Seven countries have pledged to improve safety for journalists covering conflicts and combat impunity for those who target reporters, the international Red Cross said on Friday. Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany and the United States have all signed up to a "model pledge" presented by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The text calls on states "to take all necessary steps to ensure that civilian journalists, media professionals and associated personnel working in armed conflicts enjoy the respect and protection granted to civilians under international humanitarian law".
It also urges states to train their armed and national security forces in the principles of international humanitarian law, and to combat impunity for those who target journalists in the field. National Red Cross societies from Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Poland, Syria and Tanzania have signed another pledge to train journalists in both international humanitarian law and basic first aid.
More than 110 journalists were killed across the globe last year, leading press watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF - Journalists Without Borders) to accuse democracies of "cowardice" for failing to defend press freedom.