http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee 224 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 8 / 2016 «The media play an essential role as vehicles for the exercise of the social dimension of freedom of expression in a democratic society (…) «it is essential that journalists (…) should enjoy the necessary protection and independence to exercise their functions to the fullest, because it is they who keep society informed, an indispensable requirement to enable society to enjoy full freedom and for public discourse to become stronger».61 The modification of the Law of War Manual62 of the US Department of Defense (a document that we have already referred to) to no longer consider journalists as potential spies and to recognise their important work towards freedom and promotion of the rule of law created momentum for the normalisation of journalism activities in situations of armed conflict, something which professional associations, such as the Committee to Protect Journalists or Reporters Without Borders, very much appreciate.63 Plus, in this regard, we should not forget the acknowledgement given to the use-fulness of journalism marked by the recent admission of the Committee to Protect Journalists as a consultative member of ECOSOC in order to promote freedom of expression within the United Nations system.64 All these aspects bear witness to the growing awareness amongst governments and international organisations of the peacekeeping role of journalists, although on many occasions such acknowledgement remains on paper and is not accompanied by real measures being put in place to defend this profession. Although more specific and prac-tical measures are desirable, at least these expressions bolster the work of journalists as guarantors of the right to freedom of expression as laid down in Article 19 of the Interna-tional Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), which was then echoed in the same article in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), and successively in the most prominent regional declarations such as Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (1950), Article 13 de la American Convention on Human Rights (1969) and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’Rights (1981). As citizens, we all have the right to report and to receive authentic information, to know the truth about events, especially traumatic or violent ones; in the same way, victims have the tacit right to have the world be aware of their fate. The rights enshrined in these instruments are difficult to apply in many cases, in particular if we bear in mind that in wartime states have the possibility to suspend them, by applying Article 4.1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.65 The more difficult it is to enjoy them, the more significant the advancement that journalists aim to achieve with their work. 61 IIACHR Sentence. Case of Herrera Ulloa v. Costa Rica, 2 July 2004, para. 119 http://www.corteidh.or.cr/ docs/casos/articulos/seriec_107_ing.pdf. 62 Department of Defense. Law of War Manual (Updated version May 2016) pp.171-172. https://assets.docu-mentcloud. org/documents/2997317/DoD-Law-of-War-Manual-June-2015-Updated-May-2016.pdf. 63 https://rsf.org/en/news/rsf-welcomes-us-department-defense-revisions-law-war-manual. 64 https://www.cpj.org/2016/08/cpj-newsletter-ecosoc-accepts-our-application-we-a.php. 65 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) , published in the Spanish Official Gazette BOE no.103, 30 April 1977. https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-1977-10733.
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