We, the undersigned Yemeni and regional human rights organizations, call on the international community to intensify its efforts to hold accountable the perpetrators of violations against journalists and end impunity, and to establish the foundations of legal accountability to ensure that journalists are able to do their job freely in conjunction with the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, which is commemorated by the world on the 2nd November every year.
The continued impunity of criminals during the past seven years in Yemen has led to committing more brutal crimes against the media and journalists, intensifying the illegal acts against journalists, and placing them in prisons, and issuing death sentences against four of them. Between 2015 and 2022, we documented more than 2,000 violations, including the killing of 52 journalists and media workers, some of whom were killed in terrible ways that Yemen had never witnessed before, 475 cases of arrests by the parties to the conflict, the dismissal of more than a thousand journalists and media workers, and some were forcibly disappeared, and others tortured to death. The abuse led to a way that journalists are arrested from their homes or workplaces and exchanged for prisoners of war in behavior that violates the constitution, laws, and international covenants.
As we affirm the continuation of our efforts to contribute to creating the free reality that the media and journalists in Yemen deserve, we urge the international organizations concerned with freedom of opinion and expression to play their role in defending journalists so that they get their full rights guaranteed by the Yemeni constitution and international charters and conventions. We hold those who practice violations against journalists and media workers fully responsible for those crimes that are committed, and we stress that these crimes are not imprescriptible.
We demand the dropping of death sentences against 4 journalists, namely "Abdul Khaliq Emran, Akram al-Walidy, Harith Hamid, and Tawfiq al-Mansoori."
From our position as civil society organizations that seek to defend freedom of expression, foremost of which is the freedom of media and journalists, we call on the international community to pressure all parties to the conflict to stop suppressing media freedoms and engaging them in political conflicts, so that they can play their role in promoting transparency and democracy and combating violence and human rights violations. We stress the necessity of releasing all detained journalists as an urgent and necessary step.
The signatories :
1. Studies and Economic Media Center (SEMC)
2. Yemeni Media Freedom Observatory (YMFO)
3. The National Organization of Yemeni Reporters (SADA)
4. SAM Organization for Rights and Freedoms
5. Rights Radar for Human Rights
6. Association of Abductees Mothers
7. American Center for Justice (ACJ)
8. Yemen Women Journalists Network
9. TO BE Foundation for Rights &Freedoms
10. Cultural Media Center
11. The Electronic Foundation for Humanitarian Media
12. Dameer Foundation for Human Rights
13. Mansa Foundation for Media and Development Studies
14. The Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations (Rasd Coalition)
15. Watch for Human Rights (Watch4HR)
16. Media Sac for Media and Development
17. Media village for development and Information
18. Mirrors Media for Development Center (MDC)
19. Qarar foundation for Media and Development
20. Al-Amal Women’s and Sociocultural Foundation
21. Center for Strategic Studies to Support Women and Children
22. Free Media Center for Investigative Journalism
23. Marib Dam Foundation for Social Development
24. Musaala Organization for Human Rights
25. Yeni Yemen Media Foundation
26. True Human Rights institution
27. Musawah Organization for Rights and Freedoms
28. Monitoring Journalist Network
29. Wujoh Foundation for Media and Development
30. Sawasia Organization for Human Rights
31. Rescue foundaton for development
32. Yemen Data Journalists Network