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Handbook B
PROTECTION OF MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION
INSTANCES ON ARMED CONFLICTS

CHAIRMAN
Ricardo Mercado
MODERATOR
Pablo Espinosa
CONFERENCE OFFICER
Roco Lpez

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Terrorism has once again shown it is prepared

deliberately to stop at nothing in creating human
victims. An end must be put to this. As never
before, it is vital to unite forces of the entire world
community against terror. Vladimir Putin
Welcome delegates to your committee, the Security Council. As you all
know, the Security Councils duty is to maintain peace and security across
the globe. The Chair hopes that you achieve successful resolutions that can
fulfill the needs of all nations and solve the problem at hand. Achieve this
by reading the handbook properly and understanding the main points of
it. If you do this, it will be easier for you to generate good ideas and give
fluency to the debate.
The topics to be discussed, along these three days of hard debate,
will be: Topic A: Fragmentation of the International Community due to
Terrorist Expansion in the Middle East, and Topic B: Protection of Media
and Communication Instances on Armed Conflicts. Remember to avoid
deviation from the main ideas.
Finally, the Chair wants to thank you for assisting to TAEMUN 2015,
it is a pleasure to have you with us. We hope your ideas and objectives
flourish along these three days. On behalf of all of the members that
compose TAEMUN, we wish you success and happiness. Good debate!
Security Council
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Topic B: Protection of Media and Communication Instances on Armed

Conflicts
In the past decade, more than 600 journalists have been killed while
exercising their critical role and service in society, Deputy SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations, Jan Eliasson told the Security Council in an
open debate (18.07.2013) regarding the protection of civilians in armed
conflict, including journalists. Any job has its risks, but safety must come
before anything. There are certain jobs where the risk has gone up and
this drives people into forgetting about their own safety, just because
they want to get paid and accomplish their duty. 39 journalists were killed
since the conflict started in Syria. One site counts 22 journalists killed in
Iraq, but another one counts 166. Media and communication have turned
into a dangerous ground of work, when related to places where crises
are taking place. Countries must look for a way to stopthese threats and
reassurepeoples safety, especially those who risk their lives to maintain
the world informed on important issues.
The topic regarding journalistssafety has been debated, but there is still
a lot to do. An open debate was held on July18th, 2013 to discuss the
protection of civilians in armed conflict, including journalists,where said
journalists expressed their concerns and urged the Security Council to act.
UNESCO presented a plan that enables journalists to perform their job
without any fear; this programme is called: United Nations Plan of Action
on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. Although this plan
helps journalists, it only approaches the fact that journalists cannot be
safe because they are threatened or put into jail for speaking up the
truth, among other situations they are exposed to, but it fails to state
That is why the Security Council must take action in order to protect the
media and communications in these kinds of situations. Additionally, to
come up with a way to punish anyone that perpetrates their lives.
This topic, as well, concerns all countries across the globe, but it forces
mainly on the ones that are undertaking major conflicts. Syria and Iraq
have already been mentioned, but, not exclusively, there have also
been problems on African soil. Human rights must be a concern to the
International Community and, an even greater one, their violation.
Media has always been an essential part of society and during armed
conflicts its importance increases. During the last years, media has
become a risky task because of the hostile conditions that armed conflicts
represent, not just because of thephysical danger journalists and reporters
put themselves in, but also because of the importance of information and
evidence.

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TV, radio, and Internet press are the most important means of
communication, because of the level of diffusion they have, but they
all depend on different ways of journalism. Thesefacilitate information
to become public and accessible for people. Many illegal and hostile
activities are documented by media, which makes it an important tool
against crime and inhuman acts.
One of the main causes of crimes committed against journalists and media
personnel is the lack of freedom of expression, in countries where all media
content is strictly controlled, and its difficult finding a trustful source of
information; therefore, the ones trying to make the informationpublic
are punished according to the local law. Many journalist have been
judged and sanctioned outside their country during their contribution to
international community.
There are several cases known where journalists have been victims of
different crimes, that range from being censored, to being tortured or
even killed. According to statistics taken by the CPJ (Committee to Protect
Journalists) during 2014 there were more than 250 unsolved murder
cases during their work; in other stats by the CPJ the number of foreign
journalists increased in 2014, especially in the Middle East region.
Dueto the risks journalists experience, different organizations have
created several ways to protect them. The International Humanitarian
Law protects them in article 79, which states that they keep the civilian
status in presence of an armed conflict. If any journalist is intentionally
killed or injured during the conflict, it can be consider as a war crime. In
non-armed conflicts, they are considered as civilians, too, for them to be
guaranteed their right to full protection, they shouldnt be part of any
hostile acts.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) protects media
personnel, providing them with direct information and connection to
their families. They support the National Red Cross organisms for these
to help directly the affected ones. Another important organism is the
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which is in charge of the protection
of journalists in any situation; it also looks to protect freedom of expression
all around the world, this institution isnt formally associated with any
country, but journalistsfrom any nationality can be part of it and profit
from its services.
The main problem isnt the lack of legislation to protect media and its
personnel during armed conflict, but the violation of their rights and the
great amount of cases of anti-humanitarian treatment against journalists
during their duty. The United Nations Security Council protects journalist,
media professionals and associated personnel in the resolution 1738. This

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resolution establishes the obligation to prevent any kind of attack and

punish the responsible ones.
Questions:
How is the media controlled in your country?
Does your country protect media and its personnel? How?
How many journalists have been murdered inside and outside your
country in the last 10 years? How did it affect your country?
Has any journalist or media personnel of your country been killed in
any other country during an armed conflict or in other conditions? What
measures did your country and the country where she/he was killed took?
What policy does your country have towards foreign journalists or media
personnel? What other policies could your country apply?
Bibliography
Committee to Protect Journalists. (n.d.). 61 Journalists Killed in 2014/
Motive Confirmed. Retrieved January 10, 2015, from CPJ: https://cpj.org/
killed/2014/
K, D. (2007, January 01). International Humanitarian Law and the
Protection of Media Professionals Working in Armed Conflicts. Retrieved
January 10, 2015, from ICRC: https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/
documents/article/other/media-protection-article-.htm
SecurityCouncil.(2013,June28).ProtectionofJournalists.RetrievedJanuary
10, 2015, from Security Council Report: http://www.securitycouncilreport.
org/monthly-forecast/2013-07/protection_of_journalists.php