A Yemeni human rights organization said on Tuesday that the health of journalists abducted in the prisons of the Houthi militia in Sanaa has deteriorated for nearly five years.

In a statement posted on its website, The National Organization of Yemeni Reporters (SADA) said that it had received reports and information confirming that journalist Harith Hameed had suffered a terrible deterioration in his vision (eye vision) and is now suffering from a constant headache because he needs eye surgery.

The organization added that the other journalists such as "Abdul Khalek Omran suffers from a slippage in the spine, Issam Balghaith became infected with rheumatism, which began to affect his heart and considerably deteriorated in his vision, Hisham Tarmoum infected with liver disease, Akram al-Walidi infected with diabetes and stomach ulcers, Hisham al-Yousifi has a mental illness, Salah al-Qaidi suffers from severe weakness and malnutrition and Tawfiq al-Mansouri has liver disease and deterioration of vision."

The organization condemned the continued kidnapping of 11 journalists by the Houthi group since five years and subjecting them to torture, which caused them many diseases, most of which are chronic.

It also strongly condemned the inhumane treatment of the Houthi group with the abductees and preventing them from their right to health care, medicine and food, not to mention that the Houthi militia prevented them from clothes provided to them by their families.

SADA organization called on the Houthi group to release journalists immediately and commit to treating them and compensating them for what they lost as a result of their years of abduction in their prisons during which they were deprived of their basic rights.

It also called on the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to assume their humanitarian and moral responsibility in releasing colleagues and preventing the Houthis from using them as a negotiating card or trying to use them as a trump card to release prisoners from their leaders in exchange deals with the national army.

It stressed that the issue of the journalists abducted is purely humanitarian and categorically refuse to treat their case as a political or a card of war.

It appealed to the world, the United Nations, its Secretary-General, his Special Envoy to Yemen and international and local civil society organizations to contribute effectively to the protection of Yemeni journalists and to redouble their efforts to cooperate with and sponsor the Yemeni journalists for triumphing over the bad situation they are living and suffering.

SADA organization praised all the positive efforts being exerted for the Yemeni journalists and the press and media freedoms in our country. We call upon the journalists and media workers to continue the struggle and fight for a better reality for the press.