UN rights chief says Lebanon pager attack violates international law

Those responsible for Tuesday’s explosions across Lebanon targeting paging devices used by members of Hezbollah “must be held to account,” the UN rights chief Volker Turk said Wednesday.

“Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings at the time of the attack, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law,” Turk said in a statement published by AFP.