UN rights chief urges US to conclude probe into deadly Iran school strike

GENEVA, March 27 (Reuters) – The U.N. rights chief urged Washington to conclude its investigation into a fatal strike on a primary school in Iran at a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting on Friday, with some states voicing outrage over the incident.

The emergency debate at the Geneva council was called by Iran to discuss the attack on the Shajareh ​Tayyebeh School which Tehran says killed more than 175 children and teachers on the first day of the nearly month-long regional war which began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes.

Reuters ​was first to report on March 5 that U.S. military investigators believed it ​was likely that U.S. forces were responsible but have not yet reached a final conclusion or completed their investigation. The Pentagon ​has since elevated the probe. Israel has also said it was investigating the incident.

U.N. Human Rights chief Volker Turk called for Washington to conclude its probe as soon as possible and publish the results.

“There must be justice for the terrible harm done,” he said by video link after meetings with U.S. officials in Washington this week.

Asked for comment, Israel’s diplomatic mission to the U.N. in Geneva criticised Iran for attacks on civilians across the region. “The fact that the embodiment of human rights violations is convening this urgent debate is a charade and an abuse of the UN Human Rights Council,” a spokesperson said.

The U.S. mission referred questions about the incident and the status of investigations to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a comment request.

Their seats were empty as both have disengaged from the body, alleging an anti-Israel bias.

“This atrocity cannot be justified, cannot be concealed, and must not be met with silence and indifference,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told the council by video link.

Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva Bilal Ahmad said the death of school children was unconscionable while China’s ambassador Jia Guide said he was deeply shocked.

“(It) is a breach of the bottom line of human morality, the most egregious violation of human rights and (shows) blatant contempt for IHL (international humanitarian law),” China’s Jia said.

Numerous other countries like Britain said they were appalled while also drawing attention to Iran’s own human rights violations during mass protests against Iranian authorities in January.

Others condemned Iran’s retaliatory strikes since the war began on February 28, including its attacks against Israel, U.S. bases and Gulf states, which were discussed by the council earlier this week.

Brazil’s ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes voiced regret that there had been no holistic debate on violations during the regional war, echoing concerns by rights groups about “selective outrage”.

A bereaved mother, Mohaddeseh Fallahat, also addressed the 47-member council, calling 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)