ASSAULT ON TWO JOURNALISTS: NEWEST CASE IN SPATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SANAA 003187

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KMPI KMCA YM DOMESTIC POLITICS
SUBJECT: ASSAULT ON TWO JOURNALISTS: NEWEST CASE IN SPATE
OF ATTACKS ON PRESS

REF: SANAA 696

Classified By: DCM Nabeel Khoury for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (U) Summary: On October 29, Moujeeb Sweileh, a cameraman
with the "Al-Arabiya" news channel, and Najib Al-Sharai, from
"Al-Akhbariya," were assaulted by ROYG security forces while
attempting to cover a strike at a textile factory in Sanaa.
The attack is just one of a long string of physical and
psychological attacks against journalists in a year marred by
increased harassment of the press. End Summary.

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Incidents: No Sign of Letting Up
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2. (U) On October 29, soldiers severely assaulted journalists
Moujeeb Sweileh, of the Dubai-based "Al-Arabiya" network, and
Najib Al-Sharai, from the Saudi government-affiliated
"Al-Akhbariya" network, as the two attempted to cover a
textile factory workers' strike in Sanaa. Hammoud Munasar,
chief correspondent for the "Al-Arabiya" news channel and
Sanaa manager of the Middle East News office, told poloff
that police on the scene refused the two journalists
permission to film the strike. Soldiers next reportedly
confiscated their equipment, and then beat and arrested them
both.


3. (C) Although Al-Sharai's injuries were minor, Sweileh
remains hospitalized with broken ribs and internal bleeding.
The Yemeni Journalists' Syndicate (YJS),describing the
situation as a "mobilization campaign against journalists,"
condemned the latest attacks. Minister of Human Rights Amat
Alim As-Soswa promised Munasar to support an investigation of
the attack. Munasar also suggested that Middle East News
might pursue a claim against the perpetrators of the attack
in civil court.


4. (U) The assault was just one in a string of physical
attacks against journalists in the past year. As of
September 27, the Sanaa-based Center for Training and
Journalists' Freedoms had recorded 98 incidents of
harassment, abuse, arrests, or threats against journalists,
mostly attributed to the ROYG. In late October, Yemen's
standing dropped in the World Press Freedom Index, compiled
by the Paris-based NGO Reporters Without Borders, from 135 to
136 out of 167 countries.


5. (U) In mid-September, the websites of four significant
opposition media outlets were reportedly blocked, although
one editor reported to poloff that access to his website
outside of Yemen was unhindered. The Ministry of
Telecommunications (MOT) denied responsibility for blocking
the websites, blaming the service disruption on web hosting
companies. Earlier in the month, ROYG Security Forces
detained Waheeb An-Nasari, of the independent weekly
"Al-Fursan," for photographing women demonstrating against
prison fines in front of the presidential compound.


6. (U) On August 29, Khaled Al-Hammadi, the Sanaa
correspondent of the influential London-based daily "Al-Quds
Al-Arabi," was arrested by air force personnel for reporting
the crash of a Yemeni military aircraft. Following 36 hours
of detention, Hammadi was released, after he pledged in
writing not to report military news without permission. The
same week, a government-run printer refused to print the
latest issue of "Al-Usbu," an independent weekly, after the
Press and Publications Prosecutor suspended "Al-Usbu's"
editor for writing about the Minister of Interior.


7. (C) The incident that attracted the most national and
international attention was the August 23 kidnapping of Jamal
Amer, editor-in-chief of the independent "Al-Wasat," by
unidentified persons reportedly linked to security forces.
Amer claimed that he was kidnapped in front of his home and
taken to a cliff at the edge of Sanaa. For the next six
hours, he was beaten, urinated upon, shot at, held over the
edge of the cliff by one hand, and extensively interrogated
about his contacts with the Embassy. The attack came after
"Al-Wasat" published an article on how Ministry of Oil public
scholarships were being routed to children of government and
military officials.

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Who Is Behind the Attacks?
--------------


8. (C) To date, no one has been investigated or arrested for
the attacks. Marwan Damaj of the YJS Executive Committee
told poloff that journalists overwhelmingly attribute most
attacks to the ROYG security apparatus, particularly the
newly formed National Security Bureau (NSB),the military,
and some tribal elements. Abdul Karim Khaiwani, editor in
chief of the "As-Shura" newspaper, who was released from
prison in March after serving 6 months for "publishing
reports damaging to the public interest" (reftel),reported
to the YJS that while in prison, he was twice taken to the
NSB headquarters and questioned by persons he knew to be NSB
officers. The NSB has denied this.


9. (C) Damaj also reported that several journalists who are
"very afraid" to come forward told him that the NSB was
trying to recruit them to spy on other journalists. A
high-ranking PSO official assured AP correspondent Ahmad
al-Haj, whose aide was kidnapped and questioned by
unidentified persons on August 10, that his office was not
responsible for the recent attacks. Damaj believes this, and
speculates that the NSB is now responsible for press matters,
as the more experienced PSO would have operated "very
differently."


10. (C) "Al-Wasat"'s Jamal Amer asserts that military and
tribal elements are also perpetrating attacks. Amer claims
that MinInt Rashad al-Alimi privately promised to investigate
this matter, saying that he "suspected" that members of the
Republican Guard might be involved. Amer also reported that
the car which took him had a Republican Guard license plate.
Military sources have publicly denied involvement. The YJS
attributes other attacks, such the July 17 letter bomb that
injured the editor of a local weekly, to tribal elements.
"The truth is," observed Sami Ghalib of the YJS Executive
Bureau, "that all of our cases are unresolved -- everyone has
been asked and everyone has denied involvement."


11. (C) Comment: These incidents confirm a disturbing
pattern of attacks on press freedom in Yemen. This campaign
is most likely attributable to the ROYG's heightened
sensitivity after its hard-won success in quashing -- for the
moment -- a serious rebellion in Saada earlier this year as
well as to the 2006 presidential election. It is difficult
to pinpoint who is behind the recent spate of physical
attacks, but the probable culprits, as the YJS speculates,
come from all three power centers in Yemen: security,
military, and the tribes. A more disturbing but realistic
conclusion is that Saleh, ever thin-skinned about any
criticism, has become further isolated from his reform-minded
counselors and is giving more free rein to those who
instinctively favor the suppression of free speech. Post has
and will continue aggressively to push to reverse Yemen's
poor performance on press freedoms at meetings with ROYG
interlocutors and civil society. End Comment.
Krajeski