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U
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nited
Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s press encounter with the President of
the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer (Transcript)
Off-the-Cuff
on 31 October 2015, Geneva, Switzerland [Excerpt by Carolyn Bennett]
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| Signed June 26, 1945 |
CRIMES against Civilians
“… [D]eliberate
targeting of civilians and civilian areas is a clear breach of international
law.…. There is no military solution to the crisis – not in Syria or anywhere
else.…
“Every day,
civilians – ordinary women, men and children – are being deliberately or
recklessly injured and killed, tortured and abducted.
“Every hour, people in
dire circumstances are being denied the medical care, food, water and shelter
they need to survive.|
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Healthcare
facilities have special protected status under international humanitarian law.
Yet the
hospital attacked earlier this week in Saada, Yemen, was the 39th health centre
to be hit since March. More children in Yemen may die from a lack of medicines
and healthcare than from bullets and bombs.
“The bombing
of the Médecins Sans Frontières [Doctor without Borders] hospital earlier this
month in Kunduz, Afghanistan, was yet another tragedy – a so-called surgical
strike that instead destroyed a surgical ward.
“These
violations have become so routine there is a risk people will think that the
deliberate bombing of civilians, the targeting of humanitarian and healthcare
workers, and attacks on schools, hospitals and places of worship are an
inevitable result of conflict.”
CRIMES against healers, helpers,
civilians, the sick and wounded
“We are
deeply concerned about the disrespect of International Humanitarian Law; and in
particular, the response from countries involved.…I have been urging them (the
United States and other countries) to have thorough, independent, credible
investigation. 
“Whether
this could be referred to independent, international inquiry—that is the
prerogative of the Member States of the United Nations. I would support any
such investigation—thorough and independent and credible investigation, so that
there will be no such repetition of harming doctors and nurses and medical
workers; and mostly patients and civilian populations.”
APPEALS
Not for Charity but HUMANITY,
nonviolence 
“We call on
all those with influence to pressure all parties in conflict to treat civilians
with humanity and to abide by the law. 
“This means
political and diplomatic measures, and referrals to national and special
investigative tribunals or courts.
“We urge an
end to the use of heavy explosive weapons in densely populated urban areas,
which overwhelmingly kill civilians.
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| Signed June 26, 1945 |
… Protecting
civilians in wartime is a cornerstone of the international system and the
United Nations.
“Indifference will only make our world less secure. The
continued failure to act is a disgrace and a stain on the conscience of the
world.…
“We call for respect for humanitarian access, so that people can reach the aid they need, and so that humanitarians can deliver that aid.”
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Today, the
United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross are calling for
an end to impunity, an end to the callous disregard for human life, and a
re-commitment to international humanitarian law.…
“International humanitarian law is being
flouted on a global scale. The international community is failing to hold
perpetrators to account.
Abiding by
the law “… means political and diplomatic measures, and referrals to national
and special investigative tribunals or courts.”
Source
Office of
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Off-the-Cuff on October 31, 2015, Geneva,
Switzerland: Transcript of the Secretary-General’s press encounter with the
President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (includes Q&A), http://www.un.org/sg/offthecuff/index.asp?cuff=1
A lifelong American writer and writer/activist (former academic and staffer with the U.S. government in Washington), Dr. Carolyn LaDelle Bennett is credentialed in education and print journalism and public affairs (PhD, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; MA, The American University, Washington, DC). Her work concerns itself with news and current affairs, historical contexts, and ideas particularly related to acts and consequences of U.S. foreign relations, geopolitics, human rights, war and peace, and violence and nonviolence. Dr. Bennett is an internationalist and nonpartisan progressive personally concerned with society and the common good. An educator at heart, her career began with the U.S. Peace Corps, teaching in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Since then, she has authored several books and numerous current-affairs articles; her latest book: UNCONSCIONABLE: How The World Sees Us: World News, Alternative Views, Commentary on U.S. Foreign Relations; most thoughts, articles, edited work are posted at Bennett’s Study: http://todaysinsightnews.blogspot.com/ and on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/08UNCONSCIONABLE/prweb12131656.htm http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-000757788/UNCONSCIONABLE.aspx Her books are also available at independent bookstores in New York State: Lift Bridge in Brockport; Sundance in Geneseo; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center in Buffalo; Burlingham Books in Perry; The Bookworm in East Aurora
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