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\u201cThe Secretary-General has been closely following the situation in Madagascar and is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life and destruction of property since the beginning of the youth-led protests<\/strong> on 25 September,\u201d UN Spokesperson St\u00e9phane Dujarric said on Wednesday in a statement.<\/p>\n Mr. Guterres extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and called on the authorities to comply with international human rights law.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Secretary-General also underscores that protests must take place in a peaceful manner, respecting life, property and the rule of law, and calls for dialogue<\/strong> towards forging a constructive path forward,\u201d the statement concluded.<\/p>\n Thousands of young people in Madagascar initially took to the streets to denounce persistent water and power outages, inspired by similar \u201cGen Z\u201d protests in Kenya, Nepal and elsewhere.<\/p>\n The demonstrations have grown to reflect disappointment over other issues including poverty and corruption.<\/p>\n In response, the President fired his government and on Monday appointed an army general as the new Prime Minister, but the protestors gave him a 48-hour ultimatum to resign and rejected his call for a national dialogue on Wednesday.<\/p>\n The UN human rights office, OHCHR, recently reported that at least 22 people have been killed and more than a hundred injured in the protests.<\/p>\n \u201cThe victims include protesters and bystanders killed by members of the security forces, but also others killed in subsequent widespread violence and looting by individuals and gangs not associated with the protesters,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n UN human rights chief Volker T\u00fcrk expressed shock at the violent response by security forces.\u00a0<\/p>\n He urged the authorities \u201cto ensure respect for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, consistent with their obligations under international human rights law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nYouth in revolt<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Violent response<\/strong><\/h2>\n