Regeringen i Yemen anklages for at undertrykke menneskerettighedsaktivister, journalister og modstandere i ly af den tiltagende borgerkrigslignende situation i landet.
Det er organisationen IFEX, International Freedom of Expression eXchange, der onsdag fremsatte anklagen på sit netsted på vegne af 25 arabiske menneskerettighedsorganisationer
IFEX er en løs sammenslutning af en lang række naionale og regionale menneskerettigheds- og ytringsfrihedsorganisationer, bl.a. Human Rights Watch og International Federation of Journalists.
IFEX skriver bl.a.:
Yemeni authorities are taking brutal retaliatory actions against human rights defenders, journalists and critics of the regime’s policies, according to IFEX members. In response, 25 Arab rights organisations, including the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and three other IFEX members, have released a joint statement calling on the government to end kidnappings, forced disappearances, torture and arbitrary arrests.
The government is targeting journalists and activists who have exposed human rights abuses in the country, either in the war between rebels and the military in Saada in the north or in connection to conflict in the south.
On 31 January 2010, the family of Muhammad al-Maqaleh, editor of the opposition Yemeni Socialist Party’s news website “Aleshteraki”, finally had news since he was kidnapped in Sana’a in September. Journalists in Yemen have been holding regular demonstrations since he disappeared after writing an article criticising airstrikes that killed 87 people and injured 100 in Saada, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). He then “vanished without a trace in Yemen’s notorious prison system.” He continues to be held without charges.
According to CPJ, al-Maqaleh is very weak after being severely beaten and left in the same bloodied clothes for three months.
The joint statement highlights the case of rights defender Yasser al-Wazir, a member of the Yemeni Organisation for the Defense of Rights and Democratic Freedoms, who was recently sentenced to an eight-year prison term. He has played an active role in documenting human rights violations linked to the war in Saada. Abducted more than 18 months ago, held in a secret location and denied family visits, it is believed he was tortured. After a closed-door mock trial his charges include forming an armed group.
