A Free Press Crumbles in Yemen

Filed under: General, Yemen — by Jane Novak at 9:24 am on Monday, December 27, 2004

This week in Yemen: Four more journalists convicted, another editor attacked, justice delayed again for al-Khaiwani.

This is on top of one editor imprisoned, one editor murdered, and three newspapers closed. You can’t write about the Saudis-oh no-but trash Bush all you want. You can’t write about governmental corruption in your own country but its fine to demonize the US and UK governments until the cows come home. “Democratization” without a free press is just another way of gaining development aid and clinging to power until your son, Salah Jr., turns 40 and can take over the presidency. And the rationale for censorship is what: the citizens are so infantile that they can’t handle the truth? its impolite to discuss foreign relations with Arab states? an oped is going to cause an uprising? The whole premise is warped, the society harmed, and all these reform conferences a sham.

(Technical note: comment moderation is on-I’m getting slammed with spam, half pharacutical and half political. Even the spam here is freer than the press in the Middle East.)

5 Comments »

Comment by Francis W. Porretto

12/27/2004 @ 9:44 am

Free SPAM! Yum!

(Do you have any Marshmallow Fluff?)

Comment by Gordon

12/28/2004 @ 8:18 am

When you get spam, it means your site is getting popular (more popular than a certain Neocon site, I might add).

It is a shame about Yemen. You’ve been published in Yemen, yet at the same time they are cracking down on freedom of the press. Was Yemen heading for reform and now reversing?

Comment by Jane

12/28/2004 @ 8:47 am

Thats it. I personally knew that Yemen’s press was the freest in the ME because they published many of my articles that were very counter to prevailing opinion: I bashed Zarqaiwi, praised the US’s efforts in Iraq and wrote about democratic development. They were published only because of a sincere committment to intellectual diversity on the part of the Yemen Times. The global monitors had called Yemen’s press the least restricted of all. The country is supposed to be democratizing. It has a legislature, slightly empowered, and was one of the few that seemed to be succeeding in the gradualist model of democratization, according to the experts. Suddenly wham boom. I thought at first the imprisonment of the editor al-Khaiwani was an anamoly and he would be released soon. Now newspapers closed left and right, journalists arrested, beaten and murdered, its really gotten freaky. So now not only is the censorship issue at the forefront but the whole issue of demcratization is in jeopardy, when there was so much enthusiasm previously. Its even more crazy because I seem to be the only one who noticed or cares here in the west, literally. So even though in general many Yemenis are anti-US because of US current suuport of the dictator/president Salah, US-Israel ties, and the war in Iraq, a democracy that hates us is still better than a dictaroship that backs us. So I feel like I owe it to both the Yemeni press and people and the 9/11 victims to yell about the reversal of democratization in Yemen at every opportunity.

Comment by Gordon

12/28/2004 @ 8:57 am

Keep it up, Jane! Seriously.

Comment by sami

1/5/2005 @ 3:08 pm

Thank for Jane.
Also I will translate the Essay to Arabic and publish it in Yemeni newspapers or web sites with the the name of the Best Journalist Jane Novak In the Header of the article.
thank you Jane.

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