Iraq: after university bombing, UNESCO urges Government to defend right to education

The United Nations agency entrusted with protecting the right to education today called on the Iraqi Government to do all in its power to stop the campaign of violence being waged against academics and intellectuals as typified by Tuesday’s bombing at a Baghdad university, which killed and injured scores of students and staff.

“This is not only a human tragedy but also a terrible setback for the country's reconstruction,” UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said in a statement on the attack against Mustansiriya University.

“I am profoundly shocked and saddened by this carnage – the latest act in a deplorable and relentless campaign of violence against Iraq’s academics and intellectuals,” he added.

“I call on the Government of Iraq to do its utmost to defend the basic human right of young Iraqis to education, which is one of the keys to ensuring the right of its people to a peaceful and prosperous future.”

Over 60 students were killed and 200 wounded when two car bombs exploded near the entrance of the university. A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt then blew himself up at the rear gate of the campus. According to a university official, most of the victims were female students who were heading towards home.