Security Council resolution 2222 (2015) [on protection of journalists and associated media personnel in armed conflict]
Symbol: S/RES/2222 (2015)
Date: 2015-05-27
Status: adopted
Agenda: S/70 [189] CIVILIAN PERSONS--ARMED CONFLICTS
Subjects: JOURNALISTS|OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY|IMPUNITY|HUMAN RIGHTS IN ARMED CONFLICTS|ARMED CONFLICTS|MASS MEDIA
Votes in favour: 15
Votes against: 0
Abstentions: 0
Voting record:
country: ANGOLA
vote: yes
country: CHAD
vote: yes
country: CHILE
vote: yes
country: CHINA
vote: yes
country: FRANCE
vote: yes
country: JORDAN
vote: yes
country: LITHUANIA
vote: yes
country: MALAYSIA
vote: yes
country: NEW ZEALAND
vote: yes
country: NIGERIA
vote: yes
country: RUSSIAN FEDERATION
vote: yes
country: SPAIN
vote: yes
country: UNITED KINGDOM
vote: yes
country: UNITED STATES
vote: yes
country: VENEZUELA (BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF)
vote: yes

               United Nations                                                                     S/RES/2222 (2015)
               Security Council                                                 Distr.: General
                                                                                27 May 2015




               Resolution 2222 (2015)
               Adopted by the Security Council at its 7450th meeting, on
               27 May 2015

                    The Security Council
                    Bearing in mind its primary responsibility under the Charter of the United
               Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security, and underlining the
               importance of taking measures aimed at conflict prevention and resolution,
                    Reaffirming its resolutions 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), 1674 (2006) and 1894
               (2009) on the protection of civilians in armed conflict and its resolutio n 1738 (2006)
               on the protection of journalists, media professionals and associated personnel in
               armed conflicts as well as other relevant resolutions and presidential statements,
                     Reaffirming its commitment to the Purposes of the Charter of the United
               Nations as set out in Article 1 (1-4) of the Charter, and to the Principles of the
               Charter as set out in Article 2 (1-7) of the Charter, including its commitment to the
               principles of the political independence, sovereign equality and territorial integrity
               of all States, and respect for the sovereignty of all States,
                    Recalling the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, in particular the Third
               Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949 on the treatment of prisoners of war, and the
               Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977, in particular article 79 of the Additional
               Protocol I regarding the protection of journalists engaged in dangerous professional
               missions in areas of armed conflict,
                     Recognizing that the work of journalists, media professionals, and associated
               personnel often puts them at specific risk of intimidation, harassment and violence
               in situations of armed conflict,
                     Reaffirming that parties to an armed conflict bear the primary responsibility to
               take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of affected civilians, including those
               who exercise their right to freedom of expression by seeking, receiving and
               disseminating information by different means, online as well as offline, in
               accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
               Rights,
                     Recognizing the important role of international humanitarian law, and
               international human rights law as applicable, in protecting journalists, media
               professionals and associated personnel in armed conflicts,


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                     Further recognizing that States bear the primary responsibility to respect and
               ensure the human rights of their citizens, as well as individuals within their territory
               as provided for by relevant international law,
                     Recalling the right to freedom of expression reflected in Article 19 of the
               Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly in 1948
               (“the Universal Declaration”), and recalling also the right to freedom of expression
               in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted by
               the General Assembly in 1966 (“ICCPR”) and that any restrictions thereon shall
               only be such as are provided by law and are necessary on the grounds set out in
               paragraph 3 of Article 19 of the ICCPR,
                     Deeply concerned at the frequency of acts of violence in many parts of the
               world against journalists, media professionals, and associated personnel in armed
               conflict, in particular deliberate attacks in violation of international humanitarian
               law,
                     Emphasizing that there are existing prohibitions under international
               humanitarian law against attacks intentionally directed against civilians, as such,
               which in situations of armed conflict constitute war crimes, and recalling the need
               for States to end impunity for such criminal acts,
                     Bearing in mind that impunity for crimes committed against journalists, media
               professionals and associated personnel in armed conflict remains a significant
               challenge to their protection and that ensuring accountability for crimes committed
               against them is a key element in preventing future attacks,
                    Recognizing that journalists, media professionals and associated personnel can
               play an important role in protection of civilians and conflict prevention by acting as
               an early warning mechanism in identifying and reporting potential situations that
               could result in genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity,
                     Reaffirming its condemnation of all incitements to violence against civilians in
               situations of armed conflict, and condemning the use of the media to incite violence,
               genocide, crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international
               humanitarian law,
                    Recalling that States Parties to the Geneva Conventions have an obligation to
               search for persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed a
               grave breach of these Conventions, and an obligation to try them before their own
               courts, regardless of their nationality, or may hand them over for trial to another
               concerned State provided this State has made out prima facie case against the said
               persons,
                     Further recalling the responsibility of all Member States to comply with their
               respective obligations to end impunity and to investigate and prosecute those
               responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes or other serious
               violations of international humanitarian law and noting that the fight against
               impunity for the most serious crimes of international concern committed against
               civilians has been strengthened through the work on and prosecution of these crimes
               by the International Criminal Court, in accordance with the principle of
               complementarity to national criminal jurisdictions as set out in the Rome Statute, ad
               hoc and mixed tribunals and specialized chambers in national tribunals,




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                 Expressing deep concern at the growing threat to the safety of journalists,
           media professionals, and associated personnel posed by terrorist groups and strongly
           condemning incidents of killings, kidnapping and hostage taking committed by
           terrorist groups for any purpose, including raising funds or gaining political
           concessions, and expressing its determination to prevent kidnapping and hostage
           taking committed by terrorist groups and to secure the safe release of hostages
           without ransom payments or political concessions, in accordance with applicable
           international law,
                 Stressing the contribution that peacekeeping operations and special political
           missions, where mandated, can make to international efforts to promote and protect
           human rights, and the protection of civilians, including journalists, media
           professionals, and associated personnel including through monitoring and reporting
           on violations and abuses as well as providing support for national governments’
           efforts to promote and protect human rights, and in order to strengthen the fight
           against impunity for crimes committed against civilians, including journalists,
           media professionals, and associated personnel,
                 Recognizing the importance of a comprehensive, coherent and action-oriented
           approach, including in early planning, of protection of civilians in situations of
           armed conflict. Stressing, in this regard, the need to adopt a broad strategy of
           conflict prevention, which addresses the root causes of armed conflict in a
           comprehensive manner in order to enhance the protection of civilians on a long -
           term basis, including by promoting sustainable development, poverty eradication,
           national reconciliation, good governance, democracy, the rule of law and respect for
           and protection of human rights,
                Acknowledging the important role that regional and sub-regional organisations
           can play in ensuring the protection of journalists, media professionals, and
           associated personnel in armed conflicts and the importance of effective co -operation
           between the United Nations and those organizations,
                 Further acknowledging the specific risks faced by women journalists, media
           professionals and associated personnel in conduct of their work, and underlining in
           this context the importance of considering the gender dimension of measures to
           address their safety in situations of armed conflict,
                 Recognizing that the consideration of the issue of protection of journalists in
           armed conflict by the Security Council is based on the urgency and importance of
           this issue, and recognizing the valuable role that the Secretary-General can play in
           providing more information on this issue,
                1.    Condemns all violations and abuses committed against journalists, media
           professionals and associated personnel in situations of armed conflict, and calls
           upon all parties to armed conflict to bring an end to such practic es;
                 2.    Affirms that the work of a free, independent and impartial media
           constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society, and thereby can
           contribute to the protection of civilians;
                 3.   Recalls in this regard that journalists, media professionals and associated
           personnel engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict
           shall be considered as civilians and shall be respected and protected as such,
           provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as c ivilians. This is



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               without prejudice to the right of war correspondents accredited to the armed forces
               to the status of prisoners of war provided for in article 4.A.4 of the Third Geneva
               Convention;
                     4.    Strongly condemns the prevailing impunity for violations and abuses
               committed against journalists, media professionals and associated personnel in
               situations of armed conflict, which in turn may contribute to the recurrence of these
               acts;
                    5.    Emphasizes the responsibility of States to comply with the relevant
               obligations under international law to end impunity and to prosecute those
               responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law;
                    6.    Urges Member States to take appropriate steps to ensure accountability
               for crimes committed against journalists, media professionals and associated
               personnel in situations of armed conflict and through the conduct of impartial,
               independent and effective investigations within their jurisdiction and to bring
               perpetrators of such crimes to justice;
                    7.    Recalls its demand that all parties to an armed conflict comply fully with
               the obligations applicable to them under international law related to the protection
               of civilians in armed conflict, including journalists, media professionals and
               associated personnel;
                    8.    Urges the immediate and unconditional release of journalists, media
               professionals and associated personnel who have been kidnapped or taken as
               hostages, in situations of armed conflict;
                    9.    Urges all parties involved in situations of armed conflict to respect the
               professional independence and rights of journalists, media professionals and
               associated personnel as civilians;
                     10. Recalls also that media equipment and installations constitute civilian
               objects, and in this respect shall not be the object of attack or of reprisals, unless
               they are military objectives;
                     11. Recognizes the important role that education and training in international
               humanitarian law can play in supporting efforts to halt and prevent attacks against
               civilians affected by armed conflict, including journalists, media professionals and
               associated personnel;
                    12. Affirms that United Nations peacekeeping and special political missions,
               where appropriate should include in their mandated reporting information on
               specific acts of violence against journalists, media professionals and associated
               personnel in situation of armed conflict;
                     13. Urges all parties to armed conflict to do their utmost to prevent
               violations of international humanitarian law against civilians, including journalists,
               media professionals and associated personnel;
                     14. Calls upon Member States to create and maintain, in law and in practice,
               a safe and enabling environment for journalists, media professionals and associated
               personnel to perform their work independently and wi thout undue interference in
               situations of armed conflict;




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                 15. Stresses the need to ensure better cooperation and coordination at the
           international level, including among the United Nations and relevant international
           regional and sub-regional organizations, including through technical assistance and
           capacity-building, with regard to promoting and ensuring the safety of journalists,
           media professionals and associated personnel in armed conflicts;
                 16. Encourages the United Nations and regional and sub-regional
           organizations to share expertise on good practices and lessons learned on protection
           of journalists, media professionals and associated personnel in armed conflict and,
           in close co-operation, to enhance the coherent and effective implementation of
           applicable international humanitarian law and relevant Security Council resolutions
           including those on protection of journalist, media professionals and associated
           personnel in situations of the armed conflict;
                17. Invites States which have not yet done so to consider becoming parties to
           the additional Protocols I and II of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions at the earliest
           possible date;
                18. Reaffirms that it will continue to address the issue of protection of
           journalists in armed conflict;
                 19. Requests the Secretary-General to include consistently as a sub-item in
           his reports on the protection of civilians in armed conflict the issue of the safety and
           security of journalists, media professionals and associated personnel, including the
           existence of measures to protect such individuals facing an imminent threat, and to
           ensure that information on attacks and violence against journalists, media
           professionals and associated personnel and preventative actions taken to prevent
           such incidents is included as a specific aspect in relevant country specific reports.




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