UN deplores terrorist bombings in Turkey

UN's top rights official deplores terrorist bombings in Turkey

Condemning the deadly terrorist bombings in Istanbul today, the Acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the perpetrators must be held accountable under the law.

Bertrand Ramcharan said it is "particularly disturbing" that the bombers targeted houses of worship, namely the synagogues of Neve Shalom and Beth Israel in the Turkish capital.

"Religious places must be held sacred," he said in a statement released in Geneva.

Mr. Ramcharan stressed that "nothing can justify such wanton attacks against civilians" which he called "a complete denial of human rights."

"Whatever their claims, those who carry out this type of attack -- whether they act as they have done recently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, against civilians and places of worship in Iraq, and in too many other places to count -- are criminals that must be brought to justice in accordance with international human rights law," he said.

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