(CPJ/IFEX) – On 11 October 1997, the Ministry of Information confiscated all issues of the 30 September – 15 October edition of the official bi-weekly “Ma’in” and banned its publication indefinitely. The action appears to have been taken in retaliation for an editorial written by chief editor Abdel Fattah Al-Hakimi titled “From the Revolution of […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 11 October 1997, the Ministry of Information
confiscated all issues of the 30 September – 15 October edition
of the official bi-weekly “Ma’in” and banned its publication
indefinitely. The action appears to have been taken in
retaliation for an editorial written by chief editor Abdel Fattah
Al-Hakimi titled “From the Revolution of the Poor to the Poor
Revolution” (“Min Thawra al-Faqr ila Faqr al-Thawra!”), which
strongly criticized state policies and prevailing socio-economic
conditions in Yemen. Al-Hakimi and his staff have reportedly been
dismissed from their jobs.
“Ma’in” is the second newspaper to have been shut down by the
government since September. The Ministry of Information ordered
the closure of the weekly “Al-Haqiqah” on 6 September after the
newspaper published an interview with exiled opposition figure
Abdel Rahman Jaafri in its 4 September edition.
In a separate development last week, police and agents from
Political Security seized approximately 4,000 copies of the 19
November issue of the bi-weekly “Al-Ayyam” before it was
distributed in the towns of Al-Mukallah, Seyun and Ashahr. This
action appears related to two front-page news stories about
recent government arrests of oppositionists in Hadrahmawt
governorate.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
for them appear to have been targeted for reprisal for their
publication of news and opinions
of the right to free expression, guaranteed by Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Yemen is
a state party.
resume publication immediately, to ensure that employees from
“Ma’in” be allowed to return to their jobs without fear of future
reprisals from the state, and to instruct the Ministries of
Information and the police to halt their practice of suspending
and confiscating newspapers in retaliation for their publication
of news and opinions
Appeals To
His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh
President
Sanaa, Republic of Yemen
Fax: +967 1 246 201
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
