Human Rights Watch Report on Yemen Journalists, Opposition Political Leaders Subjected to Detention or Assault [Archives:2000/07/Front Page]

A recent report on the human rights situations in Yemen published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) covered various sensitive areas where human rights in Yemen are being violated during the period of 1998-99.
The report says that in 1999 human rights problems in Yemen received greater international attention largely because of the trial of eight British and two Algerian nationals on charges of planning terrorist attacks in the country. The trial in Aden in August and convictions of prison terms against them, highlighted serious shortcomings in the Yemeni judicial system, including arbitrary detention, torture and unfair trials. Many prisoners and detainees were held in unregulated detention centers by tribal leaders or branches of the security forces. The report has given extensive coverage on breaches against the press and freedom of expression.
It says many independent and opposition newspapers faced prosecution or extrajudicial harassment over the course of the year. Prominent editors and journalists, such as the late Dr Abdul Aziz Al- Saqqaf of the Yemen Times were detained and interrogated. The Yemen Times was accused of slander and spreading lies after publishing articles in November 1998 accusing government officials of channeling international development funds into their own bank accounts. The prosecution was dropped in July following the death of the editor Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf in a traffic accident.
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