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The Department of Defense Clarifies Legal Protections for Journalists in Updated Law of War Manual

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2017

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Type
Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 110 , Issue 4 , October 2016 , pp. 826 - 829
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2016

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References

1 U.S. Dep't of Defense Press Release, DoD Announces Update to DoD Law of War Manual (July 22, 2016), at http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/852738/dod-announces-update-to-the-dod-law-of-war-manual [hereinafter DoD Manual Update].

2 U.S. Dep't of Defense, Law of War Manual, para. 1.1.1 (2016), available at http://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/DoD_Law_of_War_Manual-June_2015_Updated_May_2016.pdf [hereinafter Revised Manual].

3 U.S. Dep’t of Defense, Law of War Manual, preface (2015), available at http://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/law_war_manual15.pdf [hereinafter Original Manual].

4 Revised Manual, supra note 2, preface.

5 Id. at v.

6 Id.

7 Id.

8 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I) Art. 79(1), June 8, 1977, 1125 UNT S3 [hereinafter Additional Protocol I].

9 See Reply Brief for Defendant-Appellant at 11, Hedges v. Obama, 724 F.3d 170 (2d Cir. 2013) (No. 12-3644) (“As an initial matter, it is an established law of war norm, which is reflected in Article 79 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, that ‘journalists’ are generally to be protected as ‘civilians.’ Although the United States is not a party to Additional Protocol I, it supports and respects this important principle.”).

10 S.C. Res. 2222, paras. 3, 7 (May 27, 2015).

11 See Journalists, Int’l Comm. of the Red Cross, at https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul_rule34 (last visited Aug. 21, 2016).

12 Original Manual, supra note 3, para. 4.24.

13 Id., para. 4.24.2.

14 Id., para. 4.24.4.

15 Id.; see, e.g., Additional Protocol I, supra note 8, Art. 79(3) (explaining that journalists “may obtain an identity card similar to the model in Annex II of this Protocol. This card, which shall be issued by the government of the State of which the journalist is a national or in whose territory he resides or in which the news medium employing him is located, shall attest to his status as a journalist”).

16 Original Manual, supra note 3, at 4.24.5.

17 Editorial Board, The Pentagon's Dangerous Views on the Wartime Press, N.Y. Times (Aug. 10, 2015), at A18.

18 Pentagon's Revised Law of War Manual Recognizes Role of Independent Journalists, Comm. to Protect Journalists (July 22, 2016), at https://cpj.org/2016/07/pentagons-revised-law-of-war-manual-recognizes-rol.php [hereinafter CPJ Statement].

19 Letter from Robert S. Taylor, Acting General Counsel, Department of Defense, to Christophe Deloire, Secretary- General, Reporters Without Borders (Sept. 15, 2015).

20 DoD Directive 5122.05, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (ASD(OA)), 9 (Sept. 5, 2008).

21 The Law of War Manual: The Pentagon Responds, Al Jazeera (Aug. 29, 2015), at http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2015/08/law-war-manual-pentagon-responds-150829095950357.html [hereinafter The Pentagon Responds].

22 Id. (emphasis added)

23 Original Manual, supra note 3, para. 4.24.

24 The Pentagon Responds, supra note 21.

25 Id.

26 Revised Manual, supra note 2, para. 1.1.1.

27 DoD Manual Update, supra note 1.

28 Id.

29 Revised Manual, supra note 2, para. 4.24.

30 Id. para. 4.24.1.

31 Id. para. 4.24.2.1.

32 CPJ Statement, supra note 18.

33 Original Manual, supra note 3, para. 4.24.4.

34 Revised Manual, supra note 2, para. 4.24.1.2.

35 Id., para. 4.24.1.

36 RSF Welcomes US Department of Defense Revisions to the Law of War Manual, Reporters Without Borders (July 21, 2016), at https://rsf.org/en/news/rsf-welcomes-us-department-defense-revisions-law-war-manual.

37 CPJ Statement, supra note 18.