elected in peaceful election in 2020,” her spokesperson said a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.
“We call on the military to immediately release the President and other high-level officials who have been detained,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The ousting of President Kaboré was made on state television by an army officer, who blamed the deteriorating security situation for the military takeover. “We urge a swift return to constitutional order,” Ms. Shamdasani added.
This latest coup in West Africa comes amid a “multifaceted crisis”, according to OHCHR – a crisis that ranges from “climate change that affects the ability of herders and pastoralists to carry out their daily work and conflicts erupt as a result of it, to violent extremist groups attacks on local population, as well as the deteriorating humanitarian situation”.
OHCHR estimates that three million people are food insecure in the country. Those factors “generate a lot of frustration” among the population, Ms. Shamdasani said, adding that the High Commissioner believes that “the way to manage this frustration and to find a way out of this conflict is through dialogue, through the meaningful participation of people from all sectors of the society. The military coup is certainly not the solution”.
The High Commissioner view echoed the statement by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres yesterday, in which he condemned “any attempt to take over a government by the force of arms.”
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations Palace of Nations, Geneva. UN flags flying.
- Wide shot of press room UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson of UN human rights office, OHCHR: “The High Commissioner deeply deplores the military takeover of power in Burkina Faso yesterday. During her visit to Burkina Faso last November, she had stressed the importance of preserving the hard won democratic and human rights gains made in the country, noting in particular the peaceful legislative and presidential elections that had been held in 2020. We call on the military to immediately release the President and other high-level officials who have been detained. We urge a swift return to constitutional order.”
- Cutaway, Medium shot of podium behind the camera
- SOUNDBITE (English): Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson of UN human rights office, OHCHR: We do not have personal contact at the moment with the coup leaders, but as I said, what we saw in the country was, of course, a multifaceted crisis.”
- Cutaway, Medium shot of cameraman
- SOUNDBITE (English): Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson of UN human rights office, OHCHR: “We stress that military takeover is not the solution, really there needs to be a meaningful dialog, with the participation of people from across the spectrum to be able to air their grievances peacefully and to be able to resolve the situation together. And we are urging that the President is immediately released”.
- Cutaway, Close shot of hand and pen taking notes on notepad.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson of UN human rights office, OHCHR: “There was, in fact, a dialog that had been initiated and there was a process of social reconciliation. And we met with the minister who was in charge of that, and he was bringing together different actors, so it's not too late. We are still calling for a restoration of civilian rule. We're calling for the release of the President and other high-level officials who have been detained.”
- Medium shot, masked participants listening
- Cutaway, Close shot of hands typing on keyboard
- Medium lateral shot of podium with Ravina Shamdasani
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNMAS , WHO
Just how many people are still trapped in the Sudanese city of El Fasher?
That’s the burning question for relatives of the many thousands of people believed to still be there, since paramilitary fighters overran the regional capital of North Darfur last month, after a 500-day siege.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks on the ongoing violence in the occupied WestBank.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At a Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today, the UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk made the following remarks on the situation in El-Fasher, Sudan.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC
UN Human Rights Council holds special session on Sudan as mass atrocities reported in El Fasher
The UN Human Rights Council convened an emergency session on Friday on the situation in and around El Fasher, Sudan, following reports of mass killings in the North Darfur capital. States passed a resolution that will mandate an investigation into likely mass atrocities during the capture of El Fasher by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 26 October.
1
1
2
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Sudan: Women’s bodies ‘a crime scene’ as tens of thousands flee El Fasher atrocities – UN Women
In war-torn Sudan, rape is being systematically used as a weapon and simply being a woman is “a strong predictor” of hunger, violence and death, the UN’s gender equality agency warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Friday called for an end to continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where “unchecked” settler violence has surged since the war in Gaza began more than two years ago.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
The crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to worsen amid ongoing fighting that has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes and created acute hunger, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gaza: One million receive food parcels as humanitarians race to ‘push back hunger’
Food is slowly returning to the shelves in Gaza amid “apocalyptic scenes” but supplies are still desperately inadequate, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they issued fresh calls for wider access and continued financial support.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).