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press releases & Protests
July 24, 2008
His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of the Republic of Yemen
(via the Yemen Ambassador to the USA, his Excellency H.E. Abdulwahab Al-Hajri)
His Excellency Abubakr Al-Qirbi, Minister of Foreign Affairs
His Excellency Kamal Al-Jabri, Minister of Telecommunications
His Excellency Hassan Al-Lawzi, Minister of Information
Members of the Yemeni Government
Sana’a, Yemen
Your Excellencies:
The World Press Freedom Committee —an organization representing 45 press freedom groups from throughout the world— is deeply concerned about the general situation of press freedom and freedom of expression in your country, including the arrest and indictment of poet and comedian Fahed al-Qarni, who has been sentenced to a year and a half in prison and fined YR500,000 (about US$2,500).
Mr. Al-Qarni was arrested on March 1 for alleged “abuse of senior public officials” and was accused of “triggering secession” and “threatening the national unity” as a result of the release of his latest work, in which he criticizes the government through humor and irony. His trial in a Western Sana’a court has been postponed until July 29.
This new violation of the fundamental rights of a Yemeni citizen adds up to a worrisome record of official censorship and repression of the right to free speech and to a free press, which is protected by your own Constitution and acknowledged by the most relevant international human rights conventions.
As we expressed to Your Excellencies in our Jan. 31 letter, this fundamental concept of freedom of the press and of expression is consecrated in two of the world’s most important human rights documents:
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression and opinion; this right includes
the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
And Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights declares:
Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include
freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without
interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.
Both articles leave no doubt about the imperative for the members of a society to enjoy, without any kind of obstacle, their right to express themselves freely and to be duly informed. The arrest and unjust conviction of Mr. al-Qarni is a clear attack on these two fundamental postulates, and adds insult to injury after the shutting down of www.yemenportal.net and several other websites serving the Yemeni public.
Moreover, both the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Council support the concept that public officials should expect more, and not less, scrutiny and criticism from the rest of society. This acceptance of being a willing target of the media’s slings and arrows also implies public officials should restrain themselves from shutting down media outlets or silence criticism directed at them.
Therefore, your Excellencies, we urge you to use all your influence for Mr. al-Qarni’s sentence to be declared null and void and to lift any restrictions on any independent publications and websites in your country.
Respectfully,
E. Markham Bench
Executive Director
World Press Freedom Committee
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