The Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate (YJS) announced on Saturday that it had documented 66 violations committed against press freedoms in the country during the first six months of this year.

The YJS said in a report that the violations which included murder, trials, assault, kidnapping and prosecutions have affected journalists, photographers, media institutions and journalists’ property.

According to the report, the violations included two murders and 20 cases of kidnapping, detention and prosecution.

The report pointed out that the internationally-recognised government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in its various formations and bodies have committed 38 per cent of the violations – 25 cases – while the Houthis committed 30 per cent or 20 violations.

It added, “The Southern Transitional Council has committed 15 per cent, or ten violations, while 15 per cent of the violations were committed by unknown parties and five per cent by NGOs.”

The YJS expressed its growing concern about the continuation of the fierce war against freedom of expression in Yemen, stressing that perpetrators must be punished.

It called on the Yemeni parties to stop involving journalists in political conflicts and called on “all international organisations concerned with freedom of opinion and expression to show solidarity with the Yemeni press and journalists and to press for an end to the systematic targeting of media freedom in the country”.