International Partnership mission to Yemen highlights worsening media situation
The deteriorating security situation in Yemen is a growing obstacle to press freedom. Reports of harassment of journalists and the growing pressure on media provokes self-censorship, warns an “International Partnership Mission to Yemen” visiting the country this week
A coalition of international press freedom and human rights organisations fielded a week-long mission to Yemen in the beginning of December to evaluate the current media situation. The preliminary findings point to a media sector in Yemen which is increasingly under pressure from government and other interests inside the country. Journalists report being harassed, and many media workers are despairing while trying to do their work.
The six-member mission group, which included representatives from Article 19, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), International Media Support (IMS) and World Association of Newspapers (WAN), met journalists, editors and publishers. They also interviewed freedom of expression activists, government officials, parliamentarians, newspaper owners and other media stakeholders in Sana’a and Aden.
Security situation is worsening
In Yemen the critical issues at the moment are partly connected to the worsening security situation in the country which has increased government control and the harassment of journalists.
– There is an urgent need for the government to comply with its international obligations to respect the right to freedom of expression in Yemen, says Cynthia Cárdenas, Legal Advisor for ARTICLE 19 and a member of the mission.
– The current provisions allowing the government to punish media professionals have provoked self-censorship as a common practice and this is directly affecting the quality and quantity of information provided to the public, she says.
Three media law proposals laid before Parliamant
Parliament is currently looking into a new press law proposal put forward by Culture and Media Committee member Abdulmoez Dbwan. The draft was produced with the support of international media laws experts and has the backing of the Yemen Journalist Syndicate. At the same time, however, the government is putting forward its press law proposal which would limit media freedom. A third draft, a full scale media law, is also about to be put forward in the parliament.
In meetings with all the different stakeholders, members of the International Partnership Mission to Yemen emphasised the importance of respecting international standards of media freedom in the final law.
Together with IREX and Article 19 IMS has actively supported the drafting process of the media law in the past few years, and is planning a meeting in December between members of the Culture and Media Committee of the Yemeni Parliament and media law experts. The purpose of the meeting is to try to merge the three proposals into one coherent proposal for a new, reformed media law in Yemen.
