Yemen: Press Freedom – Systematic Repression and Impunity / Joint Statement

03 May 2025

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, Alkarama and the undersigned Yemeni, regional and international human rights organisations express their deep concern regarding the ongoing deterioration of press and media freedom in Yemen, in areas under the control of both the Houthi movement and the internationally recognised government.

Journalists, media professionals, and press workers continue to face systematic repression, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and unfair trials, solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression and criticising local authorities. Yemen remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, where violations are committed with near-total impunity. We call upon all authorities in Yemen to uphold their obligations under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Yemen is a State Party.

The Judiciary as a Tool of Repression

Over more than a decade of conflict, Yemen’s judiciary has become an instrument to restrict press freedom and silence dissenting and independent voices. In January 2024, the primary court in Ataq, in Shabwah Governorate in southeastern Yemen, sentenced journalist Aziz Al-Ahmadi to a four-month suspended prison term in connection with a social media post criticising the local authorities. Similarly, Awad Kashmim, head of the Freedoms Committee at the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate in Hadhramaut, was subjected to arbitrary detention. In 2024 alone, at least 40 cases of summonses and interrogations of journalists were documented, often based on fabricated charges and brought before courts lacking legal jurisdiction—such as the Specialised Criminal Court in Sana’a, which is typically reserved for terrorism cases. Despite the existence of courts specialising in press and publication matters, many journalists continue to be prosecuted before criminal courts.

In late September 2024, the Houthi-run Specialised Criminal Court in Sana’a sentenced journalist Taha Ahmed Rashid Al-Maamari—owner of “Yemen Digital Media” and “Yemen Live” media production and satellite broadcasting companies—to death. The violations also extended to human rights lawyers such as Abdelmajid Sabra and Sami Yassin, who were subjected to threats and arbitrary detention, and were baselessly charged with treason.

Since 2022, judicial harassment campaigns against journalists have escalated significantly, with prosecutions increasingly triggered by criticism of government officials. Courts have handed down prison sentences to at least three journalists on charges such as “insulting a public official” and “threatening to disclose confidential information.” In 2024, the Houthi group launched a wide-scale arrest campaign last September, coinciding with the 62nd anniversary of the 26 September Revolution, detaining hundreds of individuals, including journalist Mohamed Al-Mayyahi, for expressing dissenting views online.

Continuing Impunity

Journalists in Yemen face serious threats and gross violations perpetrated by all parties, including the internationally recognised government, the Houthi movement, and other armed groups. These violations include killings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture, in the absence of effective mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable.

The monopolisation of media by various factions has further limited the availability of independent sources of information, criminalised journalistic activity, and fostered a climate of fear and self-censorship. The repeated attacks have rendered journalism in Yemen an extremely dangerous endeavour. Yemeni women journalists are exposed to compounded threats, including online harassment and targeted smear campaigns, aimed at marginalising their presence in the public sphere and excluding them from the media landscape.

Over the past decade, more than 2,600 violations against journalists have been documented, with the Houthi movement responsible for the overwhelming majority. At least five journalists remain arbitrarily detained by the Houthis, including Wahid Al-Soufi, who has been forcibly disappeared since 2015, as well as Mohamed Al-Mayyahi and Nasiḥ Shakir, who are held in conditions amounting to enforced disappearance.

Since 2020, targeted assassinations of journalists have sharply increased, silencing many through extrajudicial killings. The most recent case was the killing of TV cameraman Musab Al-Hattami, who was targeted by the Houthi group on Saturday, 26 April 2025, in Marib while en route to film in front-line areas for media coverage of the ongoing conflict. In June 2022, Japanese TV correspondent Saber Al-Haidari was killed by an explosive device planted in his vehicle in Aden Governorate. Similarly, photojournalist Fawaz Al-Wafi was shot dead in his car in March 2022 in Taiz Governorate. In November 2021, journalist Rasha Al-Harazi was assassinated, and in June 2020, AFP photojournalist Nabil Al-Quaiti was killed by unidentified gunmen in Aden.

Despite these crimes, journalists continue their work in the absence of impartial investigations or accountability by any of the parties in Yemen.

The undersigned organisations call upon all authorities in Yemen to:

Immediately release all journalists who have completed their sentences, as well as all individuals arbitrarily detained in violation of their rights to due process and fair trial;
Ensure that cases involving journalists are heard exclusively before courts competent in press and publication matters, in line with Yemen’s international legal obligations;
Undertake comprehensive legal reforms to harmonise national legislation with international human rights standards, ensuring full protection of freedom of expression and journalist safety;
Initiate transparent and independent investigations into the targeted killings of journalists and bring perpetrators to justice;
Reform the justice system, guarantee judicial independence, and cease the use of the judiciary as a tool to suppress dissent;
End judicial harassment targeting journalists, women journalists, and human rights defenders, and reform the judiciary to ensure its full independence.

Signatories: