Showing posts with label Yemeni Journalists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yemeni Journalists. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Carnegie Middle East Center: The Houthi Factor, Gaza, the Axis of Resistance, & Middle East Stability
I co-participated in a webinar about Yemen, organized by Carnegie Middle East Center. I discussed the sustainability of the Houthis' reputational gains inside Yemen, given the Houthi armed group's regional activities, such as military ventures in the Red Sea and attacks on Israel. And I discussed how the group's recent gains impacted public freedoms, civic engagement, and relief work in Yemen.
Thursday, June 22, 2023
Crackdown on Press Freedom in Yemen Threatens Peace-Building Efforts
Sana'a Center, June 22 - As a Yemeni with over 15 years of experience in journalism, I was delighted to have recently been invited by the Samir Kassir Foundation to be one of the seven jury members for its 2023 Award for Freedom of the Press. I am the second Yemeni to be on the foundation’s jury, after photojournalist Amira al-Sharif took part in 2021. Out of 240 entries, 75 made it to the pre-final stage, where they were judged based on three criteria: relevance to human rights topics, journalistic style, and innovation.
The winners were announced on June 5: Syrian filmmaker and writer Inas Hakky in the opinion piece category, Egyptian journalist Mahmoud Al-Sobky in the investigative article category, and Lebanese reporter Mohamad Chreyteh in the audiovisual news report category.
As I reviewed the entries from multiple Arab countries, I could not help feeling disappointed with the small number of entries by Yemeni journalists and the generally poor quality of the work. It was a sad reminder of the severe deterioration of press freedom in Yemen, the dangerous environment Yemeni journalists now work in, and the impact of that deterioration on our struggle for peace and justice in our country.
Prior to 2014, Yemen enjoyed a relatively vibrant media landscape, but this has been rapidly eroded during the war. All parties to the Yemen conflict have committed abuses against journalists, and even ordinary citizens who express themselves on social media have not been spared from the recent crackdown on freedom of expression.
Almost half of Yemen’s media outlets that existed prior to 2014 have reportedly been shut down, and at least 49 Yemeni journalists have been murdered since 2011, including five killed by the Saudi-led coalition. The Houthi movement will go down in history for having used journalists as human shields, after abducting two and keeping them captive in a building being targeted by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in 2015, leading to their deaths. In the latest wave of repressive measures against dissent, between December 2022 and January 2023, the Houthis detained four YouTubers for nearly six months before granting them pardons.
Ceremony of Samir Kassir Award for Press Freedom in Beirut, June 2023 |
Inas Hakky and Afrah Nasser at the ceremony of Samir Kassir Award for Press Freedom |
As I reviewed the entries from multiple Arab countries, I could not help feeling disappointed with the small number of entries by Yemeni journalists and the generally poor quality of the work. It was a sad reminder of the severe deterioration of press freedom in Yemen, the dangerous environment Yemeni journalists now work in, and the impact of that deterioration on our struggle for peace and justice in our country.
War on Media
Almost half of Yemen’s media outlets that existed prior to 2014 have reportedly been shut down, and at least 49 Yemeni journalists have been murdered since 2011, including five killed by the Saudi-led coalition. The Houthi movement will go down in history for having used journalists as human shields, after abducting two and keeping them captive in a building being targeted by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in 2015, leading to their deaths. In the latest wave of repressive measures against dissent, between December 2022 and January 2023, the Houthis detained four YouTubers for nearly six months before granting them pardons.
In Aden, largely controlled by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), car bombs killed pregnant journalist Rasha al-Harazi, and journalist Saber al-Haidari in June 2022. The STC has detained journalist Ahmed Maher since August 2022, with no clear reason for his arrest. The STC’s detention of journalist Adel al-Hasani in 2021 remains particularly poignant for me, as I investigated the case while working at Human Rights Watch, and found evidence that a UAE intelligence officer had ordered his detention.
The Yemeni government, which championed the recent release of four journalists from Houthi prisons, has assaulted nine journalists, detained nine more, and threatened three in 2022 alone.
And the list goes on.
These violations give a glimpse into a widespread pattern of repression in the country and the dangers facing Yemeni journalists at the hands of all warring parties. They also reflect the threat media freedom poses to them. It is telling that one of the first military attacks the Houthi movement carried out when they took over Sana’a in 2014 was the shelling of the state television building. Attacks on the press in Yemen are motivated by the warring parties’ understanding of the significance of a strong, independent press.
In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day in May of this year, “Freedom of the press is the foundation of democracy and justice.” If Yemen enjoyed media freedom, journalists could play critical roles in raising people’s awareness of their rights and promoting peace and justice. A free press could contribute to the prosperity of the nation.
In June of 2022, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, said, “Independent, free, and pluralistic news media is crucial for democracy, accountability, and transparency, and should be nurtured by states and the international community as a public good.” Ensuring media freedom in Yemen likewise requires international action.
Calls on the warring parties to end their violations and abuses against journalists have been in vain. Holding them accountable, however, could pay off. The UN Human Rights Council is morally obliged to establish an independent and impartial monitoring body to investigate and document human rights abuses and possible war crimes in Yemen, which could contribute to accountability efforts.
Yemeni journalists lack international support for press-related work. The UN, European Union, UK, US, and relevant international organizations should generously fund and support media groups in Yemen. Journalists need support in three main areas: projects that aim at building a strong and independent press, journalism oriented toward a peaceful settlement, and projects that improve journalists’ skills. This support would go a long way in helping Yemeni journalists document attacks and threats directed at the media, gather evidence to hold perpetrators to account and bring impunity for war crimes to an end.
The Yemeni government, which championed the recent release of four journalists from Houthi prisons, has assaulted nine journalists, detained nine more, and threatened three in 2022 alone.
And the list goes on.
Media Freedom Matters
These violations give a glimpse into a widespread pattern of repression in the country and the dangers facing Yemeni journalists at the hands of all warring parties. They also reflect the threat media freedom poses to them. It is telling that one of the first military attacks the Houthi movement carried out when they took over Sana’a in 2014 was the shelling of the state television building. Attacks on the press in Yemen are motivated by the warring parties’ understanding of the significance of a strong, independent press.
In the words of UN Secretary-General António Guterres on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day in May of this year, “Freedom of the press is the foundation of democracy and justice.” If Yemen enjoyed media freedom, journalists could play critical roles in raising people’s awareness of their rights and promoting peace and justice. A free press could contribute to the prosperity of the nation.
How We Can Support a Free Press in Yemen
In June of 2022, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, said, “Independent, free, and pluralistic news media is crucial for democracy, accountability, and transparency, and should be nurtured by states and the international community as a public good.” Ensuring media freedom in Yemen likewise requires international action.
Calls on the warring parties to end their violations and abuses against journalists have been in vain. Holding them accountable, however, could pay off. The UN Human Rights Council is morally obliged to establish an independent and impartial monitoring body to investigate and document human rights abuses and possible war crimes in Yemen, which could contribute to accountability efforts.
Yemeni journalists lack international support for press-related work. The UN, European Union, UK, US, and relevant international organizations should generously fund and support media groups in Yemen. Journalists need support in three main areas: projects that aim at building a strong and independent press, journalism oriented toward a peaceful settlement, and projects that improve journalists’ skills. This support would go a long way in helping Yemeni journalists document attacks and threats directed at the media, gather evidence to hold perpetrators to account and bring impunity for war crimes to an end.
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Monday, June 5, 2023
Samir Kassir Awards for Press Freedom
I was a member of the jury committee that decided the winners of the Samir Kassir Awards for 2023, given by the delegation of the European Union to Lebanon and the Samir Kassir Foundation. This year, 242 journalists participated in the competition from many Arab countries. 81 candidates competed in the Opinion Piece category, 110 in the Investigative Article category, and 54 in the Audiovisual News Report category. The winners were Inas Hakky from Syria, Mahmoud Al-Sobky from Egypt, and Mohamad Chreyteh from Lebanon. The awards ceremony was in Beirut. I was delighted to hand one of the awards to Inas.
Sunday, December 18, 2022
‘Republic of fear’: A return to Yemen after 11 years
After almost 12 years of living in exile in Sweden, I went back to Yemen to visit my hometown Sana'a in May 2022. (Old Sana'a, Yemen (C) Afrah Nasser) |
*As the plane descended, a once familiar sight appeared outside the window, one that I had not seen for 12 years: the waters of the Arabian Sea, the buildings in the distance and then, just when you think you’re about to land on the water, the runway of Aden’s airport.
When I left Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2011, with just carry-on luggage, I didn’t think I would be away for so long.
But a dictatorship, threats, and then a war kept me away.
The war was why, when I arrived for my visit in April, I had to fly to Aden, Yemen’s second city in the south of the country, and not Sanaa, where I’m from, in the north. Sanaa is controlled by the Houthis, the Iranian-allied rebel group the Saudi-backed government has been fighting since 2014.
As I was to find out, despite all those years of fighting, and Saudi-led coalition air raids, the Houthis are still deeply entrenched in the north.
“You still look the same,” said my 31-year-old cousin, Ahmed*, as he greeted me at the airport. “It’s like you’ve only been away for a short trip.”
Ahmed and the rest of my family have been following my reporting on Yemen from Sweden, where I have been based since I left, and the country I am now a citizen of. But writing about Yemen is not the same as being in it. As Ahmed hugged me, my tears betrayed how I felt about being away from my country and my family.
“Don’t cry,” said Ahmed gently, as we began the 14-hour road trip to Sanaa. “Save your tears for the destruction and despair that you are about to see.”
Journey into exile
Before leaving Yemen I worked as a journalist. I had just started my blog, devoted to covering human rights in the country, when the 2011 uprising began. I covered the protests against then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had ruled the former North Yemen since 1978, and then when it united with South Yemen in 1990, the Republic of Yemen.
In those early days of the protests, there was so much optimism about the future of the country, but at the same time, massacres of protesters warned of what was to come.
I was frustrated that only a few native Yemeni voices were writing about what was happening in Yemen in English, so I started to blog about it.
My writing brought warnings, hateful comments, and then death threats. But I continued until, in May 2011, three years into my work as a full-time reporter at the Yemen Observer newspaper in Sanaa, I left for Sweden to participate in a training course I’d applied for before the protests had begun.
While I was away, armed fighting started on the streets of Sanaa. “The violence is escalating. Don’t come back now,” my family would tell me on the phone. “If you do come back, you won’t be able to write, you can’t write any more. It’s too dangerous.”
I couldn’t imagine life without writing, so, at 25 years old, I made the decision to stay on my own in Sweden.
In my phone calls with my family, the main way I have been able to keep in touch during the long years of my exile, the warnings continued.
“If you come back and continue your journalism, you’ll end up in prison,” my mother would say. “I have no connections to get you out, and I will not come to visit you in your cell. You’ll be tortured and raped. Do not come back.”
My mother was terrified that my work would endanger me. Her solution was to try and scare me away from the profession.
I heard their warnings, but the pain of being away was growing unbearable. I’m sure everyone says the same thing about their country, or the place they grew up in, but Yemen had a hold of me.
Covering Yemen from afar was the only thing that filled the void inside me and helped ease the pain of missing home.
Posters of Houthi fighters who have died in the fighting have become ubiquitous around Sanaa [Afrah Nasser/Al Jazeera] |
An opportunity to return
This April, a truce – which ended on October 2 after the Houthis failed to agree on its renewal – brought the opening I was waiting for.
An opportunity to spend the final days of Ramadan, and celebrate Eid, with the people I loved the most.
But my entire family, apart from Ahmed, remained oblivious to my plans. After all their warnings, I didn’t want to have them worrying while I made the arduous journey.
The trip from Aden to Sanaa was never an easy one – it passes from Yemen’s southern coast through the mountains, along winding roads with huge drops, and some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll see, the landscape changing from Ibb’s green mountains, to Dhamar’s fields, and then to the dustier, and yet still majestic, mountains of Sanaa.
That beauty was still there, but the trip was now far harder to make.
To avoid front lines, the route takes several detours, sometimes along roads that can barely be described as such, which occasionally flood in the summer rainy season.
Many have lost their lives along these treacherous passages – secondary casualties of this brutal war. Another cause of significant delays: the approximately 40 checkpoints we had to pass through along the road that belonged to the various parties to the conflict.
These checkpoints leave you drained, not only because of the gruelling interrogations that take place there, but also because of the realisation that you’re in a divided country, and Yemen is no longer a united land.
“Where are you from? Show me identification,” the guard yelled as Ahmed and I arrived at a checkpoint controlled by the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC).
The United Arab Emirates-backed STC, the major force in southern Yemen, controls all the checkpoints along the road we took, up to the central governorate of al-Bayda.
The STC guards had more questions: What city we were travelling to, where the car’s papers were, and whether they could take some of our qat (for all of Yemen’s divisions, qat, a mild narcotic, remains a great unifier).
As we drove away from the checkpoint, Ahmed explained why we had not had much trouble.“They wanted to know if we were from Sanaa,” Ahmed, who was born and raised in Sanaa, said.
“But my ID says that I’m from Hadramout instead.” Hadramout, a large governorate in eastern Yemen, has stayed out of much of the tension between the north and south. While it is a southern governorate, and separatist sentiment exists there, it has been spared much of the direct fighting that has occurred between government forces and separatists in other parts of the south.
Back in 2016, Ahmed had managed to change his identification card to show his residence as Hadramout, knowing that it would save him from a lot of suspicion on trips around the country.
The Houthi slogan, including the line ‘Death to America’ is plastered on a monument at one of Sanaa’s busiest intersections [Afrah Nasser/Al Jazeera] |
Reunited with family and friends
As we travelled, the physical effects of this war became visible. Refugees and migrants, seemingly east African, walked along the roads, having picked a country at war to be their transit point to the Gulf. Tents housing internally displaced people dotted the landscape.
Infrastructure – such as roads, bridges and houses – was destroyed. Air raids and shelling had left roads impassable, forcing cars onto alternate routes.
“The car accidents that happen because of these unpaved roads are horrific,” Ahmed told me, almost nonchalantly.
“You know, I follow a great Facebook page that shares updates about car accidents and I never drive without checking it.”
When we arrived in Sanaa, I went straight to my family’s home. They were shocked and overjoyed to see me. Seeing my mother again, and being able to hold her, was amazing.
After all the hugs and tears of happiness, she was able to give me comprehensive updates on everything that had happened to our neighbours, relatives and friends.
Some had passed away, some had fallen ill, and many others had lost their jobs and depended on donations.
Things were a lot worse than when I left. My conversations with family members and friends were often about the catastrophic economic hardships that they had to go through on a daily basis.
Even if you receive your salary, and many millions do not, it is often worthless as a result of high inflation. Food prices are now extraordinarily higher than before I left Yemen, with some items at approximately the same price as I would see in my local supermarket in Stockholm, and sometimes even higher.
“Thank God I still have a job, but the salary isn’t enough to pay for all my monthly expenses,” my cousin Najat*, who is like an older sister to me, explained. Hearing her recount the hardship of the last few years made me sad and outraged.
Her side hustle, making and selling bakhour, wood chips soaked in perfumed oil and burned as traditional incense, was helping her get by.
“If I didn’t have that, I don’t know how I would have survived,” she said. “At home, we try to minimise our expenses: We almost never use electronics such as the television or the fridge because we need to lower our electricity bills. We buy and eat meat only on special occasions, maybe twice a year, during Eid, because it’s so expensive.
“I walk most of the time because transport has become so expensive amid the fuel shortages.”
The Houthis have refused to allow the newer government-printed currency to be used in areas under their control, forcing people to use older money [Afrah Nasser/Al Jazeera] |
Surviving on generosity
For my aunt, who used to be a teacher at a state school, it was the same. “I used to receive a salary of 40,000 Yemeni riyals [$160 at the official rate] before the war. But I stopped going to work in 2017 because they stopped paying me.
“I tried to find another job in another school, but they only offered me 20,000 riyals [$80]. What can I do with that today? Our house rent on its own is 35,000 [$140].” My aunt has stopped trying to find work, and stays at home, her family solely reliant on her husband’s salary.
The solution, as presented to me by everyone I spoke to was simple: They didn’t want aid or donations as that wouldn’t help them in the long term. What they wanted was their jobs, decent salaries, and an end to the depreciation of the national currency and inflation.
Clearly, that will not come for a long time. And so I asked myself, how are people surviving?
Quite simply: on each other’s generosity.
In both Sanaa and Aden, where I spent a week, I was struck by how people looked out for each other, something that I have often missed in Sweden. As Ramadan wound down, I was reminded of the traditions that I had left behind in Yemen. Our neighbours would knock on our door and bring us food, unasked.
My mother would do the same for them, cooking big portions of food and sharing it with whomever she could. I would go shopping with Najat, but instead of buying clothes for herself, she was buying special clothes for Eid for the children in her neighbourhood.
“Let me buy clothes for those poor kids as a charity,” she said as we were heading to the shops.
“I heard one store had good sales, so we’ll go there. At least my bakhour business gave me some spare money last month.”
What remains of Change Square in Sanaa, once the centre of Yemen’s protest movement in 2011 [Afrah Nasser/Al Jazeera] |
The Houthi state
As I travelled around Sanaa, I was reminded that I was in a city ruled by the Houthis.
The signs had been there even as we travelled to the city. At the checkpoints, the guards were less interested in where we were from, than they were in whether we observed the rules of their state, such as the use of old and tattered bank notes instead of the new ones used in government and STC-controlled territory.
The Houthis had banned the new currency, printed since 2019, seeing it as a way of undermining their control.
While the vibe of Aden – laid-back, cosmopolitan and welcoming – had been much the same as when I left Yemen in 2011, Sanaa had changed.
Without exaggeration, it feels like a city that has been invaded. When the Houthis marched in from the mountains of the far north of Yemen, they brought with them the visible signs of their rule – the green posters depicting their slogan: “God is Great, Death to the USA, Death to Israel, Curse the Jews” – as well as the things that were harder to see, such as the way they have enforced their religious and political ideology on the people.
It felt like everywhere I went I could hear the voice of the group’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
His location is unknown, hidden away out of fear of a Saudi air attack, but his voice could be heard from cars with large speakers on top, replaying his latest speech.
The brainwashing has had its effect. On the walls of Sanaa, alongside the Houthi slogan, are posters of their “martyrs”.
The faces of dead fighters, young and old, stare back from posters stuck onto the walls of the Old City of Sanaa, a UNESCO World Heritage site [Afrah Nasser/Al Jazeera] |
‘Death to this and death to that’
The Houthis have sent thousands to the front lines to fight the government and the STC. Many of the faces staring back at me from the posters were children. Seeing that was devastating.
“Death to this and death to that,” said Najat, as we passed by one of the Houthi posters. “It’s terrifying. I don’t know how I can protect my seven-year-old daughter from hearing that, it’s everywhere I go. Imagine your children growing up in a culture that glorifies death. What kind of future will we have? What kind of generation are we creating?”
My relatives and friends told me to be careful of the Zaynabiyat as I walked the streets. Female forces recruited by the Houthis to carry out a wide range of security and military services, including intelligence gathering. They are hard to notice as they walk in civilian clothing and can’t be picked out of a crowd.
The Zaynabiyat, some of them brought in as young girls, are recruited through a mix of ideology and economic incentives.
“Never speak to a woman you don’t know at a wedding,” Najat said to me one day, as my mother listened. “You never know, she might be one of the Zaynabiyat. At one wedding a woman was talking to me and started asking me if I wanted to contribute to the Houthi war effort by donating my jewellery. She told me she was one of them.”
My mother interjected. “Last year one of our neighbour’s sisters was summoned to the police station – she had said something against the Houthis at a wedding. One of the Zaynabiyat definitely heard her.”
The United Nations Panel of Experts on Yemen has reported that the work of the Zaynabiyat is to repress and control women in prisons, professional workspaces and in public places.
“If you’re discovered, they [the Houthis] will detain you and torture you,” I was warned. It reminded me of an article I read a few years ago, detailing the abuses, such as beatings and psychological torture, committed against dissident women by the Houthis.
I also remembered the ordeal of the detained and prosecuted Yemeni model, Intissar al-Hammadi, who I had researched for my previous work at Human Rights Watch.
Intissar is still in a Houthi prison. Sanaa has become the heart of a republic of fear. The Houthis claimed they were bringing a revolution against the corrupt when they took the capital in 2014. But they have now become the corrupt, imposing their ruthless political and security repression on everyone in the areas they control.
Meanwhile, members of the internationally-recognised government of Yemen have also been accused of being involved in abuses. According to human rights groups, Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE, has conducted indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in many parts of Yemen.
All parties to the conflict have been accused of committing violations of international human rights laws that rights organisations say could amount to war crimes.
Yemen’s only branch of KFC remains in Sanaa, but billboards featuring the dead founder of the Houthi movement are more prominent [Afrah Nasser/Al Jazeera] |
New Yemens
It’s impossible to predict what the future holds for Yemen. The current de-facto division is likely to become permanent. The Yemeni state I grew up in has disintegrated.
All the stories my family and friends told me during my visit demonstrated to me that the eight-year conflict has split the country into many parts.
In the midst of the destruction, new Yemens are emerging, waiting for sufficient political will from either local or international actors to acknowledge it.
Ahmed and his Yemeni ID card, with his false home of Hadramout, started to make sense. “See, there is more than one Yemen today,” he said. “The reason I changed my ID and pretended that I was from Hadramout is because it’s seen as peaceful. The other Yemens, the one in the north, and the one in the south, are in a raging war. The division and rivalry between the north and the south is impossible to resolve. Northerners can have their Yemen. Southerners can have their Yemen. And I prefer the Yemen in Hadramout.”
Yemenis disagree on what the solution is. To me, the potential division of Yemen would be the lesser of two evils. In its current form, with the current circumstances and tension, unity has become catastrophic for citizens across the country.
If Yemen’s relatively young unification project ends, it might be shaky and risky, but at least people might have a second chance to envision a new stable country of their own.
Is this something I want? Not necessarily, but it’s rather a matter that I try to be realistic about.
In the last few days of my near-month-long trip, as I prepared to go back into my exile, Ahmed drove me in his car and we passed Sanaa University, where the 2011 uprising began.
There was the monument, the place we had called Change Square. “What do you feel when you see this place now?” Ahmed asked me. “One part of me feels like I am visiting a graveyard, where my generation’s dreams and aspirations for a democratic Yemen were born and died,” I responded.
“But another part of me thinks that there are no shortcuts for going from dictatorship to democracy. Counter-revolutions are inevitable. Just like Saleh was overthrown, the Houthis will be overthrown.”
Ahmed nodded. With at least some hope in his voice, he started speaking about the time when it all began for me, the 2011 revolution when I had so much hope for the country’s future.
“The past has shown that, no matter what, Yemen will continue to live, to survive and to resist.”
*This essay by Afrah Nasser was originally written for/published on Al Jazeera English on December 18, 2022. The source link is here.
Thursday, December 10, 2020
In Yemen, journalism can be a capital offense
*October 15 was supposed to be a happy day for the families of imprisoned Yemeni journalists Abdul-Khaleq Amran, Akram al-Walidi, Hareth Humaid and Tawfiq al-Mansouri. A prisoner exchange deal was set to take place between the Houthi armed group and the internationally recognized government of Yemen in which more than a thousand people were to be released.
The families had longed for years to be reunited with their loved ones and expected to see them among the released prisoners, but by the end of the day their hopes had turned into disappointment and fear.
The four journalists, who worked for various local media outlets, have been arbitrarily detained since 2015 by the Houthi authorities, apparently for reporting on abuses by the Houthis as the armed group took over the capital, Sanaa, and much of western Yemen in September 2014. At the time, the Houthi armed group was waging an aggressive campaign to silence journalists. In 2016, Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi made clear his hostility towards independent media by declaring in a televised speech that “media workers are more dangerous to our country than the traitors and mercenaries of security forces”.
In April 2020, the Houthi-controlled Specialized Criminal Court in Sanaa sentenced the four to death following an unfair trial on politically motivated charges of treason and spying for foreign states, based solely on their media work. The court did not specify a date for carrying out the sentence.
Apart from the threat of execution, there are serious concerns about the conditions in which the four men are held. Three other detainees who were detained, held, and put on trial with them were released in the prisoner exchange. They told Human Rights Watch that they were held in a freezing, filthy windowless cell of about six square meters with several other men.
The former prisoners also said they feared that the Houthi authorities may execute the four journalists soon, since they were not included in the prisoner exchange.
Despite countless appeals by human rights and media freedom groups in Yemen and abroad to reverse the death sentences and release the journalists, the Houthis have not budged.
Meanwhile, the agony for the jailed men and their families continues. Days after the prisoner exchange deal, family members described their frustration and pain because they are unable to help their loved ones as their health deteriorates without access to adequate medical care.
The fathers of al-Mansouri and Humaid were denied by the Houthis the right to visit their sons in prison and died without saying goodbye to them. The family members are pleading with the Houthis to let them out before their mothers also pass away with broken hearts.
Journalism should never be a crime, much less lead to the death penalty. To halt this potential tragedy, key international actors such as the United States and European countries, as well as countries allied to the Houthis, should press for the immediate release of the four journalists.
We have seen pressure work in previous cases, including an international campaign in 2017 that helped secure the release of Yemeni journalist Yahya al-Jubaihi, even though a Houthi-controlled court had issued a death sentence against him for being a “Saudi spy”. The campaign also helped obtain the release of Hisham Tarmoom, Haitham al-Shihab and Essam Amin Balgheeth as part of the October prisoner exchange.
The Houthis are not the only group mistreating and detaining journalists in Yemen. In 2018, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that media workers in Yemen are under attack from all warring sides and face arbitrary arrest and abusive treatment even in areas controlled by Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
Parties to the conflict need to allow journalists to practice their profession freely. Yemen’s humanitarian disaster is reaching catastrophic proportions and it is the job of media workers to document and inform of its devastating effects. To be able to do that, their safety and security need to be guaranteed.
The Houthis can take the first step in the right direction by reversing the death sentences against the four journalists and releasing them from prison.
*This article was first published on al-Jazeera English
Sunday, December 8, 2019
A critical discourse analysis of how BBC World vs. Al Jazeera English Constructed Yemen’s 2011 Uprising Coverage
After some correspondence, my previous university, the University of Gothenburg just published my MA thesis. Written in 2015, titled, "Discursive Construction in Media: A critical discourse analysis of how BBC World vs. Al Jazeera English Constructed Yemen’s 2011 Uprising Coverage" discusses how, in comparison, both online media outlets covered the first 100 days of the uprising. Every chapter is dear to me but I enjoyed the most analyzing postcolonial theories & their relations to Yemen.
Picture: Abdulrahman Jaber.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Podcast: Investigative Journalists Speak Out
Early September, I spoke with TV & radio presenter, Sam Asi for the Golden Globes' Hollywood Foreign Press Association podcast.
You may listen to the interview here or find the transcript below.
INTERVIEW'S TRANSCRIPT: HFPA in Conversation with Afrah Nasser
Sam: THIS IS SAM ASI FROM THE HFPA. TODAY I'M TALKING TO AFRAH NASSER. AFRAH NASSER A MULTI-AWARD, INDEPENDENT YEMENI JOURNALIST AND BLOGGER LIVING IN EXILE IN SWEDEN SINCE 2011 WHEN SHE FACED DEATH THREATS IN HER HOME COUNTRY WHERE SHE PRACTICED JOURNALISM SINCE 2008.
NASSER'S REPORTING ON YEMEN'S POLITICAL AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS SUCH AS CNN, HUFFINGTON POST, AL JAZEERA, AND THE NATIONAL. AND WON SEVERAL AWARDS, AMONGST THEM: PENNSKAFT AWARD AND THE DAWIT ISAAK PRIZE AND THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS FREEDOM AWARD FOR THE COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS.
IN 2015 ARABIAN BUSINESS RANKED HER AS 15 OUT OF THE 100 MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE ARAB WORLD, WHILE CNN HAS CALLED HER BLOG, ONE OF THE 10 MUST READ IN THE MIDDLE EAST. HELLO AFRAH.
Yes. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US AT THE HFPA PODCAST. Thank you for having me. Sam: AFRAH, I WANT TO START WITH SWEDEN. HOW IS LIFE IN SWEDEN FOR YOU? ARE YOU ENJOYING LIVING IN SWEDEN AND DO YOU MISS YEMEN BECAUSE YOU ARE FROM YEMEN, AREN'T YOU?
Well, there are some good and some bad days. I've gone through a lot of phases, and at this moment I am really missing the language because as you know, Yemen is fragmenting and into so many Yemenis. So, I know that whatever I am missing is not there any longer. So, what I miss really is the language. I realized from my travels around the Middle East that home for me is Arabic language. So that's what I miss the most. But Sweden is a great country really. I've had really, really wonderful friends here who have been more than a family for me. But you know, you can't help but miss some fundamental things like language.
Sam: OF COURSE, LANGUAGE IS VERY IMPORTANT TO YOU BECAUSE THIS IS THE TOOL THAT YOU HAVE USED IN YEMEN SINCE A VERY YOUNG AGE. CAN WE GO BACK TO THAT AGE WHEN YOU BEGAN YOUR CAREER INTO WRITING? HOW DID THAT ALL START?
Ah, that's a deep question. I can't remember exactly my relation to writings, to writing and literature. But I remember that my mom telling me that she remembers that when I was a teenager telling her that I want to be like Negi Bafult [phonetic 00:02:51] one day. I'm born to be a writer. Trying to think and remember so hard. I remember that I had a lot of journals. Every day I would write. So, when I had my job at Yemen Observer and Sanaa when they hired me, I was overjoyed. I thought this will not feel like work to be paid.
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Yemeni Journalist Flees Aden after STC-police Raids his Home & Seeks his Arrest
Journalist Ahmed Maher, 22, fled Aden to unknown place inside Yemen after the issuing of an arrest warrant and a raid on his home in Aden, three days ago.
Maher, chief editor of ‘Marsad Aden’ website tells me in a phone interview, “Three hours after I received the warrant arrest, I escaped Aden. The warrant said that the Southern Transitional Council has ordered (Dar Sa’ad) police to arrest me. After I fled, they raided my house.”
Since the latest events in Aden, Ahmed Maher has been one of the most active journalists reporting from Aden. He has been a frequent guest speaker on TV channels, like Al Jazeera Arabic and BBC Arabic. He has been expressing anti-UAE and anti-STC views, and believes that was the reason for issuing an arrest warrant. “They want to punish me for my reporting via social media and TV channels, and especially my pro-government political stance.”
In a Facebook post, Maher explains how one of the policemen told him that his crime was his Facebook posts about the situation in Aden. He says over the phone that after he escaped and felt relatively secure, he posted about what had happened to him. Maher fears for what could happen to his family who lives in Aden and if he would be captured elsewhere.
Maher has been working as a journalist since 2013 but since 2016 he has focused primarily on the violations conducted by armed groups. Maher recalls that about two years ago he was attacked by armed groups while reporting on the deportation of northerners in Lahj province, south Yemen. “I was detained and tortured for a day after my reporting on Lahj,” says Maher, “the second assault I faced was awhile ago after I expressed my objection to how STC is weakening Yemen’s government. And now this.”
Maher says he will continue reporting no matter what.
Yemen’s Journalists Syndicate affiliated to Hadi government expressed its concern over violations against journalists in Aden and Ahmed Maher’s situation. It has also received complaints from journalist Saleh al-Issey who resides outside Yemen now and his home was raided by armed men.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Yemeni Journalist Denied Entry to US to Receive Pulitzer Prize: I am Disappointed yet Defiant
Maad al-Zekri, Yemen’s first journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize tells me what happened to him over a phone call from Egypt:
Yesterday was a big day for me and my colleagues, Maggie Michael, and Nariman El-Mofty. It was the award ceremony for us to receive the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, in New York City in the United States. As a team of Associated Press journalists, Michael, El-Mofty and I have done about 14 stories from Yemen, covering a wide range of issues; like the U.S. drone strikes on Yemen and the UAE’s secret prions in Yemen, among many other stories.
We actually won other awards as well for our reporting, not only the Pulitzer Prize.
Maad al-Zekri with Maggie Michael, Yemen 2018. |
I wasn’t able to join my colleagues in NYC and celebrate this important achievement because I was denied entry to the United States. As all embassies are shut down in Yemen, I had to travel to the closest country to Yemen and apply for the visa in a U.S. embassy. So, two months ago, I visited Egypt and applied for the visa. My application was supported by so many letters from high-ranked institutions, including the Associated Press Agency. And yet, my application was rejected.
The embassy told me that the reason was that Yemen was ranked as a place that has terrorism. AP exerted the fullest pressure on the embassy and we planned that I apply again. My second application required that I meet an American Counselor. I explained that Yemen wasn’t a terrorist country and I asked, “Does the U.S. embassy think that a Yemeni investigative journalist doing reporting for AP is a terrorist? Are you saying that I am a terrorist?”
It was baffling to me. As a Yemeni citizen, I know how we Yemenis are the first victims of terrorism. Terrorists in Yemen are foreigners who come from outside. They exploit the deteriorating security situation in Yemen and use that for their own interests.
I was told by the American Counselor that they would work on my application and I should expect the visa anytime - even one day before the award ceremony. So, I waited and waited - and waited. And till now, I heard nothing from them.
Last night, I had a beautiful surprise when my colleagues Michael and El-Mofty video-called me on Facetime as they were receiving the award on stage. Somehow, seeing Michael and El-Mofty and the audience's standing ovation made me feel like I was there with them. It was a delightful surprise! So grateful that I am working with these ladies.
I'm deeply touched by your strong support & great encouragement. My warmest thanks to all of you for your kindness & sincere words.@mokhbersahafi & @NMofty I can't thank you enough for your thoughtfulness during @PulitzerPrizes ceremony. I'm— Maad Alzekri (@MaadAlzekri) May 29, 2019
extremely lucky to team up with you pic.twitter.com/cdjuVQYvpG
I don’t know what to say about the wonderful messages I’ve been receiving from relatives, friends, journalists (and especially American journalists) and people from Yemen and around the world. So heartwarming! Not being able to travel to the U.S. and receive the award in person was disappointing to me but it also made me realize all this solidarity I have as a Yemeni journalist and citizen. I do journalism not expecting to get awards, rather to shed light on this impoverished land, my country, Yemen. The love and support I’ve been receiving give me more energy to keep up my work.
My message to the U.S. administration is that it has to rethink its policies against Yemen and Yemenis. One of the key reasons why this land is so impoverished in the tragic condition it has reached to today is the U.S. administration's mass punishment on Yemen. They must rethink that. The rift has been immense.
Friday, April 26, 2019
Why is supporting Yemeni journalists important?
With Yemeni activist and lawyer, Huda al-Sarari at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, 2017. |
I was very delighted to hear the news that Yemeni activist and lawyer, Huda al-Sarari won the 2019 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity for her brave activism and speaking out against the torture in secret prisons in Southern Yemen. The Aurora Prize, awarded on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, is an annual international humanitarian award recognizing individuals or organizations for humanitarian work.
It's such a bittersweet moment for Huda - who I have the fortune to call her a friend - because the award comes less than a month after the passing of her teenager son in Aden following a serious bullet injury he sustained during a violent protest in Aden in March this year.
Huda has done outstanding work under extremely difficult conditions. While documenting cases of grave human rights abuses in secret prisons in the south of Yemen, Huda faced death threats, harassment and brutal defamation campaign. Referring to the danger Huda has been subjected to, the Aurora Prize cites a Middle East Eye-feature titled "Yemeni woman activist refuses to give up following death threats" that I authored in 2017 about Huda's work.
A demonstration in Aden demanding "Justice for the prisoners and justice for the innocent" with pictures of those detained held up (Photo courtesy of Huda al-Sarari). |
I've been working as a journalist for more than a decade, experiencing work as a full-time staff reporter and as an independent freelance journalist. The latter type has been the most difficult because it has so many challenges.
Writing that piece about Huda was very important for me but it took so long time until my editors were convinced about the significance of the story. Very often, like what happened while pitching this story, I'd spend 70% of my time convincing some of my editors. Meaning, the process of writing one feature, like the one about Huda, won't only consist of writing the story. No. I'd need so long time (days or weeks) to convince my editor to approve commissioning the story - and then, I'd start writing. That often leads to an extreme delay in getting the story out and burning me out.
I am so so happy that Huda is receiving this recognition as it also makes me feel happy that my perseverance in pushing for her story to be out didn't go in vain.
Yemen isn't underreported in media just like that. It's underreported partially because there is a deliberate decision to ignore it - and dismiss its people's stories. I have so many stories about many Yemenis doing great things but I am frustrated with how I must push so hard to get just one story out, like Huda's story.
I am also fortunate to have some of the most supportive and understanding editors whom I cherish very much. Thank you so much, guys.
I think it's important for editors and publications to believe, trust and support Yemeni journalists who typically would bring untold stories about their community so people like Huda could also receive the recognition they deserve.
Writing that piece about Huda was very important for me but it took so long time until my editors were convinced about the significance of the story. Very often, like what happened while pitching this story, I'd spend 70% of my time convincing some of my editors. Meaning, the process of writing one feature, like the one about Huda, won't only consist of writing the story. No. I'd need so long time (days or weeks) to convince my editor to approve commissioning the story - and then, I'd start writing. That often leads to an extreme delay in getting the story out and burning me out.
I am so so happy that Huda is receiving this recognition as it also makes me feel happy that my perseverance in pushing for her story to be out didn't go in vain.
Yemen isn't underreported in media just like that. It's underreported partially because there is a deliberate decision to ignore it - and dismiss its people's stories. I have so many stories about many Yemenis doing great things but I am frustrated with how I must push so hard to get just one story out, like Huda's story.
I am also fortunate to have some of the most supportive and understanding editors whom I cherish very much. Thank you so much, guys.
I think it's important for editors and publications to believe, trust and support Yemeni journalists who typically would bring untold stories about their community so people like Huda could also receive the recognition they deserve.
Thursday, April 11, 2019
The Weak Suffer What They Must
Saada was the scene of deadly coalition air raids on August 4, 2017 [File: Naif Rahma/Reuters] |
After about four years of world leaders’ apathy over the atrocities in Yemen, at the end of 2018, the international community truly pressured the warring parties to come and sit at the table for the first peace talks in two years. The tragic killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi represented a tipping point in the drive toward peace talks. The result was a moment of hope that there could be an end in sight to the war. As the weeks passed, however, it became clear that the talks were a result of international will but not necessarily a local or a regional one. Hope slowly vanished. It might take another major event with an international echo to bring that hope back.
Contemplating the fourth year of the war in Yemen and the question of what has been achieved so far, I am at a loss in finding anything but further fragmentation and destruction of an already enfeebled state of Yemen. The Saudi attempt to restore the presidency of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has only increased the possibility of a permanent division of Yemen.
Saudi Arabia’s fight against the Houthis has also involved the unnecessary bombing of historical sites across Yemen. And the UAE, Saudi Arabia’s partner, now occupies Yemen’s remote island of Socotra and controls UAE-funded militias and armed groups in the south of Yemen outside the control of the Yemeni government. It is unsettling how these two rich monarchies are doing such damage to the world’s poorest Arab country. Being caught between these warring parties is a hell Yemenis must deal with. Our ordeal is summed up in Thucydides’ saying: “the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.”
_________________________________
*This commentary was written for & first published on Carnegie Endowment oragnization's website April 10th, 2019.
Monday, March 11, 2019
Global Conference on Yemen
During the Global Conference on Yemen run by Center on National Security at Fordham Law School & Tawakkol Karman Foundation, in New York City, 7th of March, 2019, this session addressed the humanitarian crisis & its impact on the ground.
The session's Panelists as follows: Priyanka Motaparthy, Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch Afrah Nasser, Independent Yemeni Journalist and Editor-in-Chief, Sana’a Review Kathryn Achilles, Senior Humanitarian Policy Advisor, Oxfam Rawya Rageh, Senior Crisis Advisor, Amnesty International Moderated by: Dr. Dalia Fahmy, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Policy
Monday, February 11, 2019
Yemen's Uprising 8th Anniversary
— Afrah Nasser (@Afrahnasser) February 10, 2019
Some think Yemen’s 2011 uprising was thwarted— Afrah Nasser (@Afrahnasser) February 10, 2019
But!
What I think is that it was a moment that
let a big fat genie to be out of the bottle
📸 @Muheisen81 pic.twitter.com/SB5AsT18RQ
Despite Everything,— Afrah Nasser (@Afrahnasser) February 10, 2019
joining Yemen's 2011 uprising has been & still is
one of the greatest things I did in my life pic.twitter.com/jEvoFfFpWL
I still recall laying to my family in 2011 that I wasn't at the protests & yet I made this interview w/ @France24_ar's @TatianaELK from change square, next our home in Sana'a about women's role in the protests - which exposed my lie & caused me really lots of trouble w/ my family pic.twitter.com/H7RLVh6TA0— Afrah Nasser (@Afrahnasser) February 10, 2019
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Saudi Arabia to release Houthi prisoners after ill soldier freed
Houthis just released an ill Saudi prisoner for seven Houthi captives in the Saudis' hands. What about the other 1000s of captives; politicians, journalists, activists, Baha'ai people, other men & women who just happened in the wrong place at the wrong time?
By releasing an ill Saudi prisoner Houthis send a clear message about the devastated health-care system, especially in the north part of Yemen, by the Saudi-led co'. But we should all recognize that Houthis have detained & tortured to death dozens of men in their prisons.
Here's my conversation with Al Jazeera English on the subject, earlier today.
By releasing an ill Saudi prisoner Houthis send a clear message about the devastated health-care system, especially in the north part of Yemen, by the Saudi-led co'. But we should all recognize that Houthis have detained & tortured to death dozens of men in their prisons.
Here's my conversation with Al Jazeera English on the subject, earlier today.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Yemeni Journalist Forcibly Disappeared in Saudi Arabia without any Charge
I wrote in Daraj website (in Arabic) about the disappearance of Yemeni journalist, Marwan al-Muraisy in Saudi Arabia.
Two days ago, I wrote on Facebook:
"Today is our friend Marwan al-Muraisy's birthday. He won't celebrate his birthday with his family & friends, you know why? Marwan has been forcibly disappeared in Saudi Arabia for more than 6 months now. The Saudi authorities refuse to explain reasons of his arrest or anything about his whereabouts.
I'm sorry, Marwan, there's no big media outcry for you, or that Canada isn't opening its door for you - I'm sorry you belong to the poorest Arab nation. Against all odds, may you be free so soon! #أين_مروان_المريسي"
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
A journalist or an activist?
Yemen War in the US Media: Khashoggi, the Tipping Point
I wrote this piece, titled "Khashoggi Case Puts Light on Yemen’s Plight" for TruthDig.com back in November last year during my journalism fellowship (Sep-Nov 2018) at the United Nations office in New York. In the wake of the killing of the Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018, I was fascinated by the remarkably extensive media coverage on Yemen in the U.S. Being in the U.S. during that time really helped me understand the role of the U.S. media, Think Tanks & human rights organizations have played in the course of Yemen war. Most importantly, I realized how the murder of Khashoggi has become a tipping point. The following is a longer version of my initial report for TruthDig.com published last month. Here I enclose new paragraphs that were left out of the TruthDig's version due to a words number limit there.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
New York, U.S. - The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has ironically put the spotlight on the suffering of millions of Yemenis through a four year bloody and destructive war. In particular, Saudi and Emirati atrocities in Yemen have been under greater scrutiny, in the media and in U.S. think tank scholarship - given Khashoggi’s tie with the Washington Post and the U.S. media. The murder has been placed in the overall context of MBS excesses in the Middle East.
Media attention played a significant role in the rebuke the U.S. Senate recently delivered to President Trump, whose policy is to stand by the Saudis. The Senate passed a resolution Dec. 13 to end U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen and also blamed Salman, the Saudi crown prince, for the killing of Khashoggi.
The Senate resolution isn’t expected to pass in the House, but the vote was still welcome news to many in Yemen. “This is an overdue vote,” says Sarah Ahmed, a humanitarian worker in the capital city of Sana’a. “It’s been absolutely cruel for President Trump’s administration to assist a military operation, despite all evidence of the humanitarian catastrophe and war crimes committed in Yemen.”
Following mounting media pressure, top Trump administration officials also called for a cease-fire in the conflict, and Yemen peace talks commenced in Sweden. The talks addressed humanitarian concerns, and some steps such as a prisoner exchange were agreed upon, but the parties failed to reach accord on economic and political issues. Another round of peace talks is scheduled for the end of next month.
Media attention played a significant role in the rebuke the U.S. Senate recently delivered to President Trump, whose policy is to stand by the Saudis. The Senate passed a resolution Dec. 13 to end U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen and also blamed Salman, the Saudi crown prince, for the killing of Khashoggi.
The Senate resolution isn’t expected to pass in the House, but the vote was still welcome news to many in Yemen. “This is an overdue vote,” says Sarah Ahmed, a humanitarian worker in the capital city of Sana’a. “It’s been absolutely cruel for President Trump’s administration to assist a military operation, despite all evidence of the humanitarian catastrophe and war crimes committed in Yemen.”
Following mounting media pressure, top Trump administration officials also called for a cease-fire in the conflict, and Yemen peace talks commenced in Sweden. The talks addressed humanitarian concerns, and some steps such as a prisoner exchange were agreed upon, but the parties failed to reach accord on economic and political issues. Another round of peace talks is scheduled for the end of next month.
KHASHOGGI, THE TIPPING POINT
The war in Yemen has created what the U.N. secretary-general called the "worst humanitarian crisis" in the world now. The conflict began in 2015 as a civil war between the incoming Yemeni government and the Houthi militia group. Saudi Arabia intervened with deadly airstrikes, leading an international coalition into the battle. According to a recent report, the violence killed an estimated 60,000 Yemenis in the last two years. An additional 85,000 may have starved to death, and millions more could face that fate.
The war in Yemen has created what the U.N. secretary-general called the "worst humanitarian crisis" in the world now. The conflict began in 2015 as a civil war between the incoming Yemeni government and the Houthi militia group. Saudi Arabia intervened with deadly airstrikes, leading an international coalition into the battle. According to a recent report, the violence killed an estimated 60,000 Yemenis in the last two years. An additional 85,000 may have starved to death, and millions more could face that fate.
During the Obama and Trump administrations, the U.S. has supported the Saudi-led coalition, providing intelligence assistance, selling billions of dollars’ worth of weapons and, until last month, refuelling Saudi aircraft during bombing raids. Reports by groups such as Human Rights Watch suggest that if war crimes are committed using these U.S.-supplied weapons—and if the Trump administration doesn’t investigate that issue—the U.S. risks complicity in the crimes. The United Kingdom also has been a key supporter of the Saudi-led coalition and has assisted it with sizable arms sales.
Yet before the Khashoggi killing, the media in the U.S. published only limited coverage of the conflict. “I remember in the very beginning the press used to occasionally cover it and rarely mention the U.S. role,” says Alex Emmons, an Intercept reporter who covers Yemen on Capitol Hill. “I actually used to think every time a terrible Saudi-led airstrike attack would happen that this attack would definitely get huge attention and wouldn’t be swept under the rug, but eventually I would get disappointed and things would tend to be overlooked.”
Critics pinpointed some U.S. media outlets for inadequate reporting on the conflict. MSNBC didn't mention the U.S. role in Yemen once during the course of a year, and “60 Minutes” aired a 13-minute segment on the human cost and devastation of the war but failed to mention U.S. support of Saudi Arabia.
As the war raged on, a number of American reporters have fallen into an egotistical pitfall. After managing to have a rare access to Yemen and producing critical reporting from the ground, they turned the spotlight on themselves thus becoming the story instead of the reporters of it - this boosted their fame but did nothing for the plight of Yemenis.
Things changed after Khashoggi’s murder, with The New York Times taking the lead. The Times stepped up its coverage of the Yemen conflict, dedicating prominent space on its front page for the first time since the war began and featuring a photo of a skeletal Yemeni girl who later died of starvation.
In past years, Saudi restrictions had added to the dearth of international media coverage—for example, Saudi Arabia closed the Sana’a airport and refused entry to journalists.
“(Being) denied access by the Saudi-led coalition to Yemen has always been a problem for me and other journalists in the U.S., but the murder of Khashoggi has made everybody more skeptical of Saudi Arabia and more interested in scrutinizing Saudi Arabia’s actions,” said award-winning New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristof when this reporter interviewed him at the U.N. “The media’s interest in Yemen (also) stems from the U.N. warnings about losing the fight against famine in Yemen. The Times’ photos were clear and devastating proof.”
Yet before the Khashoggi killing, the media in the U.S. published only limited coverage of the conflict. “I remember in the very beginning the press used to occasionally cover it and rarely mention the U.S. role,” says Alex Emmons, an Intercept reporter who covers Yemen on Capitol Hill. “I actually used to think every time a terrible Saudi-led airstrike attack would happen that this attack would definitely get huge attention and wouldn’t be swept under the rug, but eventually I would get disappointed and things would tend to be overlooked.”
Critics pinpointed some U.S. media outlets for inadequate reporting on the conflict. MSNBC didn't mention the U.S. role in Yemen once during the course of a year, and “60 Minutes” aired a 13-minute segment on the human cost and devastation of the war but failed to mention U.S. support of Saudi Arabia.
As the war raged on, a number of American reporters have fallen into an egotistical pitfall. After managing to have a rare access to Yemen and producing critical reporting from the ground, they turned the spotlight on themselves thus becoming the story instead of the reporters of it - this boosted their fame but did nothing for the plight of Yemenis.
Things changed after Khashoggi’s murder, with The New York Times taking the lead. The Times stepped up its coverage of the Yemen conflict, dedicating prominent space on its front page for the first time since the war began and featuring a photo of a skeletal Yemeni girl who later died of starvation.
In past years, Saudi restrictions had added to the dearth of international media coverage—for example, Saudi Arabia closed the Sana’a airport and refused entry to journalists.
“(Being) denied access by the Saudi-led coalition to Yemen has always been a problem for me and other journalists in the U.S., but the murder of Khashoggi has made everybody more skeptical of Saudi Arabia and more interested in scrutinizing Saudi Arabia’s actions,” said award-winning New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristof when this reporter interviewed him at the U.N. “The media’s interest in Yemen (also) stems from the U.N. warnings about losing the fight against famine in Yemen. The Times’ photos were clear and devastating proof.”
In recent months, The Washington Post has produced extensive coverage of Khashoggi’s murder and of atrocities committed by Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Following Khashoggi’s death, the Post also published a controversial op-ed written by Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi militia’s supreme revolutionary committee. In the op-ed, Houthi condemned Saudi Arabia’s war crimes in Yemen and the Khashoggi murder.
Critics then condemned the Post for providing space to someone who himself has committed war crimes. “Mohammed Ali al-Houthi ‘met the designation criteria’ to be sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council,” wrote Gregory Johnsen, former member of a U.N. panel of experts on Yemen. “In other words, he is someone who has committed documented violations and crimes.”
Al-Houthi also has been responsible for the imprisonment of Yemeni journalists, another critical factor that has limited coverage of the conflict. The Houthis’ war on media groups began when the militia leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi, cousin of Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, said in 2016 that “the media workers are more dangerous to our country (Yemen) than the nationalist and warring mercenaries.”
Dozens of Yemeni journalists have been detained in Houthi-run prisons, but international agencies often do not recognize them as captives because the Houthis are a rebel group and not a government. “If the Houthis were considered a governing authority, Yemen would have the fifth highest number of journalists in jail in the world,” according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Karen Attiah, the global opinions editor at The Washington Post, didn’t respond to an email inquiring about the reasons for publishing Al-Houthi’s op-ed. However, she said in a tweet that “We have given space to … all sides of many of these debates roiling the region. And yes, including the abusive ones.”
Other observers agree that all voices in the Yemen conflict should be heard. “Media is supposed to cover what is, not what ought to be,” says Nabeel Khoury, a former U.S. diplomat to Yemen. “The Washington Post owes its readers the facts about the actors on the ground in any conflict—what they want, what their strategies are, etc.”
However, media outlets “should be careful not to overdo it, thereby turning their coverage into a platform for any combatant’s propaganda,” Khoury says. “In that vein, Saudi Arabia and the UAE [United Arab Emirates] buy influence via pages in major papers and grants to think tanks. The Houthis don’t have as much cash to throw around.”
Critics then condemned the Post for providing space to someone who himself has committed war crimes. “Mohammed Ali al-Houthi ‘met the designation criteria’ to be sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council,” wrote Gregory Johnsen, former member of a U.N. panel of experts on Yemen. “In other words, he is someone who has committed documented violations and crimes.”
Al-Houthi also has been responsible for the imprisonment of Yemeni journalists, another critical factor that has limited coverage of the conflict. The Houthis’ war on media groups began when the militia leader Abdelmalek al-Houthi, cousin of Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, said in 2016 that “the media workers are more dangerous to our country (Yemen) than the nationalist and warring mercenaries.”
Dozens of Yemeni journalists have been detained in Houthi-run prisons, but international agencies often do not recognize them as captives because the Houthis are a rebel group and not a government. “If the Houthis were considered a governing authority, Yemen would have the fifth highest number of journalists in jail in the world,” according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Karen Attiah, the global opinions editor at The Washington Post, didn’t respond to an email inquiring about the reasons for publishing Al-Houthi’s op-ed. However, she said in a tweet that “We have given space to … all sides of many of these debates roiling the region. And yes, including the abusive ones.”
Other observers agree that all voices in the Yemen conflict should be heard. “Media is supposed to cover what is, not what ought to be,” says Nabeel Khoury, a former U.S. diplomat to Yemen. “The Washington Post owes its readers the facts about the actors on the ground in any conflict—what they want, what their strategies are, etc.”
However, media outlets “should be careful not to overdo it, thereby turning their coverage into a platform for any combatant’s propaganda,” Khoury says. “In that vein, Saudi Arabia and the UAE [United Arab Emirates] buy influence via pages in major papers and grants to think tanks. The Houthis don’t have as much cash to throw around.”
YEMEN AND THE U.S. THINK TANKS
Though the number of Gulf-funded Think Tanks in Washington is uncertain, it is clear the Gulf money funds several of the major ones among the 400 Think Tanks institutions in DC, but of the leading organizations like Middle East Institute, Arab Gulf states institute, The Arab Center, Gulf International Forum, Brookings, and others have received full or partial funding from Gulf countries.
The Middle East Institute was given about $20 million from UAE over 2016-2017. The Arabian Foundation was even established by Saudi Arabia just in the course of the war in Yemen and it has been heavily focused on the Yemen war. In the wake of Jamal’s murder, however, both Brookings and the MEI have terminated grants they received from Saudi Arabia, though not from the UAE.
“For many years, in D.C.’s think tank world, there has been a general unwillingness to come down (as) hard on Saudi Arabia as they do on other countries,” Emmons says. “That’s probably because so many think tank organizations receive generous donations from Saudi Arabia.”
These think tanks recruit scholars and analysts (often people who formerly worked in influential political positions) who produce analysis and policy papers which often reflect not only an institutional bias but also favour the perspective of their donors. These same analysts also appear on U.S. cable news as expert-commentators. In light of the lack of access for journalists to Yemen, these commentators serve as a replacement and a news source.
US TV networks find these experts’ viewpoint as authoritative and regularly invite them to appear on their shows. Many of these networks, however, fail to mention the affiliation of these commentators’ respective Think Tanks and who do the experts represent.
Whether with their op-eds, TV interviews, or panel discussion events, these think tanks have played a role in shaping public perceptions. Through one investigative report after another, it’s been shown how both United Arab of Emirates and Saudi Arabia’s perspectives have dominated the U.S. media and policymaking community through buying influence.
YEMEN AND NGOS
Yet the influence is often challenged by both U.S. and international Human Rights advocacy groups. Since the beginning of the war in Yemen, NGOs have played a critical role in acting as both advocates and reporters whose reports and media interviews shown in the U.S. media tend to present more compelling content than think-tankers.
For the small independent and non-profit advocacy group, Yemen Peace Project, the role of NGOs’ is a double-edged sword, “NGOs’ role could be helpful since we have more access to Yemen than journalists do, and we could bring out more information out of political events than think-tankers do,” says Will Picard, YPP’s founding and executive director since 2010, “nonetheless, we are sometimes accused of not having objectivity.”
Picard was referring to an incident in 2017 in which the Yemeni Embassy in the U.S. accused YPP of hosting an event that had “a political agenda tied to the Houthi rebels.” YPP defended its neutrality, saying it had documented abuses by both sides in the conflict. Foreign Policy magazine supported the nonprofit, calling the embassy accusation an “unusual step betraying Sanaa’s acute sensitivity to criticism.”
Though the number of Gulf-funded Think Tanks in Washington is uncertain, it is clear the Gulf money funds several of the major ones among the 400 Think Tanks institutions in DC, but of the leading organizations like Middle East Institute, Arab Gulf states institute, The Arab Center, Gulf International Forum, Brookings, and others have received full or partial funding from Gulf countries.
The Middle East Institute was given about $20 million from UAE over 2016-2017. The Arabian Foundation was even established by Saudi Arabia just in the course of the war in Yemen and it has been heavily focused on the Yemen war. In the wake of Jamal’s murder, however, both Brookings and the MEI have terminated grants they received from Saudi Arabia, though not from the UAE.
“For many years, in D.C.’s think tank world, there has been a general unwillingness to come down (as) hard on Saudi Arabia as they do on other countries,” Emmons says. “That’s probably because so many think tank organizations receive generous donations from Saudi Arabia.”
These think tanks recruit scholars and analysts (often people who formerly worked in influential political positions) who produce analysis and policy papers which often reflect not only an institutional bias but also favour the perspective of their donors. These same analysts also appear on U.S. cable news as expert-commentators. In light of the lack of access for journalists to Yemen, these commentators serve as a replacement and a news source.
US TV networks find these experts’ viewpoint as authoritative and regularly invite them to appear on their shows. Many of these networks, however, fail to mention the affiliation of these commentators’ respective Think Tanks and who do the experts represent.
Whether with their op-eds, TV interviews, or panel discussion events, these think tanks have played a role in shaping public perceptions. Through one investigative report after another, it’s been shown how both United Arab of Emirates and Saudi Arabia’s perspectives have dominated the U.S. media and policymaking community through buying influence.
YEMEN AND NGOS
Yet the influence is often challenged by both U.S. and international Human Rights advocacy groups. Since the beginning of the war in Yemen, NGOs have played a critical role in acting as both advocates and reporters whose reports and media interviews shown in the U.S. media tend to present more compelling content than think-tankers.
For the small independent and non-profit advocacy group, Yemen Peace Project, the role of NGOs’ is a double-edged sword, “NGOs’ role could be helpful since we have more access to Yemen than journalists do, and we could bring out more information out of political events than think-tankers do,” says Will Picard, YPP’s founding and executive director since 2010, “nonetheless, we are sometimes accused of not having objectivity.”
Picard was referring to an incident in 2017 in which the Yemeni Embassy in the U.S. accused YPP of hosting an event that had “a political agenda tied to the Houthi rebels.” YPP defended its neutrality, saying it had documented abuses by both sides in the conflict. Foreign Policy magazine supported the nonprofit, calling the embassy accusation an “unusual step betraying Sanaa’s acute sensitivity to criticism.”
In the end, instead of undermining YPP’s credibility, the attack provided free publicity to the organization—something the small group wouldn’t have been able to afford on its own.
Oxfam America’s experience has been different. The organization believes that their work has been well-received. Nonetheless, Scott Paul, Oxfam America’s Humanitarian Policy Lead, laments the selectiveness of the U.S. media. “Unfortunately there’s a disproportionate amount of interest in US-Saudi relations compared to the reality of widespread hunger, disease and violence confronting millions of Yemenis,” says Paul.
It’s not only the US-Saudi relations that did not receive enough media coverage in the past, but also a variety of different issues in Yemen. This is echoed by Human Rights Watch’s Yemen researcher, Kristine Beckerle, saying “When you look at the media coverage on Yemen, a lot of it, and fairly so is on the humanitarian crisis & Saudi-led co airstrikes, and both these issues absolutely need to be covered but things that get a lot less attention are things like UAE detention, Houthi abuses, complicated political maps like in Taiz.” This impacts not only the public’s understanding of Yemen but also the policies on the crisis, as the range of issues in Yemen are not being fully understood or taken into consideration.
In the wake of the Khashoggi murder, U.S. media coverage of Yemen has gone from limited to extensive. The focus has not turned to holding the states with power on the ground accountable for the human suffering in Yemen. “The coverage makes it more costly to bomb or starve civilians, and it also embarrasses this government like the US and UK, that are implicated so it puts pressure on them to change policies. I think this is exactly what is going to happen here,” concludes Kristof.
Oxfam America’s experience has been different. The organization believes that their work has been well-received. Nonetheless, Scott Paul, Oxfam America’s Humanitarian Policy Lead, laments the selectiveness of the U.S. media. “Unfortunately there’s a disproportionate amount of interest in US-Saudi relations compared to the reality of widespread hunger, disease and violence confronting millions of Yemenis,” says Paul.
It’s not only the US-Saudi relations that did not receive enough media coverage in the past, but also a variety of different issues in Yemen. This is echoed by Human Rights Watch’s Yemen researcher, Kristine Beckerle, saying “When you look at the media coverage on Yemen, a lot of it, and fairly so is on the humanitarian crisis & Saudi-led co airstrikes, and both these issues absolutely need to be covered but things that get a lot less attention are things like UAE detention, Houthi abuses, complicated political maps like in Taiz.” This impacts not only the public’s understanding of Yemen but also the policies on the crisis, as the range of issues in Yemen are not being fully understood or taken into consideration.
In the wake of the Khashoggi murder, U.S. media coverage of Yemen has gone from limited to extensive. The focus has not turned to holding the states with power on the ground accountable for the human suffering in Yemen. “The coverage makes it more costly to bomb or starve civilians, and it also embarrasses this government like the US and UK, that are implicated so it puts pressure on them to change policies. I think this is exactly what is going to happen here,” concludes Kristof.
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