Yemeni Journalists Face Rising Abuses at Military Checkpoints,Report

This report highlights the current state of violations against Yemeni journalists and their media and personal rights, carried out through checkpoints and security barriers across Yemen.

Issued by the Marsadak (Yemeni Media Freedom Observatory), the report reveals a troubling escalation of systematic security violations targeting Yemeni journalists during their travel between governorates, particularly at military checkpoints operated by various parties to the conflict throughout a war that has now stretched into its second decade.

The findings are based on meticulous monitoring and documentation of such violations, supplemented by the results of a field survey conducted by the Marsadak, affiliated with of the Studies and Economic Media Center (SEMC), with the participation of 42 journalists (male and female) from ten Yemeni governorates, enriched with first-hand testimonies and detailed legal analysis.

Survey results show that more than three-quarters of participants (76.2%) were subjected to searches of their personal electronic devices, while 51.5% reported direct financial blackmail. Other serious abuses included forced searches, confiscation of equipment, threats of arrest, and verbal and physical assaults. These violations were often triggered by the discovery of the individual’s professional identity as a journalist, with targeting beginning as soon as their profession was revealed.

According to participants, forces affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council (STC)  in Aden were most frequently responsible for these violations (45.2%), followed by the Houthi group (33.3%), and then forces loyal to the IRG of Yemen in Marib and Taiz (21.4%). These figures indicate that the abuses are not confined to one faction but extend across Yemen’s political geography, reflecting a systematic pattern of repression that transcends allegiances.

Qualitative data highlights severe psychological and professional consequences of these violations. Some 69% of journalists reported that their freedom of field coverage and their mental health had been negatively affected, while 12% decided to refrain entirely from traveling, fearing further exposure to such violations, posing a direct threat to the continuity of free journalistic work.

The report also revealed a lack of rights awareness and digital security among journalists. Only seven participants filed official complaints regarding the abuses they faced, amid a prevailing sense of futility and the absence of effective protection mechanisms.

In contrast, 88% of those journalists indicated that they later adopted preventive digital security measures, such as using encryption tools, periodically deleting sensitive content from their electronic devices, and documenting violations.

The annexed  legal analysis herein concludes that these practices constitute grave violations of the Yemeni Constitution, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and international human rights law, particularly Articles (17) and (19) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantee freedom of movement, freedom of expression, and the right to privacy.

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