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At the UN Security Council open debate “Protection of civilians in armed conflict: protection of journalists” in New York on 17 July, the Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the United Nations Raimonda Murmokaitė stressed that media had a unique role to play in shedding light on military conflicts and called for more due diligence to meet the standards of international law for the safety of journalists.

“In today’s world, where millions of civilians are stranded in conflict, threatened, abused and persecuted, and where the world’s attention may be their last hope for survival, strengthening international response to attacks on journalists and tackling impunity for such attacks are essential, as is the lead of the Security Council on the matter,” Ambassador Murmokaitė said at the debate. The Ambassador reminded participants of the debate that 2012 had been the second worst year on record for journalists, with a 49 per cent increase in deaths from the year 2011. According to the data available to date, journalist killers walk free in nine out of ten cases.

Murmokaitė also stressed the need to continue addressing the issue of the safety and security of journalists, in line with the provisions of UNSC resolution 1738 adopted in 2006, both in the thematic debates on the protection of civilians and in country specific situations, as well as through reporting requirements for peacekeeping missions.

Lithuania makes consistent efforts to address this sensitive international issue more efficiently in multilateral forums. Back in 2011, as the Chair-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Lithuanian Foreign Minister brought, for the first time, to the top of the OSCE agenda the issue of the safety and security of journalists. The Lithuanian Chair-in-Office and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media spearheaded the publication of the OSCE safety of journalist guidebook.

The safety of news media representatives and other civilians in armed conflict will remain among Lithuania’s priorities. The country is running for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the term 2014-2015. It is the only candidate from the Eastern European Group of States at the elections that will be held in October.