“Marsadak” Launches “Journalists Without Protection” Report, Documenting 42 Violations of Media Freedom in the First Half of 2026

The Yemeni Media Freedoms Observatory, “Marsadak,” affiliated with the Studies and Economic Media Center (SEMC), launched today, Wednesday, its semi-annual report titled “Journalists Without Protection.” The report documents 42 violations of media freedom between January 1 and June 30, 2026, in addition to 19 cases of digital violence against female journalists and media professionals documented through a separate monitoring track.

The report was launched during a hybrid event attended by more than 80 journalists, media experts, representatives of media institutions, civil society organizations, and international organizations, both in person and online. The event discussed the state of media freedoms, challenges to journalist safety, and efforts to combat impunity in Yemen.

The documented violations included 39 cases targeting journalists and media workers and three cases targeting media institutions. Individual violations comprised two killings, 11 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, seven cases of summons, interrogation, or security and judicial prosecution, five assaults, five cases of preventing or obstructing journalistic work, four cases of incitement, three threats, one injury, and one case of digital extortion.

Hadramout recorded the highest number of violations, with 10 cases, followed by Aden with eight, Taiz with seven, and Sana’a with four. Yemen’s IRG and its affiliated entities topped the list of alleged perpetrators, accounting for 18 cases, or approximately 43% of the total. Ten cases were attributed to influential individuals and activists, six to Ansar Allah, the “Houthis,” six to unidentified actors, and two to the dissolved Southern Transitional Council (STC).

The report emphasized that the decline in documented violations in Houthi-controlled areas does not necessarily indicate an improvement in the media freedom environment. Rather, it is linked to the declining presence of independent journalism, the dominance of the official narrative, increased self-censorship, difficulties in accessing victims and information, and journalists’ and their families’ fear of the consequences of reporting violations. At the same time, the Yemeni government has accused the Houthi group of responsibility for violations occurring in areas under its control, including the assassination of journalist Mohammed Ayda in the city of Mukalla, Hadramout Governorate.

At the opening of the event, Mr. Mustafa Nasr, Chairman of the SEMC, said that the launch of the report was not merely intended to present figures, but also to provide a space for journalists to share their experiences, discuss protection responsibilities, and identify practical steps to break the cycle of impunity that has encouraged the repeated targeting of journalists.

Mr. Mohammed Esmail, Executive Manager of the SEMC, presented the report’s key findings, noting that the documented cases do not necessarily represent the full scale of violations due to difficulties in accessing information, the existence of unreported cases, and victims’ and their families’ concerns about potential security repercussions.

For his part, Mr. Bart Veenstra, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Yemen, stressed that press freedom is not a supplementary element of democratic societies but one of their fundamental pillars, because a society cannot make sound decisions about matters it does not know about.

“Behind every number is a person, a family, and a story that is no longer being told,” Veenstra said, emphasizing that protecting journalists is an obligation, not a favor, and that impunity is a driver of continued violence. He added that investigation and prosecution remain among the strongest protection measures available to authorities, commending the Marsadak’s efforts to document violations and reaffirming his country’s support for Yemeni journalists.

Meanwhile, journalist Hamoud Munassar – Yemen Bureau Chief, at Al Arabiya TV, said Yemeni journalism has moved from a limited space of pluralism and openness to an environment in which journalists are categorized according to their presumed political or military affiliation, turning them in many cases into “adversaries” vulnerable to targeting. He stressed that journalists face violations across different parts of Yemen, albeit with varying degrees of severity, amid weak security responses to threats.

He noted that the killing of journalist Mohammed Ayda demonstrates the risks of merely warning journalists about threats without pursuing those responsible and providing effective protection. He called on media institutions to assume their responsibility for training journalists and providing safety equipment, insurance, and financial protections, stressing that a journalist’s life must take precedence over the pursuit of breaking news.

Mr. Najib Mokni, Communication and Information Specialist at the UNESCO Office for the Gulf States and Yemen, explained that journalist safety is an essential component of protecting freedom of expression and ensuring the public’s right to access information. He noted that the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity is based on three interconnected pillars: prevention, protection, and prosecution.

He called for strengthening a national mechanism bringing together government, security, and judicial authorities, the journalists’ syndicate, media institutions, and civil society, enabling journalists to report threats, obtain protection, and follow up investigations into violations. He emphasized that safety is not limited to physical protection, but also includes digital safety, legal protection, and psychological support.

Mokni said protecting journalists requires “a shift from reaction to prevention, from documentation to accountability, and from individual initiatives to sustainable institutional mechanisms,” affirming UNESCO’s readiness to support legal reforms, develop a practical protection guide, and train journalists, judges, and law enforcement officials.

The event featured testimonies and interventions from male and female journalists concerning arrest, prosecution, displacement, security threats, and digital violence, in addition to economic challenges and the absence of contracts, insurance, and psychological support. Participants stressed the need to take early warning indicators seriously and establish reliable and secure channels for reporting threats.

The event concluded with calls for the release of journalists detained because of their work and the implementation of judicial rulings ordering their release. Participants also called for independent and transparent investigations into killings, assaults, and threats, as well as the establishment of a preventive mechanism for risk assessment and rapid response to journalists’ reports.

The participants further called for reforming media legislation and aligning it with international standards, strengthening media institutions’ responsibility for the safety of their personnel, providing legal, psychological, and digital support to female journalists exposed to online violence, and continuing to monitor violations and share the findings and recommendations of relevant reports with authorities, stakeholders, and partners supporting media freedom.

Download the full report here