UN wants to improve protection for media professionals
A significant number of journalists are killed worldwide—yet in most cases, these crimes go unpunished. Members of the UN Human Rights Council were therefore called upon to take measures to better protect media professionals around the world.
In two separate reports published during the current session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the rapporteurs on freedom of expression and arbitrary executions - Frank La Rue and Christof Heyns - condemned the lack of political will on the part of some states to comply with the applicable laws. The rapporteurs Frank La Rue and Christof Heyns spoke out in Geneva in favor of drawing up a protocol for the protection of media professionals - comparable to the UN declarations for human rights activists or the declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples. During the debate, the Swiss ambassador to the UN, Dante Martinelli, expressed his support for the issue.
At a parallel event organized by Austria in Geneva, the representative of UNESCO, Sylvie Coudray, recalled an action plan adopted by the UN organizations in Paris in April on the issue of the safety of journalists. Another conference involving non-governmental organizations is to take place in November in order to implement the action plan.
In the first five months of the year, at least 65 journalists lost their lives worldwide, an increase of 50 percent compared to the previous year. At least 15 of them lost their lives in the conflict in Syria, 7 in Mexico and 6 in the Somali civil war. Others were attacked or arrested. (sda)
