The Legal Protection Of War Correspondent In Armed Conflict

A war correspondent is a professional journalist assigned to cover events in awar zone or other areas of conflict. War correspondents working in conflict zonesinevitably face with various risks. They could be the victims of hostile operations inbattlefield, and could also be the victims of arbitrary acts of violence. Especially innon-international armed conflict, war correspondents mostly follow the rebels, whichmakes war correspondents are more susceptible to be damaged. Every year, a largenumber of war correspondents were killed or injured in the armed conflict. As high-risk groups, the international community ought to give more attention and protectionto war correspondents.War correspondents are protected by a range of IHL norms that apply tocivilians or prisoners of war and that are contained in Geneva Conventions of1949and the Additional Protocols of1977, as well as in customary international law.According to the provisions of international humanitarian law, war correspondent hasa dual identity. Firstly, in the usual case war correspondents accompanying the armedforces are not the actual members of the forces. They enjoy the same protection of thecivilian population. Secondly, if they are taken captive, war correspondents areprotected as prisoners of war. So, the special protection of war correspondents is verylittle in international humanitarian law, but they are still able to obtain protectionswhich are provided for civilians while practicing their profession. However, theprerequisite of such protection is not involved in the hostilities. When they fall intothe hands of the enemy, war correspondents with the authority of the armed forceswill be able to obtain the status of prisoners of war. This special status provides morecomprehensive protections for war correspondents in different circumstances.According to the principle of distinction, the media cannot be considered a legitimatetarget, and the attack against war correspondents and media equipments is illegal.Thus, the parties must weigh the relationship between the military interests andcollateral damage in a military attack. And they must take feasible precautions toavoid damage to war correspondents.Because the nature and the method of modern armed conflicts had dramaticallychanged, the risks faced by war correspondents working in conflict zones are growing. The protection of war correspondents still faces many problems. The existing rules ofprotection in international humanitarian law are not clear, and difficult to effectivelyprotect war correspondents in armed conflicts. The most crucial problem is theimplement and enforce of international humanitarian law. In practice, the rules ofprotection are not effectively observed. A deliberate attack causing the death or injuryof a war correspondent is a war crime, but the lack of effective sanctions mechanismresults in impunity. Therefore, the international community must make joint efforts toimprove the existing laws to adapt to contemporary requirements, to strengthen theimplementations and sanctions mechanisms for protecting war correspondents, and tomake the Red Cross and other humanitarian protection agencies play a full role. AllStates have the responsibility to respect international humanitarian law, and toprovide more effective protections for war correspondents.