Yemen: 24 violations of media freedoms documented

Journalists and mourners lift placards and banners during the funeral of TV reporter Adib al-Janani who was killed in an attack on Aden airport, in Yemen’s third city of Taez on 2 January 2021. [AHMAD AL-BASHA/AFP via Getty Images]

The Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate (YJS) has documented 24 violations of media freedoms and journalists’ rights during the first quarter of 2021.

The body said in a statement issued on Tuesday that it had documented seven cases of arrest, detention and prosecution, seven cases of trial and summons, six cases of prevention of coverage, visitation and health care, and two cases of confiscation of the journalists’ possessions and property in addition to one case of assault.

The report, which covers the period from January to March 2021, identified the Houthi militia as the main violator of media freedoms in Yemen with 58 per cent of the total violations committed by the group, followed by the internationally-recognised government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

“Unfortunately, the worst reality imposed by the war in Yemen over the past six years is lack of acceptance or permission for the right of pluralism and difference which has negatively affected the reality of press freedoms in the country,” it said.

The syndicate noted that 13 journalists are still in detention, 11 were kidnapped by the Houthi militia, one photojournalist was detained by local authorities in the Hadhramaut governorate and another is being held by Al-Qaeda.

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