JOINT STATEMENT BY COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD AND EXPERT ON VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN REGARDING BESLAN

17 September 2004

The following joint statement was issued today by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child at the occasion of its thirty-seventh session and by the Independent Expert on the United Nations Study on the Violence Against Children, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro:

“We wish to condemn in the strongest possible terms the horrifying acts that occurred in the Middle School N° 1 of Beslan, North Ossetia, Russian Federation, and express our deepest sympathy and solidarity with the population, and in particular the families of the victims. Half of the more than 330 killed in the school were children and many more have been wounded and left irremediably traumatized.

“Hostage-taking is an unjustifiable act and, whatever its purpose or objective, it is contrary to international law, in particular human rights and humanitarian law, and the fundamental principles of humanity. The tragic events of Beslan must be firmly and unanimously condemned, and all those responsible for these cowardly acts must be held accountable in accordance with the law. Action should be taken to prevent the recurrence of similar atrocities in any part of the world.

“Given the commitment of the Russian Federation to the implementation of children’s rights, through its acceptance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we are confident that it will provide child victims of these brutal and cruel acts and their families with the necessary support for their physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration.

“Our feeling of helplessness and sadness in the face of these events will not prevent us from working to enhance the implementation by all States parties of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child with even more commitment in order to build a society with greater protection and respect for the rights of children, including with regard to preventing and combating all forms of violence against children”.