WUNRN
UN Condemns Attacks On
Journalists
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 23, 2006
(AP) The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution
Saturday condemning all attacks targeting journalists in armed conflicts and
urging combatants to stop singling out members of the media and respect their
professional independence.
The resolution is the first by the U.N.'s
most powerful body dealing specifically with journalists in armed conflict.
Greece's U.N. Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis said the resolution,
sponsored by Greece and France, is “intended to raise international awareness to
the dangers that the journalists, media professionals and associate personnel
face when reporting in situations of armed conflict.”
“This is, we
believe, a decisive first step in the right direction and sends a clear and
unambiguous message to all parties in armed conflict that journalists and media
personnel must be afforded the protection accruing to them under applicable
international law and interntional humanitarian law,” Vassilakis said after the
vote.
The resolution stresses that journalists and media professionals
engaged in dangerous areas of armed conflict are civilians and must be protected
as such “provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as
civilians.”
It expresses deep concern “at the frequency of acts of
violence in many parts of the world against journalists, medial professionals
and associated personnel in armed conflict, in particular the deliberate attacks
in violation of international humanitarian law.”
It “condemns
intentional attacks” against them “and calls upon all parties to put an end to
such practices.”
The Security Council stresses that the deliberate
targeting of civilians “may constitute a threat to international peace and
security” and reaffirms its readiness “to consider such situations and, where
necessary, to adopt appropriate steps.”
The resolution “urges all
parties involved in situations of armed conflict to respect the professional
independence and rights of journalists, media professionals and associated
personnel as civilians.”
It also urges warring parties “to do their
utmost to prevent violations of international humanitarian law against
civilians, including journalists, media professionals and associated personnel.”
The resolution emphasizes that there are existing prohibitions under
international humanitarian law against attacks intentionally directed against
civilians, including journalists, “which in situations of armed conflicts
constitute war crimes.”
France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La
Sabliere said earlier this month when the text was first circulated that there
is increasing concern about the situation of journalists in armed conflict,
noting that 75 have been killed so far this year.
U.N. humanitarian
chief Jan Egeland, who has since stepped down, said at the time that “members of
the media, acting as the world's witnesses to atrocities and humanitarian needs,
alerting all of us to our responsibilities, have ... been increasingly subject
to attack.” He noted that 25 journalists have been killed in Iraq this year.
To ensure that the Security Council regularly tackles the issue, the
resolution asks the secretary-general to address the safety and security of
journalists in his regular reports on the protection of civilians in armed
conflict.
A request to address the protection of journalists in his
reports on specific countries, which was in the original text, was
dropped.
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