Strasbourg, 06/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 5 February, a former hostage, the father of a journalist who is being held hostage and members of Reporters without Borders (RSB) called for greater European awareness of the situation of journalists being held hostage in Syria. “The services of the various member states (concerned by the hostage situation) must work together as much as possible from a legal point of view and in full application of the law, and to assist things operationally”, the secretary general of RSB, Christophe Deloire, said. “This is an issue which concerns the European states, all Europeans (…). Europe must take position on this issue”, said journalist Serge July. “The issue of hostage-taking is a political problem which we must tackle together”, stressed Nicolas Henin, the father of one of the French journalists being held in Syria, Pierre-Yves Henin. Former hostage Magnus Falkehed said that his kidnappers were not interested in his nationality, but in the fact that he was European. “For me, it is clear that Europe must get involved. There has been good cooperation. Cooperation which could be improved. For Syria, the question no longer matters in terms of nationalities”, he explained.
Deloire also called for the creation of a monitoring group within the United Nations on resolutions regarding the safety of journalists, and an amendment of Article 8 of the International Criminal Court to make crimes against journalists equivalent to war crimes, adding that all that was needed was for a European state to take the initiative.
There is a banner of support for the hostages at the Parliament in Strasbourg and the President of the institution, Martin Schulz, paid tribute to the hostages when he opened the voting on 6 February. (CG/transl.fl)