CPJ and Al Jazeera condemn killing journalists in conflict zones

 
The Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network has stressed the importance of protecting journalists working in conflict zones and called for more solidarity between media organizations and human rights groups.

In his first public address since he was appointed director general of the Doha-based network last month, Sheikh Nasser bin Faisal Al Thani said on Wednesday that Al Jazeera has made the protection of journalists a firm priority and the network conducts training and mentorship of its journalists to ensure this.

“The press has never been a party to the conflict, but has been a tool for getting information to the people,” Sheikh Nasser told the Conference on The Protection of Journalists in Armed Conflicts, a two-day event held in Doha, Qatar. He said it is critical to ramp up measures to safeguard journalists in war zones. “Otherwise, war crimes will remain unwritten” about.

He called for the implementation of human rights regulations and enhanced solidarity among media organizations and human rights organizations.
“Silencing free speech will not stop the truth,” Sheikh Nasser said. “Protecting journalists is protection of the truth itself.”

The first day of the conference comprised several sessions, where speakers included journalists who had reported in conflict zones, such as Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh, who was wounded in an Israeli attack on Gaza in late 2023.

Dahdouh has campaigned to raise awareness of the unsafe conditions for journalists working in Gaza since Israel launched its war on the Palestinian territory on October 7, 2023.

At least 300 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza during the two-year war, according to the Shireen Abu Akleh Observatory. This includes 10 journalists from Al Jazeera.

“Journalists are being killed and genocide is being committed against them,” Dahdouh told the conference.

Other speakers included legal experts and workers associated with nonprofit organizations that work for the safety of journalists, such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). A spokesperson for the International Criminal Court (ICC) also spoke at one of the sessions.

“The attacks and threats endured by journalist Patient Chimusa, along with the repeated detention of Aimé Paluku, are tragic reminders of the dangers journalists continue to face in government-controlled eastern DRC,” said CPJ Africa Director Angela Quintal. “Reporting in a conflict zone is risky enough without authorities allowing their allies to intimidate journalists. Congolese authorities should hold those responsible to account and prioritize the safety of the media.”

Chimusa said he was also attacked by three people after work on September 8, two of whom were armed with knives and took his phone and laptop.