Yemen: Calls for UN to include 4 journalists detained by Houthis in prisoner swap

Yemeni journalists and media professionals have called on the United Nations to include the four journalists sentenced to death by the Houthis in any future prisoner exchange deal.

“For the seventh year in a row, the terrorist Houthi militia continues to kidnap our journalists and forcibly hide them inside its dark basements in the occupied capital, Sanaa, where it physically and psychologically tortures them and exposes them to imminent danger that may end their lives,” they said in a joint statement.

“We demand the United Nations and its committees specialised in [prisoner] exchange operations include the four journalists kidnapped by the terrorist Houthi militia, namely; Abdul-Khaleq Amran, Tawfiq Al-Mansouri, Harith Hamid, and Akram Al-Walidi, in any future exchange deal,” it added.

The statement called on the Yemeni government to shoulder its responsibilities towards the kidnapped journalists and work to liberate them and care for their families.

They added that “such crimes will not be subject to a statute of limitations, and their perpetrators will be held accountable.”

The four journalists were kidnapped by the Houthis on 9 June 2015, and in April 2020, they were sentenced to death because of their work.

In March, the internationally recognised Yemen government and Houthi sources revealed arrangements for a prisoner exchange deal under UN auspices. It is expected that a total of 2,223 prisoners will be released as part of the deal.

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