Yemen

(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is expressing profound concern about the Monday, 10 May 1999, brutal attack on Saif al-Hadheri, the editor-in-chief of the weekly “Al-Shumua’”. **Updates IFEX alert of 14 May 1999** At about eight o’clock on the evening of May 10, four masked men carrying arms stormed Hadheri’s home in the Naseer section of Sana’a […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is condemning the beating of the editor of the independent weekly “Al Shumu’a”. According to RSF’s sources, earlier in the week of 10 May 1999, Saif Al-Hadheri was attacked by four unidentified men at his home and was so severely beaten that he had to be taken to hospital. The journalist is […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF wishes to protest at the recent arrests of several journalists. On 2 March 1999, Abdel-Latif Kutubi Omar, editor in chief of the opposition weekly “Al Haq,” was arrested for publishing an article that claimed Yemen plans to offer military facilities to the United States in the island of Socotra under the military […]

(RSF/IFEX) – According to information made available by RSF on 10 September 1998, Yemeni journalist Mohammed Sadek Al-Odaïni has been in detention without charges having been laid since December 1997. Mohammed Sadek Al-Odaïni, a reporter for the daily “Al Mithaq”, was arrested in December 1997 and accused of murder. He is reputed to have killed […]

(RSF/IFEX) – According to information made available by RSF on 27 August 1998, on 23 August, Ali Dahmess, correspondent in Jaar (southern Yemen) for the weekly “Athaouri”, was arrested by security forces and transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department. The authorities gave no explanation for the arrest. Ali Dahmess had written an article a few […]

(Freedom House/IFEX) – According to Freedom House, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) World Service confirmed in a 27 May 1998 report that a three-man television film crew is being detained by the authorities in Yemen. The crew, who include the BBC’s regional correspondent Rageh Omaar, was held overnight in Sanaa (the capital city). The journalists […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – On the morning of 13 December 1997, Nabil al-Amoudi, a reporter for the biweekly newspaper “Al-Ayyam” in Abyan governorate, was detained by agents from Yemen’s Political Security (PS) in the town of Zinjibar, after being summoned to PS headquarters the previous evening. To the best of CPJ’s knowledge, he continues to be held […]

(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 writer and poet Mansur Muhammad Mansur Rajih has been detained under sentence of death for over thirteen years. He was convicted of murder by the Ta’iz Court of First Instance in March 1984, subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal in 1986 and finalised by the Supreme Court in Sana’a. He faces execution if […]

On 28 September 1996, plainclothes police officers entered the main offices of the opposition newspaper “Al-Ayyam” in Aden in an attempt to arrest journalist Abdel Rahman Khobara without a warrant. Colleagues who were present quarrelled with the officers, noting that Khobara could not be lawfully taken into custody without official court orders. The officers eventually […]

**Updates IFEX alerts dated 19 and 5 July 1996** The opposition weekly “Al-Tagammu” (previously reported as “Al Tajamoo”) has resumed publication. The newspaper had been shut down since 17 June 1996, when the state-owned 14th October Printing Press refused to print the newspaper. Appeals To

On 11 July 1996, Arafat Mudabish, a journalist with the “Althawri” newspaper, was assaulted by guards at the Yemen Parliament. Mudabish was reportedly beaten with gun butts and verbally abused. He was subsequently removed from Parliament, and has not been seen since. Recommended Action Send appeals to authorities: protesting against the assault on and disappearance […]

**For background to other concerns, see IFEX alert dated 11 June 1996** The IFJ is concerned by the obstacles which have been placed on the printing of “Al Tajamoo”. “Al Tajamoo” reportedly first had its distribution blocked directly by the authorities as a result of an article which was to appear about recent clashes between […]

The IFJ is disturbed by reports it has received on the climate for journalists and their sources in Mukalla and Hadramout, Yemen. Following evidence given in court by an alleged rape victim, the Prosecutor’s comment calling all the women in Hadramout prostitutes with bad manners gave rise to public demonstrations which were suppressed by riot […]

On 31 July 1995, Ibrahim al-Wazeer, publisher of the independent newspaper “Al-Balagh”, was the victim of a foiled assault on his home. Early in the morning of 31 July, a group of unidentified individuals began planting explosives at the home of al-Wazeer. The perpetrators reportedly fled from the house, in an eastern suburb of Sanaa, […]

On the morning of 3 January 1995, the Aden-based independent weekly “Al-Ayyam” paid the state-owned 14th of October Press in Aden to print its 200th issue. That night, the government printing facility returned the paper’s money, claiming that they could not print the issue because their equipment was in disrepair. On the morning of 4 […]