UN expert committee urges release of abducted Nigerian school girls

The United Nations expert committee tasked with monitoring discrimination against women on Wednesday added its voice to the chorus of condemnation of the abduction of more than 200 girls from their school in northeastern Nigeria and called for their immediate release.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed deep concern about the fate of the girls, who were abducted on April 14 during a violent raid by the militant group known as Boko Haram in the village of Chibok in Borno state.

"The Committee urges Nigeria to employ all necessary means to obtain the release of the girls and to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous crime," the expert body said in a news release.

Nicole Ameline, chairperson of the committee, said that the body considers that this large-scale abduction from an educational institution for enslavement constitutes a direct violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women -- worldwide implementation of which the Committee monitors -- and may qualify as a crime against humanity.

According to General Recommendation No. 30, issued by the Committee in 2013, states must take measures "to prevent the occurrence of attacks and threats against school girls and their teachers; and ensure that perpetrators of such acts of violence are promptly investigated, prosecuted and punished," she said.

Also on Wednesday, the high-level representative of the UN secretary-general to Nigeria, Said Djinnit, met with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in the capital of Abuja, following his Tuesday meetings with other senior government officials.

"In these meetings, Mr. Djinnit explored with his counterparts the role of the UN in supporting Nigerian efforts towards the safe release of the girls. He explained that the UN is preparing a package to support the affected families and the girls after their release," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York.

Meanwhile, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov, expressed his "revulsion" at the kidnapping of the girls, and offered his full support to the families and those involved in seeking to ensure their release.

"I hope that those responsible for these appalling acts will be swiftly apprehended, tried and imprisoned," he said. "It is vital that we send a clear message to all those who would kidnap, sell or buy human beings that we will never tolerate such actions. That, working together, we will do everything in our power to bring those involved to justice."

These Nigerian girls were abducted exactly a month ago in their hostels by gunmen who stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok Town, Borno State. Boko Haram, a sect which partly seeks to abolish Western education in Nigeria, claimed responsibility for the abduction more than a week ago and threatened to sell off the girls.

Many international bodies had offered assistance to Nigeria, following the mass abduction. A worldwide campaign Bring Back Our Girls had also been calling for the unconditional release of the school girls.

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is currently grappling with security challenges, one of which is the insurgency of Boko Haram, which also seeks to enshrine the Islamic Sharia law in the constitution. Endite