(IFJ/IFEX) – The following letter has been received from Jamie P Shea, NATO Spokesman, in response to the IFJ’s request for clarification on the organisation’s policy regarding media targets: **Updates IFEX alert of 9 April 1999** 12 April 1999 Mr Aidan White General Secretary International Federation of Journalists 1210 Brussels Dear Mr White Thank you […]
(IFJ/IFEX) – The following letter has been received from Jamie P Shea, NATO
Spokesman, in response to the IFJ’s request for clarification on the
organisation’s policy regarding media targets:
**Updates IFEX alert of 9 April 1999**
12 April 1999
Mr Aidan White
General Secretary
International Federation of Journalists
1210 Brussels
Dear Mr White
Thank you for your letter of 9 April to the Secretary General expressing
your concern about NATO’s policy towards the media during Operation Allied
Force.
The Secretary General and I have repeated NATO’s policy in this regard on
numerous occasions during interviews and briefings: Allied Force targets
military targets only and television and radio towers are only struck if
they are integrated into military facilities, as they often are in
Yugoslavia. There is no policy to strike television and radio transmitters
as such.
The Alliance shares your concern for freedom of the media and the treatment
of journalists. Allied air missions are planned to avoid civilian
casualties, including of course journalists, and have been frequently
aborted when it has proven impossible to distinguish between military and
civilian targets.
I have expressed my concern during my daily press briefings about the
treatment of a number of foreign journalists covering Allied Force in
Yugoslavia, a concern also shared by the Secretary General.
Sincerely
Jamie P Shea
