Yemen / Middle East & North Africa

New York, June 24, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the government of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to end censorship of independent newspapers and to identify and prosecute those who assaulted Al-Jazeera journalists on two occasions in the south of the country. 

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists writes to express its concern about your government’s recent crackdown on media outlets that have covered civil unrest in the southern part of Yemen.

New York, May 13, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns a raid today by Yemeni security forces on the Aden compound of the country’s most popular independent newspaper. One passerby was killed. 

New York, May 12, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an ongoing campaign to suppress independent journalism in Yemen and urges President Ali Abdullah Saleh to immediately bring it to a halt and order the release of two detained bloggers. Also, authorities have announced a special court to try media and publishing offenses.

New York, May 8, 2009–Amid an increasing crackdown on the media in Yemen, the Committee to Protect Journalists called today for the Yemeni authorities to disclose the whereabouts of a journalist who has been held incommunicado since May 4 after he was arrested in southern Yemen. CPJ also called on the authorities to drop a…

New York, May 7, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the Yemeni government’s decision to ban at least eight newspapers that have covered unrest in the southern part of the country. 

New York, May 4, 2009–After confiscating thousands of copies of a critical independent newspaper, authorities laid siege today to the paper’s offices in Aden, Yemen. The daily, Al-Ayyam, has been covering the ongoing conflict in the country’s southern region. 

Hussein al-Sawas, editor of Al-Baidha Press Web site and Al-Tajdeed newspaper, told CPJ that on January 23, 2009, he was kidnapped, hit, and detained for five days by bodyguards of the governor of al-Baidha, Muhammad Naser al-Amri.  

Journalists worked in precarious conditions in which they were subjected to politicized criminal charges and censorship from government officials. A harsh press law set restrictions on coverage of the presidency, state security, and religion. Authorities kept particularly tight control on coverage of an insurgency led by tribal and religious figures in the northwestern Saada region.