UNOG-NEWS Idlib - Syria OHCHR - UNICEF - WHO 18FEB2020
/
3:25
/
MP4
/
253.7 MB

Edited News | OHCHR , UNICEF , WHO , UNOG

UNOG Bi-weekly press briefing: Humanitarian Situation in Idlib - Syria OHCHR/WHO/UNICEF

UN right chief, agencies appalled at civilian toll in wartorn Syria’s north-east

Facing freezing temperatures and bombing, more than 900,000 civilians in Syria’s north-west have been forced into ever smaller areas in search of shelter, the UN’s top rights official said on Tuesday.

“As the High Commissioner puts it, ‘No shelter is now safe,’ Michelle Bachelet’s spokesperson, Rupert Colville, said. “And as the Government offensive continues and people are forced into smaller and smaller pockets, she fears even more people will be killed.”

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Mr. Colville spoke of the High Commissioner’s “horror” at the scale of the humanitarian crisis in north-west Syria.

It was “cruel beyond belief” that mostly women and children sheltering under plastic sheeting were being hit, she said in a statement, noting that those fleeing the fighting have been “squeezed” into areas that are shrinking in size by the hour.

“They simply no longer have anywhere to go,” she added.

“In all, since 1 January this year, during the Syrian Government’s latest major military offensive to retake key areas in Idlib and Aleppo, we have recorded the deaths of 299 civilians in this region of Syria. Around 93 per cent of those deaths were caused by the Syrian Government and its allies,” Mr. Colville said, with the remaining seven per cent of fatalities attributable to non-State armed groups.

More than 80 per cent of the deaths attributable to Government forces and their allies – 246 out of 299 – came after airstrikes, the OHCHR spokesperson added.

Asked whether the attacks on civilians and medical facilities contravened international norms, Mr Colville highlighted their “sheer quantity” in the near nine-year conflict.

Other UN-appointed institutions had greater means to investigate these attacks and ensure justice for victims, he noted, such as the Commission of Inquiry on Syria - which was set up by and reports regularly to the Human Rights Council - and the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism, established by the UN General Assembly in December 2016.

“The sheer quantity of attacks on these hospitals, medical facilities, schools, would suggest they can’t all be accidental,” Mr. Colville said. “At a minimum, even if they were accidental, it shows lack of proportionality, necessity, precaution and so on, all of which can contribute to something being attributed as a war crime.”

Amid the Syrian Government’s offensive in north-west Syria - the last bastion of opposition non-state armed groups – UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that of the four million people living in the north-west, just over two million are children.

“Virtually every child, up to 1.8 million of them, require humanitarian assistance,” spokesperson Marixie Mercado said.

  1. Wide shot: exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
  2. Wide shot: Press briefing room.
  3. SOUNDBITE (EN) — Rupert Colville, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “As the High Commissioner puts it, ‘No shelter is now safe.’ And as the Government offensive continues and people are forced into smaller and smaller pockets, she fears even more people will be killed.”
  4. Close-up, journalist in foreground, other journalists to rear of shot.
  5. SOUNDBITE (EN) — Rupert Colville, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “In all, since 1 January this year, during the Syrian Government’s latest major military offensive to retake key areas in Idlib and Aleppo, we have recorded the deaths of 299 civilians in this region of Syria. Around 93 per cent of those deaths were caused by the Syrian Government and its allies.”
  6. Close-up shot, camera operator, journalists in background.
  7. SOUNDBITE (EN) Rupert Colville, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The sheer quantity of attacks on these hospitals, medical facilities, schools, would suggest they can’t all be accidental, and at a minimum, even if they were accidental, it shows lack of proportionality, necessity, precaution and so on, all of which can contribute to something being attributed as a war crime.”
  8. Wide shot, journalists.
  9. SOUNDBITE (EN) Marixie Mercado, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “Over half a million children – 525,000 and climbing, have been forcibly displaced in north-west Syria since 1 December. At least 77 children were killed or injured in January alone. The breakdown is 28 children killed, and 49 children injured.”
  10. Close-up, journalist typing.
  11. SOUNDBITE (EN) Marixie Mercado, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “There are about four million people living in the north-west and just over two million of them are children. Virtually every child, up to 1.8 million of them, require humanitarian assistance.”
  12. Wide shot, podium
  13. SOUNDBITE (EN) Marixie Mercado, spokesperson, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “We ask for an immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to the war in Syria for once and for all, and we ask for all humanitarian workers to be able to respond to the massive needs in compliance with international humanitarian law.”
  14. Close-up, journalist.
  15. SOUNDBITE (EN) Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson, World Health Organization (WHO): “The name of the hospital is Kinana General Hospital in the Daret Azza locality. This hospital has been serving about 50,000 people and has been carrying out about 10,000 patient consultations per month. The second facility is Al-Ferdous maternity and childcare hospital. It suffered minor damage, but it is not clear at this moment if the hospital can continue operating.”
  16. Close-up: journalist writing.
  17. SOUNDBITE (EN) Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson, (WHO): “As of today, 74 health facilities have suspended services in Idlib and Aleppo since 1 December last year directly decreasing civilian access to healthcare. Out of nearly 550 health facilities in Syria’s north-west, roughly half are operational.”
  18. Medium shot: journalists.
  19. SOUNDBITE (EN) Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson, (WHO): “Luckily there were no casualties in yesterday’s attacks, but they do bring the total number of attacks on health in Syria this year to six, resulting in 10 deaths and 30 injuries, on top of restricting or denying civilian access to health. All of these six attacks have occurred in the north-west.”
  20. Close-up: journalist.
  21. Wide shot: journalists, podium.
  22. Close-up: journalists typing.

Similar Stories

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on attacks around aid sites in Gaza

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on attacks around aid sites in Gaza ENG FRA

“Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza, are unconscionable. For a third day running, people were killed around an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. This morning, we have received information that dozens more people were killed and injured,” Jeremy Laurence UN Human Rights spokesperson said at the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.

Gaza aid update - OCHA 30 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA

Gaza aid update - OCHA 30 May 2025 ENG FRA

Gaza ‘hungriest place on earth’ with aid stymied – UN humanitarians

Starving Gazans continue to be deprived of aid as international relief efforts are being severely constrained by the Israeli authorities, the UN humanitarian affairs coordination office OCHA said on Friday.

Gaza humanitarian update - OCHA, UNRWA

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , UNRWA

Gaza humanitarian update - OCHA, UNRWA ENG FRA

As a controversial United States and Israel-backed aid distribution plan gets underway in Gaza, the UN called on Tuesday for an “immediate surge” of its own pre-positioned supplies to help prevent starvation.

Uganda UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani  urges president to reject bill allowing trials of civilians in military courts

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

Uganda UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani urges president to reject bill allowing trials of civilians in military courts ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani today urged Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to reject a bill that was recently endorsed by parliament allowing trials of civilians in military courts. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces Amendment Bill 2025, which was passed on 20 May and now awaits presidential signature to become law, among others broadens the jurisdiction of military courts, authorising them to try a wide range of offences against civilians.

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango: South Sudan: UN human rights chief decries escalating hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango: South Sudan: UN human rights chief decries escalating hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today warned of a further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan at the bi-weekly briefing in Geneva.

Syria humanitarian update OCHA - WHO 23 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , WHO

Syria humanitarian update OCHA - WHO 23 May 2025 ENG FRA

Syria: ‘Staggering’ needs amid insecurity, health care crisis  - UN humanitarians

Millions of people in Syria continue to face mortal danger from unexploded munitions, disease and malnutrition and urgent support is required, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

Gaza health update - UNRWA - OCHA - WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | UNRWA , OCHA , WHO

Gaza health update - UNRWA - OCHA - WHO ENG FRA

UN life-saving aid allowed to trickle into Gaza as civilian needs mount

Amid calls for more humanitarian trucks to enter the food and medicine-deprived Palestinian enclave of Gaza, UN humanitarians have received permission from Israel for “around 100” more aid trucks to cross into the Strip after only five were let in yesterday,  But the scale of relief efforts allowed remains entirely insufficient to meet the urgent needs of people there, humanitarian workers say.

Press vests becoming a target - war reporter Christina Assi

1

1

1

Edited News

Press vests becoming a target - war reporter Christina Assi ENG FRA

A war reporter from Lebanon who lost a limb in the line of duty is calling for an end to impunity for attacks against journalists.

ITU 160th Anniversary - 17 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | ITU

ITU 160th Anniversary - 17 May 2025 ENG FRA

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) commemorated 160 years dedicated to connecting the world on Saturday, 17 May in Geneva, Switzerland, during the annual World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

Gaza humanitarian update – WHO, OCHA 16 May 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO , OCHA

Gaza humanitarian update – WHO, OCHA 16 May 2025 ENG FRA

Gazans ‘in terror’ after another night of deadly strikes and siege

Amid reports that Israeli strikes across Gaza into Friday killed at least 64 people, aid teams once again pushed back strongly at allegations that aid is being diverted to Hamas and pleaded for the blockade to end.

UN Human Rights raises human rights concerns about deportations from the United States of America

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights raises human rights concerns about deportations from the United States of America ENG FRA

Deportations over recent months of large numbers of non-nationals from the United States of America, especially to countries other than those of their origin, raise a number of human rights concerns, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned on Tuesday.   

Gaza health update - WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO

Gaza health update - WHO ENG FRA

Gaza: Over 50 child malnutrition deaths amid aid blockade; entire generation will be ‘permanently affected’ - WHO

In the aid desert of Gaza, malnourished children are dying while survivors can expect a lifetime of dire health problems, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.