Sada calls on int’l community to pressure Houthis to release abducted journalists

September Net

National Organization of Yemeni Media professionals ( Sada) has called on the international community to mount pressure on Houthi militia to release abducted journalists in its prisons.

In a statement on the World Press Freedom Day, Sada expressed regret that Houthi militia continues kidnapping 24 Yemeni journalists, including 11 journalists who have been in the prisons for four years.

The statement holds Houthi militia full responsible for the life of those journalists and abductees, who have been subjected to brutal torture physically and psychologically and inhuman and unethical negligence.

“Sada calls on international organizations, mainly International Federation of Journalists and UN agencies and human rights bodies to shoulder its roles and assume its humanitarian duties to defend media rights and freedoms, and  join efforts to advocate and support Yemeni journalists, as well pressure for their unconditional release,” reads the statement.

It also called on the “UN secretary-general and his envoy in Yemen and  IRCC to pay a visit to the journalists in Houthi prisons and inspect their  conditions and tragedy, and exercise pressure on Houthi group to release them.”

The statement warns against dealing with the issue of journalists as  politically or politicize it or use it as bargaining chip, stressing that the file of journalists is pure humanitarian issue that must be dealt with in accordance with the international of human rights laws.