First let me say that the ICRC remains deeply concerned by the high number of acts of violence against journalists and other media professionals. It has become increasingly clear in recent conflicts that media professionals are more and more at risk of being directly targeted, in violation of international humanitarian law.
Journalists and other media professionals working in war zones face many dangers. Because of the very nature of their work, they are inevitably exposed to the dangers inherent in military operations. Instead of fleeing combat, they seek it out. Nevertheless, by far the greatest danger they face is that of deliberate acts of violence against them.
It is often said that the first casualty of war is truth. Accurate, impartial media reports conveyed from conflict zones serve a fundamental public interest: in the information era, images and news can have a decisive impact on the outcome of armed conflicts. As a consequence, the obstruction of journalistic tasks in times of armed conflict is alarmingly frequent. The spectrum of interference is wide: it ranges from access denial, censorship and harassment to arbitrary detention and direct attacks against media professionals.
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