Marsadak Discusses Mechanisms for Redressing Journalists and Integrating Their Issues into Transitional Justice Processes

The Marsadak (Yemeni Media Freedoms Observatory), affiliated with the Studies and Economic Media Center (SEMC), held an extensive webinar to discuss mechanisms for ensuring justice for Yemeni journalists and integrating their issues into transitional justice processes, after a decade of violations against the profession and its practitioners, including killings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture.

The SEMC’s Executive Manager, Mohammed Ismail, stated in his opening remarks that the violations journalists have faced were not isolated incidents, but part of a systematic pattern aimed at silencing independent voices and undermining the right to access the truth. He explained that these discussions come within the context of preparing an analytical paper intended to ensure that journalists’ cases are brought into transitional justice processes.

For her part, Ms. Jinte Veldman, First Secretary Security and Rule of Law at the Dutch Embassy to Yemen, urged journalists and human rights organizations to continue dialogue and share the stories and experiences of victims, affirming her country’s support for transitional justice efforts and its commitment to raising the issue of journalists in international forums.

In a presentation on the state of journalism, lawyer and human rights defender Ms. Raghda Al-Maqtari reviewed the reasons behind the rise in violations and the methods of documenting them, pointing out the legal and institutional gaps that hinder justice for journalists. She stressed that integrating their cases into transitional justice is essential to ensuring a future built on accountability and reparations.

The Webinar featured first-hand testimonies from journalists Mohammed Al-Salahi and Muzahim Bajaber about their experiences with arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture, and the impact these had on their personal and professional lives, as they demanded their right to justice

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Tunisian journalist Ms. Amira Mohammed, Vice President of the Federation of Arab Journalists, and Mr. Fadel Abdulghany, Executive Director of Syrian Network for Human Rights, shared the experiences of Tunisia and Syria in incorporating journalists’ cases into transitional justice, highlighting the challenges faced and the importance of exchanging regional and international expertise.

At the conclusion of the event, attended by more than 80 participants,  the attendees agreed on a set of priorities, most notably the reform of judicial and security institutions, the development of a unifying national narrative, and raising journalists’ awareness of documentation mechanisms and transitional justice, to ensure accountability and reparations.

It is worth noting that the Marsadak (Yemeni Media Freedoms Observatory) is an independent monitoring and information platform aimed at documenting and publishing all matters related to freedom of opinion and expression across different regions of Yemen, in addition to analyzing and advocating for journalists’ issues at both the local and international levels.