Taiz- The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS), in cooperation with the International Federation of Journalists and UNESCO, organized a workshop today, August 10, 2024, in Taiz on ending impunity for perpetrators of crimes committed against Yemeni journalists.
At the opening of the workshop, in which 30 male and female participants from legal professionals, lawyers and journalists participated, Imad Al-Saqqaf, the Secretary General of the YJS Taiz branch, delivered a speech reviewing the criminal violations to which journalists are exposed.
He pointed out the lack of political, military, and security stability, which contributed to the increasing number of violations in line with the continued political and military divisions the country has been seeing.
A working paper was presented by Zakaria Al-Kamali, the rights and freedoms officer at the YJS in Taiz branch. The paper reviewed indicators of violations against journalists, the state of impunity for press violators in Yemen, and the effects of the absence of accountability on rights and freedoms.
This was followed by another working paper presented by Lawyer Tawfiq Al-Shaabi, Secretary-General of the Lawyers Taiz Bar Association. The paper focused on investigating violations against journalists, legal documentation of violations, binding international legislation, and judicial prosecution mechanisms.
Lawyer Raghda Al-Maqtari, the rights and freedoms officer at the Taiz Bar Association, presented a working paper on the importance of partnership and coordination to combat impunity and community advocacy mechanisms.
The workshop ended with some important recommendations and proposals, including legal training and awareness for journalists, signing a memorandum of understanding and cooperation between the YJS and the Taiz Bar Association, and activating the role of local organizations and institutions in the process of monitoring and documenting criminal violations against journalists.
The workshop participants called for the release of journalists detained in the prisons of the Houthi group and the Southern Transitional Council, revealing the fate of those who have been forcibly disappeared for ten years, providing a safe working environment for journalists in areas under their control, refining media discourse, and reducing the language of hatred in the country.
The workshop called on the Yemeni government to bear its responsibility, pay the salaries of employees of official media institutions, end the complications facing displaced journalists and media professionals, work to restore the headquarters of the YJS headquarters in Aden, and investigate all violations that affected journalists in areas under the government’s control.
The workshop participants called for including the issues of journalists in any negotiations taking place in preparation for launching a comprehensive peace process, adopting the issues of journalists in all international forums, and holding all perpetrators of violations accountable.
The workshop recommended the inclusion of the issue of redressing the harm suffered by journalists, examining the conditions of those still in prisons and detention centers, and investigating all violations and torture of journalists in their detention centers.