The FINANCIAL -- The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) commends Mr. La Rue and Mr. Heyns for their reports.

We found particularly significant that the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary detention has chosen as a thematic subject of his annual report the protection of the right to life of journalists.

The timely publication of the report of Mr. Heyns allowed the PEC to submit to the attention of the Council a detailed analysis of the Special Rapporteur’s thoughts, which is published in document NGO/45.
Mr. Heyns touches in his report one of the most sensitive issues, namely: the definition of journalists. He refers to the one contained in the recommendation no. R (2000) 7 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe which the PEC considers as a valuable one when it is complemented by some fundamental elements defining the profession’s rights and duties like those contained in the Münich Charter of 1971.
The PEC also welcomes the recommendation contained in paragraph 124 of Mr. Heyns’ report where he suggests to explore the need for a specific UN instrument: “The Special Rapporteur invites States and relevant United Nations bodies and agencies, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, to explore the need for a specific United Nations instrument, for example a declaration, on the safety of journalists that would emphasize the recognized obligations of States with regard to the protection of the right to life and safety of journalists…”

Indeed the PEC shares the main concerns expressed by both Special Rapporteurs, notably when it comes to the psychological or physical threat on journalists. In fact, the biggest challenge when one wants to ensure the protection of journalists is impunity. Of course, the primary responsibility of protecting journalists, fully investigating each case and prosecuting those responsible lies with States, on the other hand, the root causes of impunity is due to lack of political will of the same States, which can have different reasons and take many forms as rightly pointed out by Mr. La Rue.

In order to combat impunity, one needs to rely on a mechanism ensuring accountability. In reality, none of the existing mechanisms for the protection of the right to life of journalists can be considered, neither satisfactory, nor universal. Most of the mechanisms presented in the reports have no judicial character at all and therefore can only be seen as good practices. The existing mechanisms at regional or sub-regional levels do not have the means to conduct immediate and independent investigations, this precluding them to effectively combat impunity.

The PEC believes that journalists should be allowed to cover any event without being targeted by any participant in an internal or international conflict. Acknowledging that 90% of the cases of murder of journalists are not investigated, the PEC firmly believes that there is a gap in the international legal framework and that a new set of international binding rules has to be adopted and implemented by a specific mechanism in order to ensure accountability on this very subject.

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