UNITED NATIONS, Oct 12: In the aftermath of the Taliban attack on Malala Yousufzai, several United Nations independent human rights experts have urged the Pakistan government to do everything it can to protect schoolchildren, particularly girls, a press statement issued here on Friday said.

“Attempting to assassinate a 14-year-old girl who has the courage to speak out and claim the legitimate right of a generation of girls to receive education is a shocking attack on human rights defenders in Pakistan”, said the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya.

“The government has to make every effort possible to protect MsYousafzai and others who work towards increasing respect for women’s and girls’ rights”, she added in a news release from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Special rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back, on specific human rights themes.

The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, underscored the need to ensure a prompt and thorough investigation into the attack, as well as provide Ms Yousafzai, and others threatened by extremists, with swift and effective protection.

The Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Kishore Singh, called on the government to clearly denounce those who committed these acts, and to openly support the right of all children, and particularly girls, to attend school in all parts of Pakistan without fear of attack.