U.N. Rights Chief Urges U.S. To Finish Probe Into Deadly Iran School Strike
GENEVA, March 27 (Reuters) – The U.N. human rights chief called on Washington to complete its investigation into a deadly attack on an Iranian primary school at a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting on Friday, while some states expressed anger over the incident.
The emergency debate at the Geneva council was called by Iran to discuss an attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh School, where more than 175 children and teachers were killed, what Tehran said was the first day of a nearly month-long regional war that began with joint US-Israeli strikes.
Reuters reported for the first time March 5 It was stated that US military investigators believe US forces are responsible, but have not yet reached a final conclusion or completed their investigation. The Pentagon has since escalated the investigation. Israel also announced that it was investigating the incident.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called on Washington to conclude the investigation as soon as possible and publish the results.
“There must be justice for the terrible harm that has been done,” he said by video link after meetings with US officials in Washington this week.
Asked for comment, Israel’s diplomatic mission to the UN in Geneva criticized Iran for attacks on civilians across the region. “It is a farce and an abuse of the UN Human Rights Council that the embodiment of human rights violations has initiated this urgent debate,” a spokesman said.
The U.S. mission referred questions about the incident and the status of investigations to the State Department, but the department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Their seats were vacant as both left the body for alleged anti-Israel bias.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told the council via video link: “This atrocity cannot be justified, cannot be hidden and must not be met with silence and indifference.”
Pakistan’s UN Ambassador in Geneva, Bilal Ahmad, said the death of schoolchildren was unconscionable, while China’s ambassador, Jia Guide, said he was deeply shocked.
“This is a violation of the baseline of human decency, the most egregious violation of human rights and a blatant disrespect for IHL (international humanitarian law),” China’s Jia said.
While many countries, such as the UK, said they were appalled, they also drew attention to Iran’s own human rights violations. mass protests against Iranian officials in January.
Others condemned Iran’s retaliatory attacks, including attacks on Israel, US bases and Gulf states since the war began on February 28. discussed by the council earlier this week.
Brazil’s ambassador, Tovar da Silva Nunes, expressed regret at the lack of a holistic discussion on abuses during the regional war, citing human rights groups’ concerns about “selective outrage.”
Grieving mother Mohaddeseh Fallahat also addressed the 47-member council and called for justice: “So that the world knows that children’s lives are not worthless.”
(Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by Miranda Murray, Chizu Nomiyama and Hugh Lawson)
