Only a free media and responsible journalism can contribute to ending impunity universally, hence steps should be taken to punish those who target journalists through intimidation, threats, harassment, imprisonment, torture and even murders.

With on-line journalism increasingly fostering a spirit of intolerance and unaccountability, more effective regulation – including the licensing of on-line journalists – needs to be considered as a potential remedy to hate speech on-line.

Though an under-explored aspect of contemporary conflict, developments in information technology are fuelling the emergence of new forms of warfare which could pose a unique challenge to state’s critical infrastructure.

TransConflict Serbia – with the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Belgrade – organized a panel discussion in Novi Pazar, entitled ‘Hate Speech in Public Life’.

An interview by the Serbian daily newspaper, Politika, with Veselin Šljivančanin – a former general of the Yugoslav army, who was sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the ICTY – violated the ethical obligations that the media must observe when reporting about war crimes.