UNESCO chief deplores killing of Pakistani cameraman
The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today deplored the killing of Munir Ahmed Sangi, a Pakistani cameraman who was shot dead on Monday while covering a gunfight in the south-eastern part of his country.
The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today deplored the killing of Munir Ahmed Sangi, a Pakistani cameraman who was shot dead on Monday while covering a gunfight in the south-eastern part of his country.
In a statement released in Paris, Koïchiro Matsuura, who has a mandate to champion press freedom, called for improved safety for journalists working in areas of armed conflict.
“I deplore the killing of Munir Ahmed Sangi,” the Director-General declared. “In keeping with the First Protocol of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of civilians in times of conflict, it is essential for all armed groups to understand and to respect media workers' need to carry out their work in conflict areas.”
He added that “there can be no excuse for confusing media workers and fighters.”
Mr. Sangi is reported to have been shot while filming a gunfight between members of the Unar and Abro tribes in Larkana, in the Sindh district of south-eastern Pakistan for Sindhi-language Kawish Television Network. According to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Mr Sangi may have been targeted because of his station's reports on a jirga, or council, in which the leaders of the Unar tribe ruled on the punishment of two children.