Release from PEC – The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) alerts the media community to the fact that the Israeli Army investigation clearing a tank crew of any wrong-doing in the killing of Reuters’ cameraman Fadel Shana in April in the Gaza Strip leaves several serious points open.

The killed journalist Mr. Shana was wearing the commonly used press badge, another one was flagged on his car and camera.

This case opens the file of what to do when a journalist is killed and the killers are exonerated from the charge.

Many questions remain unresolved, that of compensation, that of impunity and the emotional and financial losses incurred on Mr. Shana’s family.

If impunity prevails then who will be tasked to take action against the killers?

It is in this context that the PEC reiterates its call to join the PEC’s 4-year campaign to put in place legal provisions that would be the guarantor of rights in such cases of outright impunity.

This case, as well as others, lately in the Georgia-Russia conflict, shows that the path of words is over and further delay in acting collectively means more lives lost among the media community.

Reuters, the employer of Shana, said it was told by the Israeli Defence Forces’ Military Advocate-General that "troops could not see whether Shana was operating a camera or a weapon but were nonetheless justified in firing a shell packed with darts that killed him and eight other Palestinians aged between 12 and 20."

Looking back, the Shana case today flags again a similar one that of Mazan Dana, another Reuters cameraman, whose camera was mistaken for a rocket launcher in front of Abu-Ghraib prison on 17 August 2003.

Five years after Dana’s death, shot by US soldiers in Iraq, the media community stands idle and impotent, unable to bring the perpetrators of their colleagues to justice.

The PEC holds the responsibility of this injustice on the shoulders of those who still oppose a legal instrument to protect journalists in war zones and in other dangerous situations.

GENEVA, August 18 2008