Indian-Pakistan conflict: Why Gulf News will not release pilot video
We are committed to highest standard of responsible and ethical journalism
Dubai: Gulf News has decided not to run a video, purportedly shot by the Pakistani army and showing what Islamabad says is that of an Indian pilot.
Gulf News is in possession of the video footage that allegedly shows an Indian Air Force Pilot in custody of Pakistani army.
In the video, the alleged Indian pilot is seen interacting with unidentified military personnel.
However, Gulf News has decided not to broadcast the video on ethical grounds following its best practices in journalism and respecting all provision of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war.
“Despite the temptation of getting enormous digital traffic, we took the hard decision not to run the alleged video of the Indian pilot on our website,” Mohammad Almezel, Managing Editor of Gulf News said.
“It is unethical, it violates the Geneva Convention, and we have the responsibility to guard against any possible war propaganda. It has always been our policy to abide by the principles of ethical journalism and to respect human dignity. We will uphold that editorial commitment at all cost,” he added.
In the video, the allegedly captured pilot is seen as saying:
“My name is Wing Commander...I got hurt and I would request some water.
"What else," the question was asked to the alleged pilot.
“This is all I am supposed to tell you,” the pilot says. “May I request some information. Am I with the Pakistani army,” he says.
What the 1949 Geneva Convention III, relative to the treatment of Prisoners of War:
Prisoners of War (PoW) must be treated humanely in all circumstances.
Article 13 of the third Geneva convention states that PoWs must be humanely treated and "protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity".
Source: International Committee of the Red Cross https://bit.ly/2Eiku0Z