Head of French-based media rights watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres, Robert Menard, has condemned American forces’ attitude to journalists during the Iraq conflict.
“Thirteen of them lost their lives in Iraq,” he said in remarks broadcast by Radio France Internationale to mark International Press Freedom Day. “Some of these deaths I would blame on occupational hazard, because in conflict there’s no such thing as zero risk. At the same time there’s more to it than that,” Mr Menard added. “When the American army opens fire on the offices of Al-Jazeera television, when the self-same American army fires at a hotel like the Hotel Palestine where everyone knew journalists were staying, these are not called occupational hazards, they’re called war crimes.”
“This is why we have demanded an explanation from the American army. We have asked those in charge of ensuring observance of the Geneva conventions to do their job. We’ve had no response yet. You cannot say that you’re fighting for democracy and then shoot journalists. There seems to be a contradiction here,” Robert Menard concluded.