The Protection of Researchers and Journalists in Conflict Zones - Research Paper Example

International Law in Justifying a Special Classification of Researchers or Journalists as a Group Deserving Additional Protections in Conflict Zones 1.1 Can international law justify a special classification of researchers and/or journalists as a group deserving additional protections in conflict zones? 1.2 Hypothetical: What about outside conflict zones? 1.3 What would be (not should be!) the obligations states owe to the protection of researchers and journalists in conflict zones? What reasonable exceptions to these obligations could be made? 2. Short Answer 2.1 The International law does not provide any additional protection to the researchers and/or journalists engaged in the conflict zones of the world. Although, there has been several steps or measures to build a strong International law that would be in favor of the researchers and journalists of the world in terms of their protection in the conflict zones, but all of them went in vain1. 2.2 There has been no International law that protects the researchers and the journalists of the world, when they are outside the conflict zones. The journalists and the researchers are vulnerable to the attack of terrorists and others. This is because these journalists and researchers reveal some of the key information of the terrorists and the other types of criminals of the world. the area outside the conflict zone creates immense risk for the researchers along with journalist in their future actions2. 2.3 The journalists and the researchers need to have a strong obligation of protection of their lives from the hands of the terrorist groups and others. There is a need to have an additional security to those researchers and journalists who are engaged in the conflict zones. Moreover, it is advisable to the researchers and the journalists to avoid the most vulnerable conflict zones in the absence of the security forces. This would lead to the safety of the researchers and the journalists of the world3. Facts There have been some of the evidential facts about the journalists who have been killed in some of the dangerous locations of world. It is to be noted that around 70 journalists were killed in the year 2013. Since, 1992 there are more than a thousand journalists killed throughout the world due to the lack of protection and law. Moreover, the number is increasing at a higher accelerated rate through the passage of time. The number of people killed in some of the dangerous places is more horrible. One of such dangerous place is considered to be the Middle East Countries. In this region, Syria has been the most dangerous location for the civilians. A report reveals that over 72 people had been killed in Syria in the year 1992. Most significantly, the number of people killed in 2012 was 31 and 29 for the following year 2013. In 2014, till September, the number of journalists killed in Syria was 10. Other than Syria, Turkey is also considered to be one of the riskier regions for the journalists. The lack of protection from International law was evident from the fact that over 20 journalists and researchers were killed since 1992. However, from 2011 there has been no report of journalists killed in Turkey. Further, another most dangerous country is the Ukraine, where over 10 Journalists along with the researchers were killed from 1992. Moreover, Iraq is also referred to as a very dangerous place for the journalists, where over 166 journalists were killed since 1992. In Afghanistan over 26 journalists were killed in the same period as well as 56 journalists were reported to be killed in Pakistan from 19924;5. For the protection of journalists and researchers in the places of conflicts and wars, no International laws are implemented to ensure the safety.. There is no extra security protection or laws that would safeguard the journalists from the attack of the terrorist groups and other criminals of the world. However, according to the Roman court it is stated that the attack to the journalists at the time of war is a crime and is termed as ‘war crime’. It is to be noted that not only the journalists and researchers are in a desperate need for protection from the International laws, but the Human Right Watch and Amnesty International, and other non-governmental organizational investigators also need same kind of protection. It is to be noted that some of the organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross provides some of the safety measures to protect the journalists and the civilians and other innocent people from the attack of the terrorists and others. The significant implementation that they have made is the introduction of a 24X7 helpline number, and many more. This would significantly protect the journalists and others from the unsecured environment6;7. Discussion It has been observed that journalists and researchers of the world have been facing a stiff security concern over the past few decades. This type of security concern is not limited to journalists and researchers but also it equally affects the other non-governmental organizations like the Human Right Watch and Amnesty International. The common civilians are also facing the issues regarding the lack of safety and protection in the world they are exposed to due to the increase in the terrorist actions.. This aspect of insecurity is observed in the parts of the Middle East, where there has been a hostile situation from the past few decades. This is because of the several political concerns and instability, which have lead to such a hostile scenario. The countries that are most vulnerable to journalists, researchers, non-governmental organizations, and others are Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Israel, and others parts of the Middle East. However, there are some other countries that are equally dangerous for the journalists, researchers, and others such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and many more. These are some of the counties that have lead to major threat to the journalists, researchers, and others. It is to be noted that Syria in the last few years has caused major threat to the journalists and the other civilians due to the lack of security. This is equally notable in Iraq, where the hostile scenario in the recent past few years has lead to the death of several journalists, researchers, and others. Pakistan and Afghanistan is one of such countries that always been in the headlines for killing innocent journals and researchers of the world. The innocent civilians are also not been able to get rid of the cruelty of those countries. These countries are considered to be the hub of terrorism in the world, which is due to the lack of law and security in the global platform. Moreover, it is to be noted that the terrorist groups from those countries have not only killed journalists, and others in their respective country, but also individuals8. In the concern for the safety and security of the journalists, researchers and other non-governmental organization, there has been no such effective international law that would protect them. Attempts have been made to implement some of the strong international laws that would protect those groups of people who are vulnerable to the attack of the terrorist groups and other criminals. However, the attempt was not successful because of the varied arguments of the representatives of different countries and hence, there was never a scenario of consensus among the different nations regarding the safety concern. Thus, the implementation of a strong law against the war crime and the crime of killing the innocent journalists, and others were never initiated. In this context, in Geneva Conventions, there has been an attempt to bring strong law against the war crime throughout the world. There has been a law under the Article 79 of Additional Protocol 1 that the journalists are entitled to get all the privilege that is available to the common civilians. However, this does not satisfy the need for additional security measures for the journalists and researchers. In this regard, there are certain attempts, which been made by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in order to provide security measures to the journalists, and others. This steps include the introduction of a 24X7 helpline number that support ICRC in rescuing the victim journalists and the researchers from the trap of the terrorist groups and others. The attempt by the ICRC is purely on the grounds of the humanitarian reasons. They not only save journalists and researchers but also rescue the common civilians and the non-governmental organizational employees of different parts of the world from the exposed risk. Moreover, ICRC provides training to the members for the purpose of rescuing individuals who are exposed to the risks. Though the steps that are taken by the ICRC support a significant amount to journalists, but it does provide any strong international law that would encounter the offensive crime made by the terrorists and other criminals. The actions of ICRC are to provide a safe environment but at the same time require the support of the international law to implement stringent rules for the safety of journalists and researchers9. Conclusion The journalists, researchers, non-government organization employees and other civilians have been in serious concern from the past few decades in regards to their security issues from the terrorists. Correspondingly, there has been a serious concern for the implementation of a strong law against these issues. However, the ICRC is providing an attempt to rescue those people, but this does not provide any holistic solution. The implementation of a strong international law would encounter against the offensive crime against those people. It is desirable to have a consensus among all the representatives of different countries and build a strong international law. The implementation of strong measures should be made on humanitarian grounds and for the betterment of the future generation and also for the safety of journalist and researchers. Bibliography Committee of Project Journalists. 2002. Data and research. https://cpj.org/killed/ International Committee of the Red Cross. 2014. Home. https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/publication/p0394.htm Hockings, Marc. 2006. Evaluating Effectiveness: A Framework for Assessing Management Effectiveness of Protected Areas. The United Kingdom: IUCN. Read More