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persons, objects, and activities
prohibition’s object and purpose, the International Group of Experts agreed that the term ‘take part’ was appropriate.
SECTION 5:
JOURNALISTS
Rule 79 – Protection of journalists Civilian journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict are civilians and shall be respected as such, in particular with regard to cyber attacks, as long as they are not taking a direct part in hostilities. 1. This Rule, based on Article 79 of Additional Protocol I, reflects customary international law applicable in international and noninternational armed conflict.64 It is especially relevant in the cyber context because of the heavy reliance of contemporary journalists on computers and communication systems and networks. 2. Some Experts took the position that Rule 34 of the ICRC Customary IHL Study accurately reflects customary international law. According to that rule, ‘civilian journalists engaged in professional missions in areas of armed conflict must be respected and protected, as long as they are not taking a direct part in hostilities’. The accompanying commentary asserts ‘there is also practice which indicates that journalists exercising their professional activities in relation to an armed conflict must be protected’. 3. The majority of the International Group of Experts took the view that the only customary obligation is to ‘respect’ journalists, rather than ‘protect’ them. Parties to the conflict must not harm journalists, but are not obliged to protect them from being harmed by others, for instance, by cyber means. A majority of the Experts also took the position that this Rule applies only to the obligation to respect the journalists themselves and not to their journalistic activities or products, such as content posted on a website. They were unwilling to go beyond the text 64
UK Manual, para. 8.18; Canadian Manual, paras. 313, 441; German Manual, para. 515; NIAC Manual, para. 3.10; ICRC Customary IHL Study, Rule 34; US Department of Defense, Memorandum on 1977 Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions: Customary International Law Implications (9 May 1986) reprinted in United States Army Judge Advocate General’s School, Law of War Documentary Supplement 234 (2011) (citing with approval Additional Protocol I, Art. 79, ‘as supportable for inclusion in customary law through state practice’).