Skyline Joins more than 150 Organizations Demanding Invalidation of Death Sentences against Four Journalists in Yemen

 

Skyline International for Human Rights joins more than 150 international organizations calling on the international community, including the United Nations and Yemen's allies, to help save the lives of four journalists who were sentenced to death in April 2020 in the capital, Sana'a, for spying and spreading false news.

 

The organizations call on all parties to the conflict to boost the right to freedom of expression and stop their attempts to silence journalists and media organizations.

 

The signatory organizations call upon United Nations, particularly its Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Panel of Eminent Experts on Yemen, and member states of the United Nations, including countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada, that co-chair the 35-nation Media Freedom Alliance, to urge the de facto authorities in Sana'a (the Houthis) to do the following:

 

1. reverse the judgment issued against the ten journalists, in particular the death sentences against Abdel-Khaleq Amran, Akram Al-Walidi, Harith Hamid, and Tawfiq Al-Mansoori and release them immediately;

 

2. immediately release the journalists, Hicham Ahmed Tarmoum, Hisham Abdul-Malik Al-Yousifi, Haitham Abdul Rahman Al-Shehab, Issam Amin Balghith, and Hassan Abdullah Annab, according to the court's order to release them on April 11, 2020 and ensure that they are not subjected to further judicial measures to restrict their work;

 

3. release all detained and disappeared Yemeni journalists and drop all charges against them;

 

4. make every possible effort to ensure the safety and physical integrity of journalists - in accordance with international humanitarian law; and

 

5. ensure that journalists are able to do their work without fear of arrest or any other forms of reprisals and restrictions that violate their right to freedom of expression.