KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has called on the international community and the United Nations Security Council to continue advocating the safety and protection of journalists in situations of armed conflict.
Malaysia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Siti Hajjar Adnin, said Kuala Lumpur viewed with serious concern the increasing trend of journalists being deliberately targeted by parties to a conflict.
“We would underscore that in situations of armed conflict, the responsibility to ensure the protection of civilians, including journalists, rests on the parties to conflict regardless whether such conflict occurs at the intra- or inter-state levels,” she said.
The Malaysian diplomat said this in her statement at the Security Council open debate on the ‘Protection of Journalists in Conflict Situations’ in New York on Wednesday.
Siji Hajjar noted that Malaysia suffered its first casualty in 2011 when BernamaTV cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor, 39, was killed in a crossfire incident while travelling in a humanitarian convoy in Somalia.
According to her, since 1992, some 377 journalists and media professionals had lost their lives due to violent conflict or while on a dangerous mission.
“The international community and this council must stiffen its collective resolve towards ensuring that no more journalists would suffer the same fate,” she said.
The diplomat said the prevalence of a culture of impunity, absence of rule of law and good governance as well as the attendant law and order institutions were among the key factors that negatively contributed to the safety and security of civilians, including journalists, in conflict situations. --BERNAMA