document · Article
Ansar Allah (Houthis) behavioral press-freedom record: the Houthi-controlled Specialized Criminal Court in Sanaa sentenced four detained journalists (Amran, al-Walidi, Humaid, al-Mansouri) to death on 11 Apr 2020 over their journalism; the UN Group of Eminent Experts found the Houthis use these courts "to suppress dissent." Documented by Human Rights Watch (6 Nov 2020); corroborated by CPJ (11 Apr 2020).
English 
Yemen 2020-04-11 Tier 2 — primary or translation
Party: Ansar Allah (Houthis)
Original source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/11/06/yemen-jailed-journalists-face-abuse-death-penalty
Content
On April 11, 2020, the Houthi-controlled Specialized Criminal Court in Sanaa sentenced the four Yemeni journalists to death after an unfair trial on politically motivated charges of treason and spying for foreign states because of their work as journalists.
The United Nations Group of Eminent Experts for Yemen has reported that the Houthi group has used the Specialized Criminal Courts in Sanaa “as an instrument to suppress dissent, intimidate political opponents and/or develop political capital to be used in negotiations.” English translation
[Source is in English; this field holds editorial context, not a translation.] Behavioral press-freedom / civil-liberties record of Ansar Allah (the Houthis), the de facto authority controlling Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. The four journalists — Abdul Khaleq Amran, Akram al-Walidi, Hareth Humaid, and Tawfiq al-Mansouri — were among nine reporters seized in a 9 June 2015 Houthi raid on a Sanaa hotel; they had reported on Houthi abuses. After nearly five years' detention, a Houthi court sentenced them to death on 11 April 2020 (six others detained with them were sentenced to time served plus "police supervision"). The Committee to Protect Journalists corroborated and condemned the sentence the same day (11 April 2020), reporting that the journalists were charged with spreading false news "in support of the crimes of Saudi aggression and its allies against the Republic of Yemen," and that lawyers were barred from the courtroom; CPJ counts the Houthis among the leading jailers of journalists. (HRW's fuller report is dated 6 November 2020; the act itself — the death sentences — was 11 April 2020.) [Axes: press-freedom (behavioral), civil-liberties, democracy.]
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In-text
(Ansar Allah (Houthis), 2020) Ansar Allah (Houthis). (2020). Ansar Allah (Houthis) behavioral press-freedom record: the Houthi-controlled Specialized Criminal Court in Sanaa sentenced four detained journalists (Amran, al-Walidi, Humaid, al-Mansouri) to death on 11 Apr 2020 over their journalism; the UN Group of Eminent Experts found the Houthis use these courts "to suppress dissent." Documented by Human Rights Watch (6 Nov 2020); corroborated by CPJ (11 Apr 2020).. hrw.org. Retrieved June 22, 2026, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/11/06/yemen-jailed-journalists-face-abuse-death-penalty
Ansar Allah (Houthis). 2020. "Ansar Allah (Houthis) behavioral press-freedom record: the Houthi-controlled Specialized Criminal Court in Sanaa sentenced four detained journalists (Amran, al-Walidi, Humaid, al-Mansouri) to death on 11 Apr 2020 over their journalism; the UN Group of Eminent Experts found the Houthis use these courts "to suppress dissent." Documented by Human Rights Watch (6 Nov 2020); corroborated by CPJ (11 Apr 2020).." hrw.org. Accessed June 22, 2026. https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/11/06/yemen-jailed-journalists-face-abuse-death-penalty.
@misc{doc-document-6a783d86-229d-40d3-b701-7491b5f82112,
author = {{Ansar Allah (Houthis)}},
title = {Ansar Allah (Houthis) behavioral press-freedom record: the Houthi-controlled Specialized Criminal Court in Sanaa sentenced four detained journalists (Amran, al-Walidi, Humaid, al-Mansouri) to death on 11 Apr 2020 over their journalism; the UN Group of Eminent Experts found the Houthis use these courts "to suppress dissent." Documented by Human Rights Watch (6 Nov 2020); corroborated by CPJ (11 Apr 2020).},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-04-11},
howpublished = {Online; hosted at hrw.org},
url = {https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/11/06/yemen-jailed-journalists-face-abuse-death-penalty},
urldate = {2026-06-22},
note = {Retrieved via Tayyar at https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/documents/6a783d86-229d-40d3-b701-7491b5f82112},
} Retrieved via Tayyar: https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/documents/6a783d86-229d-40d3-b701-7491b5f82112 on June 22, 2026. Tayyar is a research host for primary sources, not the author of this document.