The Protection of Journalists in Armed Conflicts: How Can They Be Better Safeguarded?

AuthorIsabel Düsterhöft
PositionUniversity of Hamburg, MA Candidate Peace and Security Studies (2013); Utrecht University, LLM International Law of Human Rights and Criminal Justice (2012); The Hague University and Sheffield Hallam University, BA and BA (Hons) European Studies (2013)
Pages4-22
e Protection of Journalists in Armed Conicts: How Can ey
Be Better Safeguarded?
Isabel Düsterhöft
Merkourios 2013 – Volume 29/Issue 76, Article, pp. 04-22.
URN:NBN:NL:UI:10-1-112861
ISSN: 0927-460X
URL: www.merkourios.org
Publisher: Igitur Publishing
Copyright: this work has been licensed by the Creative Commons Attribution License (3.0)
Keywords
Journalist, media, International Humanitarian Law, armed conict, protection, International Committee of the Red Cross
Abstract
e years 2011 and 2012 were among the most deadly for journalists reporting from conict situations worldwide. e
numbers of assaults, arrests and attacks have been on a constant rise and portray a dramatic image of the journalistic profession.
In light of the increasing threats in armed conicts, being a war reporter has become an inherently dangerous task. Journalists
are not only at risk of becoming so-called collateral damage during military operations, they are also increasingly targeted.
eir role as a watchdog and witness to the horrors of war, in addition to the undeniable power of the word and image they
spread, has made them popular targets. It is therefore essential that the international community re-evaluate journalists’ de
jure and de facto protections in armed conicts to allow for better safeguards and consequently less casualties in the imminent
future. is article examines the current protections aorded to journalists and aims at detecting proposals for enhanced
safeguards that are most likely to eectively improve journalists’ safety in the eld. In this regard, this article will argue that
the legal protections are in fact sucient and hardly amendable and that therefore, a more practical, hands-on approach to
implementation of those protections must be the focus of future actions. is goal can only be achieved by a comprehensive
mission jointly pursued by governments, militaries, journalists, media, NGOs and society.
Author Aliations
University of Hamburg, MA Candidate Peace and Security Studies (2013); Utrecht University, LLM International Law of
Human Rights and Criminal Justice (2012); e Hague University and Sheeld Hallam University, BA and BA (Hons)
European Studies (2013). e author would like to thank the Merkourios Editorial Board, Dr Brianne McGonigle Leyh,
Andréanne Charpentier-Garant and Dominic Kennedy for the helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.
Article
04
Merkourios - International and European Law: General Issue 2013 - Vol. 29/76
Case Note
Article
I. Introduction
War reporting is inherently dangerous. Indeed, it could arguably be one of the most dangerous occupations in the
world. Still, out of sense of professional duty, many journalistsand media professional[s] make the courageous choice
to go to conict zones, so as to tell the world about the stories of armed conicts and the human cost they entail.
Amidst the so-called ‘fog of war’, they play a vital role in keeping the world informed and ensuring that our responses
are based on the facts and truths unfolding on the ground.1
is statement accurately illustrates that in times of armed conict, be it international or non-international, the media’s
surveillance role and their importance in informing the population are enhanced.2 is is mainly due to the fact that during
war,3 a functioning civil society that critically monitors the behaviour of the government and military is often absent.4 e
media is the main, if not the sole, transmitter of information on breaches of international security5 and the primary medium
through which people gain a clear picture of a (distant) situation.6 is essential role makes the media one of the most
powerful tools in waging war. As NewsWatch Canada’s Co-Director Robert A. Hackett stated, ‘[i]n war time, media are not
mere observers but simultaneously a source of intelligence, a combatant, a weapon, target, and a battleeld’.7
As a consequence of this, conicts and media enjoy an intricate and mutual relationship.8 Reporting on armed conict,
and doing so exclusively, is highly protable. Further, news coverage of war can function as an eective propaganda strategy
to obtain a competitive advantage.9 Due to the media’s power in inuencing the audience’s opinion, media personnel10 are
often hindered from executing their scrutinising and educative roles. Not only are they frequently bound by regulations
from their own media outlet, but also by strict guidelines from their national government or the government of the country
they are reporting from.11 Freedom of expression and information, which are the foundation of democracy and among the
most essential human rights,12 are frequently under threat, as the fear of the power of words and images drastically limits
journalists’ leeway to report.13
us, a close link between the protection of journalists and the maintenance of freedom of expression can be detected.14 In fact,
it could be argued that targeting journalists is a direct attack against freedom of expression and hence against democracy.15 As
Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientic and Cultural Organisation (‘UNESCO’),
highlighted, ‘[e]very aggression against a journalist is an attack on our most fundamental freedoms. Press freedom and
freedom of expression cannot be enjoyed without basic security’.16
1 K Kang, ‘Opening Remarks by Ms. Kyung-wha Kang Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights at the panel discussion on the protection of journalists
in armed conict’ (14th session of the Human Rights Council, Geneva) (OHCHR, 4 June 2010) .ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.
aspx?NewsID=10108&LangID=e> accessed 23 May 2012.
2 is function of the media is often referred to as the ‘fourth estate’. See D Dadge, e War in Iraq and Why the Media Failed Us (Praeger 2006) 1.
3 e terms ‘war’ and ‘armed conict’ are used interchangeably.
4 S Kagan and H Durham, ‘e Media and International Humanitarian Law: Legal Protections for Journalists’ (2010) 16 Pacic Journalism Review 96, 96-97.
5 I Detter, e Law of War (2nd edn, Cambridge University Press 2000) 323; A Kupfer-Schneider, ‘International Media and Conict Resolution: Making the Con-
nection’ (2009) 93 Marquette Law Review 1, 6; A Mukherjee, ‘Protection of Journalists under International Humanitarian Law’ (1995) 17 Communications and
the Law 27, 28.
6 See BA Taleb, e Bewildered Herd: Media Coverage of International Conicts and Public Opinion, (iUniverse Inc 2004).
7 RA Hackett, ‘Journalism versus Peace? Notes on a Problematic Relationship’ (2007) 2 Global Media Journal: Mediterranean Edition 47, 48.
8 SL Carruthers, e Media at War (2nd edn, Palgrave Macmillan 2011) 1, 5.
9 HD Laswell, Propaganda Technique in the World War (Peter Smith 1927); JM Lisosky and JR Henrichsen, War on Words: Who Should Protect Journalists (Praeger
2011) xix; G Spencer, e Media and Peace: From Vietnam to the ‘War on Terror’ (Palgrave Macmillan 2005); Taleb (n 6).
10 Dened by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Recommendation No. 4 as ‘covering all representatives of the media, namely all those engaged
in the collection, processing and dissemination of news and information including cameramen and photographers, as well as support sta such as drivers and
interpreters.’
11 See eg H Tumber and J Palmer, Media at War: e Iraq Crisis (SAGE Publications Ltd 2004, reprint 2006).
12 Enshrined in International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted 16 December 1966, entered into force 23 March 1976) 999 UNTS 171 (ICCPR)
art 19; European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as amended by Protocols Nos 11 and 14 (adopted 4 November
1950, entered into force 3 September 1953) art 10; Lisosky and Henrichsen, War on Words (n 9) xx; G Verschingel, ‘Towards a Better Protection for Journalists
in Armed Conicts’ (2008/9) 45 Jura Falconis 435.
13 Detter (n 5) 323; MD Kirkby and LJ Jackson, ‘International Humanitarian Law and the Protection of Media Personnel’ (1986) 9 University of New South Wales
Law Journal 1.
14 C Zanghì, ‘e Protection of Journalists in Armed Conicts’ in PA Fernández-Sánchez (ed), e New Challenges of Humanitarian Law in Armed Conicts (Mar-
tinus Nijho Publishers 2005) 146.
15 JM Lisosky and JR Henrichsen, ‘Don’t Shoot the Messenger: Prospects for Protecting Journalists in Conict Situations’ (2009) 2 Media, War & Conict 129;
JM Lisosky and JR Henrichsen, War on Words (n 9) xviii.
16 UNESCO, ‘Press Freedom – Safety of Journalists and Impunity’ (2008) 4.
05 Merkourios - International and European Law: General Issue 2013 - Vol. 29/76

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