Security Council condemns Paris attack

8 January 2015 — The UN Security Council has condemned in the strongest terms "the barbaric and cowardly terrorist attack" against the headquarters of French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, in Paris yesterday.

"The members of the Security Council strongly condemned this intolerable terrorist act targeting journalists and a newspaper."

The members of the Security Council reaffirmed the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, has also condemned in the strongest possible terms the attack on journalists at the magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

"Today’s attack is one of the gravest attacks on journalists and a free press in recent history,” the human rights expert said. “It is critical at a time like this to reiterate the vital importance of a free press in democratic societies."

"There will be voices urging satirists in particular to exercise caution in their expression,” Mr. Kaye noted. “I urge the opposite: that all those with any capacity to restrain such violence to do so now and in clear and absolute terms."

Shocked by today’s display of violence, I express my solidarity with journalists, satirists, and artists under threat," the expert said. "I look forward not only to accountability for this horrific violence but also to hear all voices across the political spectrum condemning it unequivocally."