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THW grant journalists covering military conflicts the same legal protection as doctors

with red cross/ red crescent

Proposition

Argument 1

S: We need to protect our messagers, our only link to reality.

E:As we all know, the press is the fourth power in the state, the press is the real power of

the people, and journalists covering military conflicts are a part of it. They are a huge

benefit for us in case of war when they are the only way that the people can find out what

is happening on the front. We have a lot to thank them for

Argument 2

S: They are going through the same risks

E: One of the reasons why the proposition believes that journalists deserve the same

legal protection is because they are going through the same risks as Red Cross doctors on

the battlefields, in the conflict zones, while they are reporting and filming they are in the

same danger of getting killed by weapons as doctors, and actually journalists are in more

disadvantage because they cant carry any selfprotection material with them. The only

difference between journalists and rc doctors is their duty, one is healing and treating

and one is informing the population, but they both have important tasks to do and we thefact that they need to cope with the same risks is very important and thats why

journalists also need the protection that doctors have.

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Opposition

Argument 1

S: The role of a doctor cannot be compared to the role of a journalist during wartime.

E: We should concentrate on ending wars as soon as possible, not let the media take

advantage of them. War coverage is one of the most successful branches of journalism.

Newspaper sales increase greatly in wartime and television news ratings go up. News

organizations have sometimes been accused of militarism because of the advantages they

gather from conflict.

Militarism is "the belief or desire of a government or people that a country shouldmaintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or

promote national interests."It may also imply the "glorification of the ideals of a

professional military class" and the "predominance of the armed forces in the

administration or policy of the state".

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral, and

independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives

and dignity of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance.

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Journalists do gain some advantages if they communicate news directly from the

battlefield, they don't so it for free and their work is not essential for the welfare of the

people. Doctors, on the other hand, have a really important role there, they help the

injured people, so their lives should be protected for them to be able to help others in

turn. Their deaths are considered to be war crimes and are punished by the international

humanitarian law also because, along with them, a lot of people they could've saved die.

Of course it is impossible to have no casualties in a war, but the protection the emblem of

the Red Cross provides for the doctors is meant to save every people they can help on the

battlefield, thus trying to limit the potential loss of lives. Therefore, they need the

protection; efforts should be made for the protection of journalists, but nowhere near the

one which should be provided for doctors.

What we tried to emphasize in this argument was the fact that the role of a doctor

during wartime cannot be compared to that of a journalist, which is why they shouldn't

have the same degree of protection from the international humanitarian law.

X: Veteran French surgeon Jacques Brs saves lives after 44 years in world's war zones

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/11/syria-french-surgeon-saves-lives

I: If the laws protect a doctor's life, he can save hundreds of other people, thus decreasing

the number of deaths; even if the journalists are really important, the importance of their

duty is nowhere near the one of a doctor and we consider that all the efforts should be

focused on protecting the people who can take care of the injured people and save their

lives.

Argument 2

S: It is useless to give the journalists more protection if at the moment the one that they

are supposed to have is not efficient in any way.E:At the moment journalists are treated as civilians, therefore they are protected by the

UNSC( United Nations Security Council) and the Peacekeepers, and as UN stated in in

times of war it is our primary responsibility to protect de innocent and as far as we can

see, that didnt work out quite the way they wanted, because in almost any armed

conflicts 90% of the victims are civilians. Since even the UN failed to protect the civilians,

therefore the journalists, we believe that it wont do them any justice to give them more

protection if it wont have a positive effect.

The opposition believes that people should focus on the current measures and try to

improve them and also bring this matter to the ICC to make the laws regarding the

crimes of war stricter.The reason why we should make the laws stricter is because journalists are dying in

every armed conflict and nobody appears to notice.

X: We have a very recent example, where journalists died reporting from a war zone on

Syria 2011, during the civil war.

I : If we will try and focus more on the issues regarding the current measures and try to

improve them rather than give them more legal protection and protectors that will fail to

fulfill their duty we might actually make them a greater good, creating efficient measures

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/11/syria-french-surgeon-saves-liveshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/11/syria-french-surgeon-saves-lives

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that at the moment are very disfunctional.