Maat Foundation sends an urgent appeal to the United Nations to demand the Houthis release the four journalists sentenced to death

Maat Sends an Urgent Appeal to the United Nations to Immediately Demand the Houthis Release the Four Journalists Sentenced to Death
Maat Foundation sends an urgent appeal to the United Nations to demand the Houthis release the four journalists sentenced to death
Okeil: The United Nations must intervene immediately to save the lives of the four journalists

Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights has submitted an urgent appeal to the UN Special Procedures; particularly, the Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Summary or Arbitrary Executions; the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression; the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; and the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, calling them to intervene urgently and immediately to release four Yemeni journalists who have been sentenced to death by the Houthi militia, under an authorization from the families of the journalists.

The urgent appeal warned that the four Yemeni journalists; namely, Abdul Khaleq Amran, Akram al-Walidi, Harith Hamid, and Tawfiq al-Mansouri, are at risk of losing their lives. On April 11, 2020, the Houthi-held Specialized Criminal Court in Sana'a, Yemen, sentenced them to death, after an unfair trial, over political charges.

The testimonies obtained from the brother of one of the journalists reveal that the health condition of the four journalists has severely deteriorated, as they were denied access to medical care and necessary treatment. In addition, the resource indicated that they are subjected to various types of abuse and torture, stressing that the director of the Central Security Base threatened his brother saying that he would suffer from a “slow death”, as he put it.

Finally, Maat called on the United Nations to i) put pressure on the Houthis and all those who have an influence on this militia in order to stop the execution of the death sentences issued against the four journalists; ii) stop all violations against journalists and opposition figures in the areas under their control; iii) abide by the principles and provisions of international humanitarian law; iv) adhere to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and provide them with adequate health car; v) immediately and unconditionally release the four journalists and to stop using them as bargaining chip in negotiations between the Houthis and the Presidential Council.

In this context, Ayman Okeil, the international human rights expert and President of Maat, stated that since the outbreak of the conflict in Yemen in 2014, the Houthi militia has committed grave violations of international and humanitarian law, by targeting journalists and media workers covering and reporting grave violations committed by the group. The deliberate attacks on journalists, Okeil added, are part of a widespread and systematic campaign aimed at preventing access to information about the humanitarian and political situation in Yemen. Therefore, Okeil called on the special procedures to intervene urgently to put pressure on the Houthi militia, so that it would immediately release the arbitrary detainees, including journalists and media workers.

 

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