Worsening Press Enviornment in Yemen
Sanaa: The Yemen Ministry of Information turned down 60 licence applications for new newspapers and magazines during 2006 in a bid to limit the freedom of the press, said a local independent report.
The report accuses the state-run media of portraying journalists as “troublemakers and agents” and increasing their harassment by adopting incitement campaigns against partisan and independent journalists.
The 14-page report recorded 67 violations against journalists and newspapers during 2006, compared with 53 violations in the 2005 report, which were both released by the recently established Women Journalists without Chains, (WJWC), a local NGO (non-governmental organisation) concerned with freedom of press issues.
The violations include imprisonment, kidnappings, beatings, torture, threats, insults, and defamation in newspapers supported by influential people. The report has affirmed that violations against journalists and newspapers were not committed only by the government agencies but also by influential individuals in the society.
“The violations came after an incitement campaign against journalists led by some senior state officials and promoted by the state-run media through specific vocabularies,” the report stated.
The report said the government turned down 60 applications from new newspapers and magazines whose owners are still waiting for approval from the Ministry of Information.
“This is a flagrant violation of the press law and of the political parties’ law and the universal declaration of human rights. The Ministry of Information has the right to give a licence and to renew it every year and to withdraw it when the need arises which means newspapers are not owned except by licenses, not printed except by licenses, not sold except by licenses,” the report said.
Officials from the Ministry of Information have declined to comment on the report Although the diversity of newspapers started in 1990 the violations have increased over the past three years, the report noted.
“The violations increased when a group of writers started to express their opinions in an unfamiliar way.. by demanding freedom of the press without violations and without limitations,” the report said.
However, the WJWC chairwoman expressed her hope the violations would decrease during 2007 especially if the promises of President Ali Abdullah Saleh come true in terms of cancelling the punishment of journalists by imprisonment.
“We entreat the Almighty and all officials to make 2007 better for freedom of press with fewer limitations and violations,” WJWC chairwoman, Tawakul Karaman said in the preface of the report.
