The Colombian security forces have denied that the Frenchjournalist was dressed as a soldier, stating that Langlois waswearing civilian clothes along with an olive green helmet and abulletproof vest. The military, Colombia's Vice President Angelino Garzon , and Human Rights Watch have all said that the FARC's labeling of Langlois is incorrect,and that by taking Langlois hostage, the FARC is violating its previous pact to stop kidnapping civilians for ransom . [See InSight Crime's FARC profile ] The fundamental question here is whether a "uniformed"journalist should be considered part of a military unit which s/heis accompanying, and therefore subject to the same legal status asmembers of the armed forces if taken captive. According to the most recent safety guide released by the Committee to Protect Journalists : A credentialed, uniformed journalist legally becomes a part of themilitary unit with whom he or she is traveling, according to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Embedded journalists may be fired upon legally byopposing forces as part of the unit, and the individual journalistmay later be detained legally and held for the duration ofhostilities as a prisoner of war. But in Langlois' specific case, it is unclear whether wearingmilitary gear, which was not identical to what the Colombian armywears, should qualify him as a "uniformed" journalist orwar correspondent and thus make him eligible for POW status. Alsocomplicating the issue is the fact that, after the FARC ambushedthe military unit he was accompanying, Langlois was shot in the armand then reportedly stripped off his gear and ran towards therebels in his civilian clothing. These ambiguities mean both the FARC and the military can maketheir cases for whether Langlois properly qualifies as a POW underthe terms of the Geneva Conventions. As Colombia Reportseditor-in-chief Adriaan Alsema observed, "Both the army andthe FARC are well aware of this clause and are happily interpretingit for their own benefit." For Langlois, the distinction is critical. Under Article 4 of the Geneva Convention , "war correspondents" may be considered POWs, but journalists may not . According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) legal expert Robin Geiss : Both are recognized as civilians, but only war correspondents areentitled to prisoner-of-war status. War correspondents are formallyauthorized to accompany the armed forces. By virtue of this closerelationship, upon capture, they are accorded the same legal statusas members of the armed forces. Complicating the legal definition of who constitutes a "warcorrespondent" someone who has received accreditedauthorization from the armed forces whom they accompany is amore modern term, "embedded journalists," a label whichwas first used during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq , and which also has been applied to Langlois. As Geiss points out: [The term] does not occur in any provision of internationalhumanitarian law and, so far as I know, it is not clearly defined.However, it is safe to say that war correspondents are commonly,although not necessarily in all cases, equated with so-called"embedded journalists." In order to become a warcorrespondent within the meaning of international humanitarian law,official accreditation by the armed forces is mandatory. Thus, ifan "embedded journalist" has received the officialaccreditation then, legally, he is a war correspondent. The ambiguities over Langlois' status as a POW is indicative of awider debate over the status of journalists reporting from warzones. With the evolution of warfare, many situations of conflict including those involving organized crime scarcely resembletraditional battlegrounds. When asking whether Langlois meritedspecial protection as a civilian during the FARC-military clash,these are also considerations that could be applied to journalistsreporting elsewhere in the region, areas such as San Pedro Sula, Ciudad Juarez , or Rio de Janeiro , all of which have been described as experiencing varying statesof urban war. If it is difficult to define whether Langlois shouldbe considered a POW or not, it is also difficult to decide whetherthe traditional terminology is still applicable to modern conflictzones. Elyssa Pachico is a writer for Insight Organized Crime in the Americas, which provides research,analysis, and investigation of the criminal world throughout theregion find all of her research here . Get daily or weekly updates from CSMonitor.com delivered to yourinbox. Sign up today . The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China AC Synchronous Servo Motor , China Electric Brake Unit, and more. For more , please visit AC Spindle Drive today!
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