A/HRC/24/23 States established an office of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, which, inter alia, advises the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the evaluation of individual petitions, prepares country and annual reports in which it makes recommendations to Member States on addressing violence against journalists, 50 conducts on-site visits and undertakes awareness-raising activities, such as publicly condemning attacks against journalists. Also in 1997, OSCE established the mandate of Representative on Freedom of the Media to provide early warnings on violations of freedom of expression and to advocate full compliance with OSCE principles and commitments regarding freedom of expression and the media. In 2011, it issued the OSCE Safety of Journalists Guidebook, which sets out good practices for addressing the safety of journalists. In 2004, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights established the mandate of Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa. 43. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights have found that attacks on journalists violate the right to freedom of expression and many other rights, and that there are positive obligations on States to protect journalists, and to carry out effective investigations into alleged attacks.51 In September 2012, the InterAmerican Court issued its most extensive ruling yet on State obligations regarding violence against journalists in the Vélez Restrepo case,52 ordering the State to provide a wide range of reparations to the victim and his family, including ongoing protection, the payment of medical costs, an effective investigation into events, damages, and training for the armed forces on the right to freedom of thought and expression and the role of journalists and social commentators. 44. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) plays a significant role in the protection of journalists and other media professionals in situations of armed conflict. As noted in its response, since 1985, ICRC has operated a hotline for journalists deployed in dangerous situations by which journalists who are wounded, detained or missing, their families and media organizations can request assistance from ICRC. ICRC also conducts, often in cooperation with other organizations, training on international humanitarian law and first aid for media professionals. In November 2011, the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent adopted the Four-Year Action Plan for the Implementation of International Humanitarian Law, in which the importance of journalists was reaffirmed and recommendations aimed at the protection of journalists in situations of armed conflict were made. 45. Non-governmental organizations and civil society actors also play an important role in documenting violence against journalists, raising awareness, reporting, assisting in legislative and policy development related to protection of journalists, training and taking steps to address violence, including by providing direct assistance. 50 51 52 annually since 1999, in which they consistently highlight the issue of the safety of journalists as a key challenge to freedom of expression. Seethe Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 2012: Report of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (available from www.oas.org/en/iachr/expression/docs/reports/annual/Annual%20Report%202012.pdf), p. 248. See jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, for example, Dink el al. v. Turkey, application Nos. 2668/07, 6102/08, 30079/08, 7072/09 and 7124/09, judgement, 14 September 2010, and Kiliҫ v. Turkey, application No. 22492/93, judgement, 28 March 2000. See also jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, for example, Fontevecchia and D’Amico v. Argentina, judgement of 29 November 2011, and Uzcátegui et al. v. Venezuela, judgement of 3 September 2012. Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Vélez Restrepo and Family v Colombia, judgement of 3 September 2012. 13