MADA hopes the resolution will protect Palestinian journalists who must live with the reality of armed conflict.
(MADA/IFEX) – MADA welcomes the decision of the Human Rights Council on the protection of journalists and condemns the voting delay on the Goldstone Report.
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) welcomes the Human Rights Council decision on 2 October, relating to the protection of journalists during armed conflicts. The resolution calls “on all parties to armed conflict to respect international humanitarian law, including their obligations under the Geneva Conventions, of 12 August 1949, and, where applicable, the Additional Protocols thereto of 8 June 1977, whose provisions extend protection to journalists in situations of armed conflict and to allow, within the framework of applicable rules and procedures, media access and coverage, as appropriate, in situations of international and non-international armed conflict.”
We hope this new resolution will contribute to provide protection for Palestinian journalists, since the Palestinian territories are still under Israeli occupation, and the area in general is still undergoing armed conflicts.
On the other hand MADA denounces the Human Rights Council decision to postpone the vote on the Goldstone Report because of the great pressure exerted by Israel, the United States and other international actors on the Palestinian National Authority, which unfortunately succumbed to the pressure, in obvious conflict with the interests of the Palestinian people and their desire for justice.
The consideration of the recommendations in the report would have constituted a beginning of the investigation into crimes committed by Israel against Palestinian civilians during the Israeli aggression on Gaza at the beginning of this year, including the killing of four journalists by Israeli gunfire and the wounding of many other journalists. Several media organizations were also bombed and destroyed.
