A file photo of a journalist in Gaza
Geneva/Gaza/Dhaka: In October this year 33 journalists were killed in the conflict between Israel and Hamas (28 Palestinians in Gaza, 4 Israelis and 1 in Lebanon). “These are clearly war crimes and an unprecedented slaughter of the media because hostilities are taking place in a densely populated area,” the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) President, Blaise Lempen, said today in Geneva. “We deeply deplore all the civilian victims, those deliberately and systematically murdered by Hamas, as well as the Palestinian victims subjected to Israeli bombardment”, he added.
According to the PEC’s findings, although Israel warned the civilian population, including the media, before its bombardments, asking them to leave the intended targets of its fire, the fire was often not precise enough to avoid collateral casualties. Buildings housing media outlets were deliberately targeted, ostensibly to silence the voice of the Palestinian media.
“Hamas’s crimes are unjustifiable, but Israel’s response is disproportionate”, said Blaise Lempen. The protection measures for journalists were “clearly insufficient” to guarantee impartial information on the ground, he said, while pointing out that foreign media access has been blocked by Israel to the detriment of the right to information.
The PEC today called on the belligerents to show the utmost restraint in the continuation of operations. Duly accredited and identified journalists must be able to do their work without hindrance or danger. There must be no impunity.
Independent investigations must take place to shed light on these crimes, the PEC said, adding that their exact circumstances must be clarified by the relevant United Nations bodies and those responsible must be held to account.
The PEC today also called on the Human Rights Council to create a commission of enquiry to elucidate the crimes of all the belligerents in the war that began on October 7, 2023.
Deploring the high number of journalists killed in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, on the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, which is held every year on November 2, the PEC stressed independent investigations to shed light on all these war crimes and for the United Nations to set up a commission of enquiry.
Incidentally, in October alone, 36 journalists were killed globally including the above-mentioned 33 in the Israeli conflict. Since the beginning of 2023, a total of 74 journalists worldwide have been killed in attacks, bombings or targeted assassinations.
PEC pointed out that under international humanitarian law, all parties must distinguish between combatants and civilians at all times. Civilians and civilian objects must never be the target of an attack.
PEC’s South Asia representative Nava Thakuria further revealed that Bangladesh has lately witnessed a massive surge of physical attacks on media persons as the populous country is approaching its next national election due in January 2024. In a single-day protest demonstration (by its opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party in Dhaka), over 25 journalists faced unprecedented attack and harassment from both the government (led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League) and non-State actors, while covering the rally on October 28, 2023.
– global bihari bureau
