Armies of Liberation

Issued by Article 19:

We, the undersigned organisations promoting and defending freedom of
expression worldwide, join ARTICLE 19 in condemning the deteriorating
state of freedom of expression in Yemen.
Yemen has made some progress in the human rights field over recent years
since its accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights in 1987. Notably, civil society organisations, including NGOs
addressing human rights and social issues, have expanded and developed in
the country. Furthermore, the independent and opposition-supporting
newspapers which have been established have adopted a critical stance
towards state authorities, previously unheard of in the region.
Despite these positive developments, Yemen, a country where the
government has taken various measures to support the USA’s so-called “war
on terror”, has carried out hundreds of arrests of individuals suspected of
being members of Al Qaida. In the process, the authorities, mainly through
the security forces, have harassed, interrogated and occasionally even
detained journalists who had covered these arrests. After being warned
against reporting on these “security issues”, journalists first started to selfcensor
themselves out of a fear of being accused of supporting terrorism.
After a decrease in the number of arrests, journalists then began to reassert
their rights to freedom of expression. As a consequence they have faced a
fresh round of harassment, physical assaults, arrests and detention by
security forces which have been supported by the judiciary. This pattern of
repression, which peaked in 2005, continues at an alarming rate. Indeed, the
high number of violations recorded in the first half of 2008 demonstrates the
extent to which the right to freedom of expression has been eroded in
Yemen.

“ARTICLE 19 is alarmed by the serious undermining of freedom of expression in
Yemen,” says Dr. Agnès Callamard, ARTICLE 19 Executive Director. “We reiterate our
condemnation of the current conditions in Yemen that clearly violate Yemen’s
international obligations on freedom of expression”. ARTICLE 19 and the undersigned
organisations remain concerned about the following:
- In March 2008, the Ministry of Information ordered a ban on the newspaper “Al-Sabah”
for allegedly “threatening Yemeni unity and public order”.
- In April 2008, the Minister of Information withdrew the license of “Al-Wasat”, a daily,
for allegedly “threatening national unity”. The decision was later revoked in court.
- On 11 June 2008, the Yemeni State Security Court sentenced Abdelkarim Al-Khaiwani,
editor in chief of “Al-Shoura” to six years in prison. In a case perceived to be politically
motivated, Al-Khaiwani was tried for his coverage of the war in Sa’ada province which
was alleged to be a terrorist offence. In July, the court suddenly amended his verdict by
adding the phrase “expedited implementation”, thus obscuring the possibilities for his
appealing the earlier decision. On July 29, the Criminal Court decided to delay looking
into a request by Al-Khaiwani’s defence team to release him. The court session has been
postponed until November 2008. This decision has been criticised by lawyers in Yemen
as a significant violation of proper procedures.
- On 22 June 2008, Mohamed al-Mokaleh was sentenced by the Yemeni State Security
Court to a six-month suspended term in prison for “attacking and defaming the judicial
system” after bursting into laughter during the trial of Al-Khaiwani. Al-Mokaleh is the
General Secretary of the Socialist Party and a well-known critic of the Yemeni
government. He had already served two months in jail and was released on 22 June.
- On 9 July 2008, comedian-singer Fahd al-Qarni was sentenced to 18 months
imprisonment and a fine of YR 500,000 (approximately US$2,500) for “insulting
Yemen’s President, Ali Abdullah Saleh.” Al-Qarni had been targeted in the past. In July
2006, members of the Criminal Investigations Bureau arrested vendors of his cassette in
an effort to curtail its circulation. The cassette combines traditional folk compositions
with humour and criticism of the government’s policies. In addition, there have been
numerous attacks against journalists and activists outside the courts: earlier this year
YemenPortal.net was blocked by the authorities; Tawakkol Karman, director of the NGO
Women Journalists Without Chains, has received anonymous death threats; and activists
who were peacefully protesting against the above-mentioned court cases have been
harassed and have had their documenting equipment seized by the authorities.
We, the undersigned members of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange
(IFEX), reiterate our deepest concern over the continued undermining of the individual
human right to freedom of expression in Yemen and urge the Yemeni authorities to
reaffirm and live up to Yemen’s international human rights commitments, in particular
Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Yemen is also a
signatory to the Arab Charter on Human Rights which guarantees freedom of expression.
Moreover, the Yemeni government made public commitments to the protection of human
rights through its National Reform Agenda adopted in 2006.
We therefore call on the Yemeni state organs and authorities to take decisive and
immediate measures in accordance with international human rights law to uphold
freedom of expression in Yemen, particularly in relation to the cases outlined above.
The Yemeni government should:
- Refrain from banning or withdrawing licenses from newspapers on the grounds that
they “threaten Yemeni unity and public order”;
The Yemeni legislature should, upon the proposal of the Yemeni government:
- Repeal all legislation that establishes unduly broad conceptions of terrorist offences and
that criminalises the “insult” of politicians, the courts and individual members of the
judiciary.
The judiciary should:
- Allow Al-Khaiwani to appeal his six-year prison sentence and investigate the sudden
extension of Al-Khaiwani’s sentence;
- Overturn the verdict of the Yemeni State Security Court, as well as the amendment to
the verdict which allows “expedited implementation” of the sentence, so that Al-
Khaiwani is released from detention;
- Refuse to convict other individuals, especially journalists, who are exercising their right
to freedom of expression, of terrorist offences and/or for “insulting the judiciary”;
- Allow any appeal launched by Al-Qarni against his conviction for insulting the Yemeni
president and overturn the decision of the earlier court.
Furthermore, state police and members of the Criminal Investigations Bureau should:
- Refrain from harassing, intimidating, arresting, attacking or detaining any individual,
especially members of the press, for exercising their right to freedom of expression;
- Serve to protect individuals, especially journalists, exercising their right to freedom of
expression from violent attacks.
Sincerely,
Africa Free Media Foundation (AFMF), Kenya
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), Indonesia
Arab Archives Institute (AAI), Jordan
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Egypt
ARTICLE 19, United Kingdom
Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Bahrain
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Egypt
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), Canada
Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI)
Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES), Nepal
Centro de Reportes Informativos sobre Guatemala (CERIGUA), Guatemala
Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), Egypt
Free Media Movement (FMM), Sri Lanka
Freedom House, USA
Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), China
Independent Journalism Center (IJC), Moldova
Institute for Mass Information (IMI), Ukraine
Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), Azerbaijan
Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information (ISAI), Indonesia
International PEN Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), UK
Journalists Trade Union (JuHI), Azerbaijan
Maharat Foundation, Lebanon
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), Australia
Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Nigeria
Observatoire pour la liberté de presse, d’édition et de création (OLPEC), Tunisia
Paraguayan Union of Journalists (SPP), Paraguay
World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), Canada