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freedom for Hala Badawi
12
Feb

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

  1. Article 19
  2. Reporters Without Borders
  3. International Media Support Organization
  4. Justice and Peace Organization – Netherlands
  5. Unlimited Free Press Organization.
  6. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
  7. Center for Studies and Economic Media
  8. The Media Freedoms Observatory in Yemen
  9. The National Organization for Yemeni Journalists “Sada”
  10. Sam for Rights and Freedoms
  11. Rights Radar for Human Rights
  12. Abductees’ Mothers Association
  13. American Center for Justice
  14. Yemeni Women Journalists Network
  15. Akoun Foundation for Rights and Freedoms
  16. Cultural Media Center
  17. Electronic Organization for Humanitarian Media
  18. Addameer Foundation for Rights and Freedoms
  19. Platform Foundation for Media and Development Studies
  20. Media Sac for Media and Development
  21. Media Village for Development and Information
  22. Media Mirrors Center for Development
  23. Qarar Foundation for Media and Sustainable Development
  24. Yeni Yemen Media Foundation – Turkey
  25. Human Rights Association – Switzerland
  26. Humanitarian Press Foundation
  27. Sah Foundation for Human Rights _ Hadramout
  28. Monitoring for human rights
  29. Democratic Media Foundation
  30. Jude Foundation for Human Security
  31. Musawah Organization for Rights and Freedoms
  32. Monitor Journalist Network
  33. Adalah Foundation for Legal Development
  34. The Arab Foundation for Supporting Women and Juvenile Issues
  35. Southerners for Peace Group
  36. Peace Track Initiative
  37. Yemen Women’s Union – Mukalla

 

 

 

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