The Yemeni and international human rights organizations signatory to this statement condemn the arbitrary arrest of journalist Hala Fouad Badawi by the security authorities in Hadramout Governorate and her imprisonment for more than a month. They call for her immediate release, dropping all charges against her, and holding all security and local authorities behind this arrest responsible for her physical and psychological safety.
Badawi, a young journalist active on social media, was arrested on December 30, 2021 by a security force affiliated with the Military Intelligence. She was imprisoned in the Military Intelligence prison before being transferred on January 5 to the Central Prison in Hadramaut.
We strongly denounce the arbitrary and illegal measures by which Badawi was arrested and imprisoned, and all the pressures put on her and her family members.
Press sources and human rights organizations in Yemen stated that she was attacked and forcibly removed from her car by the Hadramaut Military Region Command and taken to the Military Intelligence headquarters in Hadramout, which hid her for two days and denied her presence. On the third day, the Hadramaut governor’s office issued a statement acknowledging her presence in the Military Intelligence prison and accusing her of communicating with a foreign country. Then, on the fifth day of her imprisonment, she was transferred to the central prison in Mukalla, the capital of Hadramaut Governorate. Her family members were also prevented from visiting her except once, and her family’s home was broken into, they were intimidated and their phones confiscated.
We fear that the local and security authorities in Hadramaut have arrested Badawi in connection with her posts on social media criticizing corruption and calling for improved living conditions. We recall the obligations placed on states and their institutions, both centrally and locally, to protect journalists and civil activists, including those opposed to government policies and programs. What Badawi was subjected to represents a flagrant violation of her right to freedom of opinion and expression, which is guaranteed by the Yemeni constitution and international treaties and covenants that Yemen has signed.
Until a month after her arrest, Badawi’s case was not referred to court, and the criminal prosecution did not file a case against her, as her family was informed after she was transferred to the Central Prison. These practices constitute a grave violation of Yemen’s international obligations in the field of human rights, for example, General Comment No. 34 of 2011 issued by the Human Rights Committee, which warned of the intimidating effects of arrests of journalists for performing their legitimate functions on freedom of expression.
We call on the security authorities in Hadramaut to immediately release the journalist Hala Badawi.
The undersigned organizations recall the frequency of violations against journalists in Yemen, which escalated dramatically during the years of war, reaching more than two thousand violations, including 50 killings. We call on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to stop all violations against Yemeni journalists and media outlets.
We warn that the violations practiced by the authorities in Hadramaut governorate against anyone who disagrees with them does not fall under a statute of limitations, and we call for punishing their perpetrators, including people who order, conspire, assist, or cover up to commit these crimes, as called for by the Human Rights Council in its resolution No. 18/45 on October 6, 2020.
The Undersigned
- Article 19
- Reporters Without Borders
- International Media Support Organization
- Justice and Peace Organization – Netherlands
- Unlimited Free Press Organization.
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
- Center for Studies and Economic Media
- The Media Freedoms Observatory in Yemen
- The National Organization for Yemeni Journalists “Sada”
- Sam for Rights and Freedoms
- Rights Radar for Human Rights
- Abductees’ Mothers Association
- American Center for Justice
- Yemeni Women Journalists Network
- Akoun Foundation for Rights and Freedoms
- Cultural Media Center
- Electronic Organization for Humanitarian Media
- Addameer Foundation for Rights and Freedoms
- Platform Foundation for Media and Development Studies
- Media Sac for Media and Development
- Media Village for Development and Information
- Media Mirrors Center for Development
- Qarar Foundation for Media and Sustainable Development
- Yeni Yemen Media Foundation – Turkey
- Human Rights Association – Switzerland
- Humanitarian Press Foundation
- Sah Foundation for Human Rights _ Hadramout
- Monitoring for human rights
- Democratic Media Foundation
- Jude Foundation for Human Security
- Musawah Organization for Rights and Freedoms
- Monitor Journalist Network
- Adalah Foundation for Legal Development
- The Arab Foundation for Supporting Women and Juvenile Issues
- Southerners for Peace Group
- Peace Track Initiative
- Yemen Women’s Union – Mukalla