Protection of journalists and press freedom 2010, para. 49
Paragraph- Paragraph text
- Most important, as civilians, journalists are protected against direct attacks unless and for such time as they take direct part in hostilities. Violations of this rule constitute a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I, and an intentional attack against a civilian also amounts to a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, in both international and non international armed conflicts. With regard to acts amounting to direct participation in hostilities, the Special Rapporteur would like to stress that, as clarified by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), three cumulative requirements must be met: (a) the act must be likely to adversely affect the military operations or military capacity of a party to an armed conflict or, alternatively, to inflict death, injury or destruction on persons or objects protected against direct attack (threshold of harm); (b) there must be a direct causal link between the act and the harm likely to result either from that act or from a coordinated military operation of which the act constitutes an integral part (direct causation); and (c) the act must be specifically designed to directly cause the required threshold of harm in support of a party to the conflict and to the detriment of another (belligerent nexus). Hence, journalists performing tasks in the conduct of their profession, such as recording videos, taking photographs or recording information solely for the purpose of informing the public, are not considered as direct participants in hostilities, and thus do not lose their protection as civilians under international humanitarian law.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Year
- 2010
- Paragraph type
- Other
- Reference
- SR Freedom of Opinion, Report to the UNGA (2010), A/65/284, para. 49.
- Paragraph number
- 49
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