(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) France on Thursday welcomed a UN Security Council resolution passed the previous day on the need to protect journalists, both in conflict zones and in other areas.
Around 700 pressmen and women have lost their lives in the past decade while doing their jobs, and a number of these have been killed in conflicts, most recently and notably in Syria and Iraq.
UNSC resolution 2222 is meant to bolster a resolution sponsored by France in 2006, but which was not implemented in many areas.
The new text covers the status of journalists both in conflict areas and outside, and it urges belligerents and all authorities to respect freedom of the press and the right of journalists to exercise their profession without obstacles or intimidation.
"Given that 90 percent of crimes committed against journalists are not pursued, the (new) resolution reaffirms the importance of the fight against impunity and stresses the role the International Criminal Court (ICC) could play in this regard," a French Foreign Ministry statement said.
Resolution 2222 calls on UN peacekeepers to report violence against journalists to the United Nations which could refer cases to the ICC.
Journalists' bodies have welcomed the new resolution but have also warned that it must be followed by "concrete action".
Press freedom body Reporters Without Borders, which addressed the Security Council during the debate on resolution 2222, said that it wanted the ICC mandated in the case of crimes against journalists and the press.
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