UN wants attackers of Africans in India brought to justice

The UN wants those responsible for attacks on Africans in India to be brought to justice, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday.

He was answering a reporter's question about that African ambassadors in New Delhi want to take to the UN the "xenophobica" attacks on their citizens.

"There's no UN involvement that I'm aware of," Dujarric said. "We do very much hope that these people who are responsible for these attacks are brought to justice."

Earlier on Monday, the Ambassador of Eritrea, who is the dean of African diplomats in India, issued a statement on behalf of the envoys decrying the recent spate of attacks on African students in and around Delhi as "xenophobic and racial in nature".

The African ambassadors "agreed to take further actions, including the call for an independent investigation by the (UN) Human Rights Council as well as other human rights bodies" into the attacks, the statement said.

The External Affairs Ministry said that there was no need for international investigations because "strong Indian institutions are adequate to deal with aberrations that represent act of a few criminals,"

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)

--IANS

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