There are 13 Yemeni journalists still in the jails of the Houthi militias since they were kidnapped more than three years ago. At this time, the Yemeni journalist of Suhail TV, Salah al- Qa'idi — one of abductees — completed three years of his abduction on August 28, 2015 to join his colleagues who were kidnapped by the militias June 9 of the same year.

Al- Qa'idi, who works in the news department at Suhail TV, has been exposed since the first days of his abduction to forced disappearance and brutal torture, as happened to the rest of his colleagues, which led to complications, as was lost some of his hearing as a result of torture.

Convictions of local and international, claims by the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, the Arab Journalists' Union, the International Federation of Journalists and other human rights organizations have not forced the Houthi militias to stop their horrific practices against Yemeni journalists. The militias have not responded to any demands to stop the blatant violations and brutal torture, and the speed of their release. Houthis militias look at journalists and opinion leaders with suspicion and as a threat to their priestly coup project.

Three years after the abduction of the journalist al- Qa'idi, the Suhail satellite channel condemned the continued confiscation of the freedom of al-Qa'idi, who works for the channel, by Houthi's militia and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of his colleague, Salah al-Qa'idi and all kidnapped journalists.

The channel said in a statement: “Three years passed and our colleague Salah al-Qa'idi resists the prison of his executioner with all patience and steadiness, while his press colleagues and his family suffer wild waiting, hoping to break his restrictions and to get his freedom confiscated by the Houthi militia.”

Suhail channel called on the Houthi militias to stop the practice of their violations against journalists, stressing that all these practices will not dissuade the crew of Suhail channel to continue to transfer the truth and expose the crimes committed by the coup Houthi militias against the Yemeni people.

In an interview with Suhail channel, Abdul Basset al-Qa'idi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information and the brother of the journalist Salah, talked about Salah's suffering in the coup prisons. He said that Salah lost some of his hearing, while signs of skin diseases appeared in several parts of his body.

While 13 journalists remain in the political security prison controlled by Houthi militias in the occupied capital of Sanaa for more than three years in very bad conditions, others were released after a period of their abduction. The journalist Abdullah al-Munifi and his colleague Hussein al-Eissi after more than two years, including 5 months, were forcibly disappearance under physical and psychological torture. They were released by tribal mediation that lasted for a full year. Before that, the Houthis released journalist Yousef Ajlan after a year and a half of his abduction. He was tortured and subjected to cruel treatment. Other journalists who had been imprisoned for varying periods were also released.

Despite persistent domestic and international demands to Houthi militias for the release of the abducted and the disappeared in its prisons and the cessation of torture and criminal practices against dozens of journalists who are subjected to various kinds of violations, the Houthi militias do not care about these calls and insist on continuing their systematic war against the press and journalists.

Constant killing and horrific crimes

Since the coup of the Houthi militias on the state and the overthrow of the capital Sana'a in September 2014, the militias have resorted to repression and threats against journalists. However, the storm of al-Hazem launched by the Arab Alliance to support the restoration of legitimacy and the overthrow of the coup has increased their brutality and unleashed their frenzied campaigns against journalists did not stop until today. And these campaigns represented in killing, kidnappings, torture and continued pursuit.

Reports issued by the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) show the bitter reality of press freedom in Yemen, where journalists and media are systematically terrorized by the Houthi militias, targeting anyone who is criticized them or does not stand beside them.

The last of the horrific images of Houthi terrorism against journalists and media activists in Yemen is the image that reflected the ugliness of these militias against the journalist Anwar al-Rukn, who worked for several Yemeni newspapers including Al-Gomhuriya newspaper, disappeared last June from the prisons of the Houthi militias in Taiz. Hours later found his dead body with traces of torture carried out by the Houthis in the detention; this incident coincided with the celebration of World Press Day.

After the journalist al-Rukn's death, the Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate revealed that 27 journalists had been killed since the Houthi militia's coup on the legitimate authority and ignited the war by the end of 2014.

In a statement on the occasion of the Yemeni Press Day on June 9, the union said that the press in Yemen is living under extremely difficult conditions and has been subjected to a systematic war, affirming “The pens' holders and the media message holders have paid a high price since the end of 2014 until today.”

It referred to the hostile situation against the media and journalists that never seen in the Yemeni press for over a quarter of a century.

Despite these numbers of journalists who lost their lives, the crime of placing journalists such as Abdullah Qabel the correspondent of Yemen Shabab satellite channel in Dhamar governorate and Yusuf al-Eizari the correspondent of Suhail satellite channel in the same governorate, along with dozens of people abducted as human shields in locations targeted by the Alliance aircraft in the city of Dhamar, known as (massacre of Harran), was the most horrific crime that shook Yemen, and reflected the brutality and systematic targeting of the press and journalists by the Iranian Houthi militias.

Shocking numbers

Earlier, the Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate said that a systematic war on the media and freedom of the press was being pursued aggressively by all parties of the conflict in the country in an effort to hide the truth.

In its report issued last July, the Press Syndicate reported that it had monitored 100 cases of violations against press and media freedoms in Yemen during the first half of 2018, targeting hundreds of journalists and media institutions who were victims of various abuses.

The violations diversified between 38 cases of kidnappings and arrests, 18 cases of assault, 9 cases of preventing media coverage and 8 cases of threats. The Press Syndicate recorded 5 cases of trial and summons against six journalists, 3 of which were committed by the government, while the other two cases were committed by Houthis.

The Press Syndicate documented five killing cases in the first half of this year, targeting five journalists, two photographers and media workers. These victims are Mohammed al-Qudsi, a photographer for Balqees Satellite Channel in the city of Taiz, Abdullah al-Najjar, the decoration manager in Yemen Satellite Channel, Muhammad Nasir al-Woshali a production follower for a series in the Yemen Satellite Channel, Abdullah al-Qadiri, a photographer of the Balqees Satellite Channel in the city of Marib — northeast of the country and the journalist Anwar.

According to the Journalists Syndicate, the number of martyrs since 2014 until mid-2018 was 27 journalists, photographers and media workers who sacrificed their lives for the right of the society to access information.

The Journalists Syndicate pointed out that there are 13 journalists abducted by the Houthi group, most of them since the year 2015, and are living in brutal and inhumane kidnapping conditions, including a disappeared journalist Wahid al-Sufi, while the journalist Muhammad al-Muqri detainded to al-Qaeda in Hadramout in mysterious abduction conditions.