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On 27 June, the Permanent Mission of Lithuania to the United Nations together with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) organised a panel discussion on the safety of journalists in conflict zones, with a focus on risks and challenges in areas near and under terrorist control.

“Journalists make the courageous choice to go to conflict zones and risk their lives, so as to tell the world about the stories of armed conflicts. In recent years, terrorism and violent extremism have posed a growing threat to the safety of journalists and media workers,” said the Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister noted that today terrorists and radical extremists targeted journalists themselves. Media representatives are being abducted, held hostage and publicly executed in order to intimidate those who want to gather and disseminate information in areas under terrorist control.  There is a risk that these areas may eventually turn into some “information black holes” due to an “information vacuum.” According to Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, however, in such a situation even greater risks are posed to civilians and to the stability of the region.

“Member states, organisations which unite and protect journalists, civil society and international organizations have to join efforts to ensure greater protection of journalists and media workers. This is our shared responsibility. When protecting journalists, we also protect our fundamental values and freedoms,” said Lithuania’s Foreign Minister.

He said that it was particularly alarming that even 95 percent of violent crimes against journalists went unpunished. “This is a serious signal that the member states should make more effort to solve violent crimes,” said Linkevičius.

“In May 2015, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution, drafted by Lithuania, on the protection of journalists in conflict zones. This resolution not only condemns terrorist acts against journalists, but also binds the member states to take measures to prevent terrorism. It is important that the member states should implement provisions of this resolution and develop comprehensive measures to protect journalists against terrorist attacks,” said Lithuania’s Foreign Minister.

The protection of journalists in armed conflict remains one of the main priorities of Lithuania in international organizations. As a member of the Executive Council of UNESCO for the period 2015-2019, Lithuania has dedicated a lot of attention to the safety of journalists and to end impunity for crimes against journalists. When Lithuania was a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 2014-2015, the protection of journalists was also among the country’s priorities. On 27 May 2015, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution (S/RES/2222 (2015)) on the protection of journalists in conflict zones, which was drafted by Lithuania.

In 2015, more than 100 journalists were killed, 28 of them fell victim to terrorism.

The panellists included Judith Matloff, Professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Ann Therese Day, Independent Journalist & Fulbright Fellow, Quinn McKew, Deputy Executive Director of Article 19. The panel discussion was moderated by Robert Mahoney, Deputy Executive Director of Committee to Protect Journalists. The event was attended by more than 80 diplomats, representatives of the Secretariat and non-governmental organizations, and journalists.

Photos: Vidmantas Balkūnas.