A/HRC/20/22
133. Regional organizations should strengthen their cooperation with the United
Nations with a view to putting an end to such violations.
Recommendations to the International Committee of the Red Cross
134. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges the valuable and important role of
ICRC in protecting the life of journalists, and encourages ICRC to further address the
issue and to keep the relevant actors, including the Special Rapporteur, informed of
situations of particular concern for the life of journalists.
135. The Special Rapporteur further encourages ICRC to disseminate materials on
the application of international humanitarian law to the protection of journalists,
including available tools, training programmes and other measures of assistance, such
as the ICRC permanent hotline and e-mail to report missing, wounded or detained
journalists in need of assistance.
Recommendations to non-State actors engaged in armed conflict
136. Non-State actors should respect the obligations they incur in terms of
international humanitarian law during armed conflict, also towards journalists.
Recommendations to civil society
137. Civil society plays a key role in monitoring the prevalence of killings of
journalists, in terms of statistics and in drawing attention to specific cases. This is a
cause worthy of donor support.
138. Civil society organizations should continue to monitor the situation with regard
to the protection of journalists, in particular combining their efforts in support of
investigations into killings and attacks against journalists and raising their concerns
not only at the national level, but also at the bilateral, regional and international
levels, using new technology. They should also consider consolidating their
documentation, for example through a central website/portal, enabling the provision
of information at the national and international levels for the general public. Statistics
on impunity in respect of the killing of journalists should be provided together with
figures on impunity for killings in general in a particular society, to allow comparison.
139. The Special Rapporteur calls on civil society to actively use the international
and regional human rights machinery to focus attention on killings of journalists and
situations of concern. For the second cycle of the universal periodic review, civil
society should report on the implementation or lack of implementation of
recommendations on the safety of journalists, and suggest possible recommendations
when appropriate. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur encourages civil society
organizations to submit relevant facts to the attention of relevant special procedures,
including requests for urgent appeals, and to help threatened journalists gain access
to the available interim measures.
140. Impact litigation at the national and international, including regional, levels
should be used to develop the jurisprudence.
141. Civil society should follow up on each UNESCO Report on the Safety of
Journalists and the Issue of Impunity and monitor the accuracy of the information
provided by States.
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