GENEVA: The UN Human Rights Council will hold a second urgent debate on Friday (Mar 27) on a deadly strike on an Iranian school, after having condemned Tehran’s attacks on its Gulf neighbours.
Council president Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro announced the debate on the “protection of children and educational institutions in international armed conflicts” to the United Nations’ top rights body on Wednesday.
The debate, requested by Iran, China and Cuba, explicitly refers to the airstrike on a school in the southern city of Minab on the first day of the war on Feb 28.
A US Tomahawk cruise missile hit the school due to a targeting mistake, according to the preliminary findings of a US military investigation reported by The New York Times newspaper.
Iranian diplomat Somayeh Karimdoost described the attack “as a grave breach of international humanitarian law and international human rights law” in an address to the council on Wednesday.
The attack killed 168 children between the ages of seven and 12 and wounded many others, she said.
All three countries requesting the debate expected the matter would get “the urgent and serious consideration it warrants within this council”, she added.
The council – which had just concluded a first urgent debate linked to the Middle East war – approved without a vote the holding of a second such debate on Friday.
Wednesday’s debate, requested by Bahrain on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Jordan, focused exclusively on Iran’s strikes on countries across the Gulf region and their impact on civilians.
The 47-member council approved by consensus a resolution condemning Iran’s “egregious attacks” on its Gulf neighbours, calling for swift “reparation” to all victims of its strikes.