RSF hails UNSC resolution to protect journalists
PESHAWAR: International press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontiers, RSF) has welcomed the unanimous passing of a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution condemning all worldwide acts of violence against journalists and calling for their protection in war zones. The Paris-based organisation, which had collaborated with the French Foreign Ministry to draft the resolution jointly tabled by Paris and Athens, hailed the resolution as a milestone in the struggle to protect journalists in war and conflict zones, according to a press statement received here via email on Friday.
UNSC Resolution 1738, passed on December 23, 2006, expresses deep concern over the frequency of acts of violence, including deliberate attacks, against journalists, media professionals and associated personnel in armed conflict zones. It recalls that “journalists, media professionals and associated personnel engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians and shall be respected and protected as such, provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians”.
This, the resolution stresses, will not in any way affect the legal protection afforded by the Third Geneva Convention of 1949 under which “war correspondents accredited to the armed forces “ are designated prisoner of war status. The resolution recalls the UNSC demand that all parties to armed conflict “comply with their obligations under international law to protect civilians in armed conflict”. The resolution emphasises that there are “existing prohibitions under international humanitarian law against attacks intentionally directed against civilians, as such, which in situations of armed conflict constitute war crimes”, while recalling the need for states “to end impunity for such criminal acts”.
It also recalls that states signatory to the Geneva Conventions are obliged to prosecute those persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered, a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions. The preamble to the resolution also indicates UNSC willingness to consider, where appropriate, steps in response to media broadcasts, which could be determined to incite genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of international humanitarian law.
Courtesy.
Source: Daily News
Date:12/30/2006
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