A/HRC/20/22 69. In its resolution 1738 (2006), the Security Council condemned attacks against journalists in conflict situations, and requested the Secretary-General to address, as an item in his reports to the Council, the issue of the safety and security of journalists (para. 12). 70. International humanitarian law is enforced through international and domestic criminal law. An intentional attack against civilians, including journalists, amounts to a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.67 The primary duty, however, is on States to investigate and, if appropriate, prosecute offenders for war crimes that fall within the relevant State‘s jurisdiction.68 If they are unable or unwilling to do so, the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction. 3. National law 71. The right to life is recognized, and murder and physical assault are proscribed by the legal systems of States around the world. However, the effective implementation of the international norms at the national level is uneven. 72. Impunity was identified above as one of the main reasons for the high incidence of murders of journalists in some societies. With the narrow exception of international criminal prosecutions, prosecutions take place within States and it is at this level that the failure of the system is often located and has to be addressed. In this regard, the norms set out above concerning proper investigation and prosecution must be followed. 73. There are various reasons why those who kill journalists are not brought to justice in domestic legal systems. They include undue influence on the criminal justice system through corruption, intimidation and complicity of those who run the systems, such as the police, prosecutors and judges, and also on witnesses and civil complaints mechanisms. Undue influence may be exerted by politicians, bureaucrats, drug cartels or criminals. Impunity can result from the failure to investigate or to prosecute, the acquittal of a guilty person, or an early release of someone who has been convicted and sentenced. (See the international standards for accountability set out above.) 74. Undue influence is exerted more easily at the local level than at the national level, because of the close interaction between those who may want to manipulate the system and those whom they target, such as witnesses or officials. In a positive development, Mexico is now in the process of passing a constitutional amendment that will proscribe the killing of journalists at the federal level, rather than at the state level.69 75. Courts do in some cases provide space for an active civil society when it is not available in the political realm. According to CPJ, in 2011, there were political attempts in Nepal to have charges dismissed against ruling party cadres with respect to the abduction and murder of a journalist. The Supreme Court overruled this, after civil society took legal action.70 67 68 69 70 Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, art. 50; Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, art. 51; Third Geneva Convention, art. 130; Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, art. 147; Rome Statute, art. 8, para. 2 (a)(i) and (e)(i). Henckaerts and Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law, rule 158. Mike O‘Connor, ―Mexican senators say journalist murders to be federal crime‖, CPJ Blog, available from http://cpj.org/blog/2012/03/mexican-senators-say-journalist-murders-to-be-fede.php. ―In Nepal, killers of journalists could go free‖, letter from the Executive Director of CPJ to the Prime Minister of Nepal, available from http://cpj.org/2011/09/september-15-2011-prime-minister.php. 15