Peshawar attack: UN Child Rights Committee condemns cold-blooded murder of schoolchildren

GENEVA (17 December 2014) – Statement by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the terrorist attack yesterday on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan:
 
“We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the cold-blooded murder of more than 140 people – including 132 children – in a calculated terrorist attack by the Pakistani Taliban in Peshawar yesterday. Many other children have been injured, lost parents or other loved ones, and many – too many – have been left deeply traumatized. We also deplore the killing of 15 schoolgirls in Yemen yesterday when a passing school bus was struck by a car bomb.

Our hearts go out to the families of those affected by such a terrible tragedy. Committing such a crime is nothing but an act of depravity as rightly pointed out by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The targeting of schoolchildren and teachers, attacks on school facilities, and the closure of schools due to terrorist threats are very real, grave problems in many parts of the world. The simple act of going to school increasingly exposes boys and especially girls to the most extreme forms of violence.

These shocking attacks on innocent schoolchildren comes as the international community celebrates the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We call on Pakistani and Yemeni authorities to hold the perpetrators accountable in line with international human rights standards and to conduct effective investigations into these crimes with a view to taking measures to prevent such attacks from occurring again.

We urge all States to make a concerted effort to combat extremism in all its forms, and to ensure that all children around the world can realize their right to education safely.”

ENDS

To read the Convention on the Rights of the Child: http://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child

Visit the Committee on the Rights of the Child webpage: http://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crc

For further information and media inquiries, please contact Allegra Franchetti (+41 22 917 9340 / afranchetti@ohchr.org )

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