17/12/2014 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Stella Kyriakides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), general rapporteur on children of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), calls upon European parliaments and governments not to let go unnoticed yesterday’s horrible Taliban attacks on a Pakistan school as yet another extremist act, but to join other world leaders in expressing their grave concern about these events.
“We now know that 132 children were killed in the senseless and inhumane attack committed by the Taliban, killing more than 140 overall. Even though Peshawar seems a long way from Europe, European parliaments and governments must not look aside when human rights violations of this dimension occur but must condemn them in the most vigorous way. It is not acceptable anywhere in the world to carry out ideological conflicts at the expense of children who are amongst the most vulnerable members of our societies,” said the general rapporteur. “This is an assault on children’s right to education.”