UN urged to issue plea to protect media in war zones
05 Dec 2006 21:26:59 GMT Source: Reuters
By Irwin Arieff UNITED NATIONS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Five European nations asked the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to adopt a resolution urging parties to armed conflicts to do more to protect journalists working in war zones."It is very important that journalists can do their job independently and freely and are not attacked," French U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said after introducing the resolution on behalf of Britain, Denmark, Greece and Slovakia as well as France. He said he hoped the 15-nation council would act swiftly to approve the text. The measure would condemn all attacks targeting journalists, media professionals and associated personnel covering armed conflicts or otherwise caught up in war. It would urge governments "and all other parties to an armed conflict" to do all they can to prevent crimes against journalists, investigate any crimes that occur and bring the perpetrators to justice. It also would specify that media equipment and facilities are civilian rather than military installations "and in this respect must not become targets of attacks or reprisals unless they are military objectives." At the same time it would condemn media incitement to violence against civilians, such as the "hate radio" broadcasts that occurred during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and more recently in Ivory Coast. The war in Iraq has brought into sharp focus the dangers of media coverage of war since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion. At least 28 journalists have been killed in Iraq this year, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Since the start of the war, at least 88 journalists have been killed there, the group said. Elsewhere around the globe, at least 11 journalists have been killed in conflicts this year, including in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Sri Lanka, the group said.
