Civilians or Combatants? The Legal Status of Journalist in the Cambodia-Thailand Armed Conflict Under International Humanitarian Law
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22437/up.v7i1.51866Keywords:
humanitarian law;, journalists;, state responsibility;, cambodia-thailand conflict;, aseanAbstract
Background: Journalists covering armed conflict zones have a strategic role to play in ensuring the public's right to information and promoting accountability for violations of international law. The armed conflict between Cambodia and Thailand in the border area around Preah Vihear Temple shows that territorial disputes between developing countries can be a high-risk situation for journalists' safety. Methodology This research uses a normative legal research method with a statutory and conceptual approach. It analyses international legal instruments such as the 1949 Geneva Conventions, 1977 Additional Protocol I, international human rights instruments, and International Court of Justice judgements related to the Cambodia-Thailand dispute. In addition, the study also analyses reports from international organisations to assess the practice and implementation of journalist protection. Objective: The research aims to analyse the legal protection of journalists in interstate armed conflicts, assess the responsibilities of the Cambodian and Thai governments towards the protection of journalists, and analyse the role of ASEAN in the context of journalist protection in Southeast Asia. The findings: show that while international humanitarian law provides clear normative protection for journalists as civilians, its implementation at the national and regional levels remains weak. State responsibility is often hampered by military operational practices, while ASEAN's protection mechanisms remain normative and non-binding. Originality: This research offers an integrated analysis of international humanitarian law, state responsibility, and ASEAN regional governance in the context of interstate armed conflict in Southeast Asia, which has rarely been analysed to dateDownloads
References
Adams, Leticia A. “An Exploratory Study of the Effectiveness of the CPJ in Defending Journalists and Press Freedom Ideals in Latin America: Transnational Advocacy in the International Sphere.” Brigham Young University-Provo, 2004.
Adley, Mnar. Project Censored’s State of the Free Press 2025. Seven Stories Press, 2025.
Analysis of the Preah Vihear Temple Dispute in the Perspective of International Law on the Acquisition of State Territorial Sovereignty (2025). https://doi.org/10.31941/pj.v24i2.6495.
ASEAN Secretariat. ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025. Jakarta, 2025.
Assembly, U N General. The Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity. United Nation, 2022.
Awoah, Andika Esra. “Perlindungan Terhadap Korban Perang Dalam Perspektif Konvensi-Konvensi Internasional Tentang Hukum Humaniter Dan HAM.” Lex Crimen 5, no. 7 (2016).
Aziz, Manizja, and Leon Willems. “Safety of Journalists.” The Routledge Handbook of Conflict and Peace Communication, 2024.
Balguy-Gallois, Alexandre. “The Protection of Journalists and News Media Personnel in Armed Conflict.” International Review of the Red Cross 86, no. 853 (2004): 37–67.
Belyaeva, Galina S. “Legal Regime: The Concept and Features.” RUDN Journal of Law 25, no. 1 (2021): 281–93. https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-2337-2021-25-1-281-293.
Burri, Nina. Bravery or Bravado? The Protection of News Providers in Armed Conflict. Vol. 45. Hotei Publishing, 2015.
Calvet Pagès, Jordi. “Independent Journalism Under Hegemonic Authoritarianism in Cambodia: A Struggle against Legal Harassment, Irrelevance and Bankruptcy.” Preprint, 2025.
Canton, Helen. “Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).” In The Europa Directory of International Organizations 2021. Routledge, 2021.
Chatinakrob, By Thanapat. Legal Frameworks and Accountability in Southern Thailand. Vol. 172. no. 172. 2025.
Chlevickaite, Gabriele, and Maarten Bolhuis. Research Study on an International Investigative Task Force on Crimes against Journalists. 2024.
Ciorciari, John D. “Request for Interpretation of the Judgment of 15 June 1962 in the Case Concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand).” American Journal of International Law 108, no. 2 (2014): 288–95. https://doi.org/10.5305/amerjintelaw.108.2.0288.
Düsterhöft, Isabel. “The Protection of Journalists in Armed Conflicts: How Can They Be Better Safeguarded?” Merkourios 29, no. 76 (2013): 04–22.
Dyachenko, Valery. “Ensuring the Protection of Journalists during Armed Conflicts by the Norms of International Humanitarian Law.” Law Rev. Kyiv UL, 2023, 210.
Fleck, Dieter. The Handbook of International Humanitarian Law. Oxford University Press, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/law/9780198847960.001.0001.
Guan, Benny Teh Cheng. “Digitalization and Human Security in Southeast Asia: Challenges, Approaches, and Policy Considerations.” In Security Development and Suistanableity in AsiaIN ASIA: Volume 3: Environment, Sustainability and Human Security: Volume 3: Environment, Sustainability and Human Security. World Scientific, 2023.
Gunawan, Yordan, Arif Budiman, Nafiza Fauziah, and Wa Ode Fithrah Az-zalia Syamsudin. Journalist Protection on the Battlefield under the International Humanitarian Law: Russia-Ukraine War. 39, no. 1 (2023): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.26532/jh.v39i1.24685.
Henckaerts, Jean-Marie, and Louise Doswald-Beck. “International Committee of the Red Cross: Customary International Humanitarian Law.” Band I: Rules, Cambridge, 2005.
Jayangakula, Kitti. “Current International Legal Issues: Thailand.” In Asian Yearbook of International Law, Volume 23 (2017). Brill Nijhoff, 2019.
Kulwuthivilas, Songkiat, Thomas Bruce, and Nophadol Chartprasert. “The Preah Vihear Dispute: The Role of ASEAN Mechanisms and Norms in Settlement Attempts.” Thammasat University, 2021.
Levin, Elizabeth. “Journalists as a Protected Category: A New Status for the Media in International Humanitarian Law.” UCLA J. Int’l L. Foreign Aff. 17, no. 1 (2013): 215–50.
Mahlangu, Jacob. “ASEAN and Its Limitations in Addressing Human Rights Issues.” In University of Pretoria. Authorea, 2025.
Makur, Albertus, Ernu Widodo, and Mahon Nitin. “Legal Protection of Journalists’ Rights Based on Law No 40 of 1999 on Freedom of the Press.” Sharia Oikonomia Law Journal 1, no. 3 (2023): 197–207. https://doi.org/10.55849/solj.v1i3.498.
McMenamin, Rebecca. “Advisory Opinion on Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change: Potential Contribution of Human Rights Bodies.” Climate Law 13, nos. 3–4 (2023): 213–23.
Mukherjee, Mayuri. “Understanding Transnational Advocacy Groups: A Case Study of the Effectiveness of the Committee to Protect Journalists in the Promotion of Press Freedom in the Philippines.” Preprint, West Virginia University, 2011.
Narattharaksa, Teeradej, and Kanida Nikky Narattharaksa. “A Study on Government Laws and Regulations That Do Not Facilitate Public Access to Drugs and Vaccines during Public Health Emergency.” Available at SSRN 4438714 5 (2023).
Nasution, Elyzabeth Bonethe, and Aisha Nafitra Putri Yandri. “Hukum Internasional Dalam Perlindungan Jurnalis Dan Media: Studi Kasus Israel-Hamas Dan Rusia-Ukraina.” Jurnal Lectura 2, no. 1 (2025): 26–41. https://doi.org/10.19166/lectura.v2i1.10260.
No. 0911.1128 Criminal Code Cambodia.
OHCHR. “State of Press Freedom in Cambodia.” In United Nations Human Rights. 2022.
Pleadings, Oral Arguments, Documents Case Concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (1959).
Putra, Akbar Kurnia, Eunike Trisnawati, Retno Kusniati, Bernard Sipahutar, and Ramlan Ramlan. “Penggunaan Hewan Dalam Konflik Bersenjata: Kajian Hukum Humaniter Internasional.” Undang: Jurnal Hukum 5, no. 1 (2022): 207–30. https://doi.org/10.22437/ujh.5.1.207-230.
Secretary-General, U N. Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 19 of the Convention: Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: Initial Reports of States Parties Due in 2004: Note/by the Secretary-General. United Nation, 2004.
Sinaga, Hasudungan, and Josafat Pondang. Juridical Analysis of Legal Protection for Journalists in Indonesia. 45, no. 4 (2024): 1986–92.
Siriyuvasak, Ubobrat. “Overview Freedom of Expression in Thailand.” Asian Communication Handbook, Singapore: Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) and School of Communication Studies, Nanyang Technological University, 2003.
Slavko, Anna S, Vladyslava M Zavhorodnia, and Sergey I Degtyarev. “Protection of Journalists under International Humanitarian Law: Modern Challenges for Freedom of Media under Martial Law.” International Journal of Media and Information Literacy 8, no. 2 (2023): 427–35. https://doi.org/10.13187/ijmil.2023.2.427.
Slavtcheva-Petkova, Vera, Jyotika Ramaprasad, Nina Springer, et al. “Conceptualizing Journalists’ Safety around the Globe.” Digital Journalism 11, no. 7 (2023): 1211–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2162429.
Soeng, Reth, and Ludo Cuyvers. “The Telecommunications Sector and Its Impact on Cambodia’s Services Export Performance.” The International Trade Journal 36, no. 6 (2022): 527–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/08853908.2021.1943072.
Sophath, Vann. “The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights and Its Human Rights Education Program.” Human Rights Education in Asian Schools 4 (2003): 38–39.
Team Legal Analysis. “Thailand : Computer Crime Act, 2017.” In Free Word Centre. no. January. London, 2017.
Tempo. “Konflik Thailand Kamboja Memanas, Korban Tewas Jadi 13 Orang.” Tempo, 2025.
Triyana, Heribertus Jaka, Novita Putri Harjono, and Ronan Mcdermott. “Implementing the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response for Better Coordination and Simplification Procedures.” Jambe Law Journal 5, no. 2 (2023): 147–205. https://doi.org/10.22437/jlj.5.2.147-205.
Turcsányi, Richard Q, and Zdeněk Kříž. “ASEAN and the Thai-Cambodian Conflict: The Final Stage at Preah Vihear?” In Unresolved Border, Land and Maritime Disputes in Southeast Asia. Brill, 2017.
United Nation. “Prosecutor v. Galic, Appeals Judgement, 30 Nov. 2006.” In Judgement. 2006.
United Nation. Situation In the Democratic Republic of The Congo in the Case of The Prosecutor V. Bosco Ntaganda. no. International Criminal of Court. 2019.
Vinata, Ria, and Ibnu Asqori Pohan. “The Significance of State Practises in Enforcing the Principle of Effectiveness in Claims of Territorial Ownership.” Justitia Jurnal Hukum 7, no. 2 (2023). https://doi.org/10.30651/justitia.v7i2.20410.
Vinata, Ria Tri, and Ibnu Asqori Pohan. “Human Rights Guarantees for the Protection of Indigenous Peoples as Climate Change Refugees in Indonesia.” International Journal of Policy Studies, 4, no. 1 (2024): 41–55.
Waenalai, Usaimeen. “Thailand’s Role in ASEAN’s Preventive Diplomacy.” Chulalongkorn University, 2023.
Wagner, Markus. “Temple of Preah Vihear Case.” Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (EPIL). Oxford University Press, Online Edition< August 3 (2009): 2011.
Wongwuttiwat, Jittima, and Adtha Lawanna. “The Digital Thailand Strategy and the ASEAN Community.” The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries 84, no. 3 (2018): e12024. https://doi.org/10.1002/isd2.12024.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ria Tri Vinata
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
