AL-MUKALLA: Human rights activists in Yemen and international rights groups have condemned the Houthis for mercilessly assaulting a journalist based in Sanaa and sending death threats to Yemeni activists and politicians who support the intensifying public demand for the Houthis to pay state employees.
The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists reported on Tuesday that a Houthi-affiliated armed group brutally attacked Majili Al-Samadi, head of Voice of Yemen radio, outside his home in Sanaa’s Al-Safia district on Aug. 24. The IFJ demanded that the Houthis bring the perpetrators to justice and cease harassing journalists. “We condemn the brutal attack on our colleague Majili Al-Samadi and all attempts to silence his critical reporting,” IFJ Secretary-General Anthony Bellanger said in a statement posted on the organization’s website.
Sharing images of his bruised face and bleeding mouth on social media, Al-Samadi said that armed men severely beat him for posting on social media. He vowed to continue challenging the Houthis until they pay him. “During my return, a band of five individuals beat me outside my house in Al-Safia and threatened to do more if I did not stop writing,” he said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Hours before the attack, Al-Samadi posted on social media demanding that the Houthis pay his salary. “My rights and my salary … before the Prophet … The Prophet does not need me!! I need my salary,” he said in the post.
Indirectly claiming responsibility for the attack, the Houthis accused him of profaning the Prophet Muhammad in the post.
Al-Samadi’s radio station in Sanaa was ransacked by armed men in 2022 for refusing to transmit the sectarian choruses of the militia.
Activists based in Houthi-controlled Sanaa and others residing outside Yemen have reported receiving death threats from Houthi-affiliated figures for demanding that the Houthis pay state employees in areas under their control and condemning the assaults on journalist Al-Samadi.
Ahmed Hashed, an outspoken member of the Houthi-controlled parliament, said that he has received numerous death threats from Houthi figures for exposing the corruption of Houthi leaders and supporting the salary demands of public employees. “I hold the leader of Ansar Allah and the authority of the Ansar group entirely responsible for my life and the safety … The authority in Sanaa incites (the populace) against us and seeks retribution for our opposition to corruption and our demand for the reinstatement of the salaries of teachers and employees whose pay has been reduced for many years,” Hashed said on X, using the official name of the Houthis. In one of the messages, Hashed said, a Houthi figure threatened: “If Majili Al-Samadi loses a tooth, you will lose both your mouth and your tongue.”
The Houthis have also threatened to target relatives of Yemeni activists who reside outside of their territories in retaliation for their criticism. Exiled Yemeni activist Ibrahim Asqin stated that the Houthis had threatened to target his relatives in his home province of Ibb if he did not cease criticizing them and supporting public employee salaries. “A group that cannot tolerate censure of many of its practices from its opponents is too fragile and weak to lead the people,” Asqin said on X. Asqin is well-known for exposing human rights violations committed by Houthi figures in the province of Ibb and for publishing videos and photographs depicting armed Houthis plundering lands and assaulting people.
The Houthis are facing rising public pressure to pay thousands of government employees who have not been paid since 2016. Since early 2022, the pressure has increased amid reports that the Houthis have generated billions of riyals in revenue from the port of Hodeidah as a result of an increase in the number of ships during the UN-brokered cease-fire.
The Houthis have asked that Yemen’s internationally recognized government pay public employees from oil sales, while the government has said that it will only pay public employees if the Houthis deposit revenue from Hodeidah port into the central bank.
Nadwa Al-Dawsari, a Yemeni conflict analyst and a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute, said that Houthi leaders have become increasingly wealthy over the past eight years, as they have amassed immense sums of revenue despite the extreme poverty of the public workforce. “The Houthis are not interested in governing, which would entail them actually providing services including salary payment. The Houthis’ model is largely based on population control through repression and violence,” she said.
She did not rule out the possibility that the Houthis would restart the war in Yemen in order to avoid public pressure. “Now that the Saudis have stopped their airstrikes and lifted restrictions on Hodeidah seaport, the Houthis are running out of excuses (to pay public employees). I would not be surprised if they escalate militarily in order to force these protests to stop.”
Houthis target Yemeni activists advocating for public salaries
https://arab.news/m8q3r
Houthis target Yemeni activists advocating for public salaries
- The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists reported on Tuesday that a Houthi-affiliated armed group brutally attacked Majili Al-Samadi, head of Voice of Yemen radio
- Sharing images of his bruised face and bleeding mouth on social media, Al-Samadi said that armed men severely beat him for posting on social media
Lebanese show strong trust in military, little confidence in parliament, poll finds
- Public security institutions viewed favorably as survey reveals low faith in state authorities
BEIRUT: Lebanese place strong trust in their military and security forces, a recent opinion poll conducted by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, as part of the ninth Arab Index, has found.
However, the survey, which included Lebanon and 14 other Arab countries, found that confidence in the state’s judicial, executive and legislative authorities remains low, peaking at just 41 percent.
Parliament emerged as the least trusted institution, garnering only 36 percent of respondents’ support.
Nasser Yassin, the center’s director, told Arab News that the survey is the largest in the Arab region by sample size, participating countries and range of topics.
Conducted from 2011 to last year, it enables analysis of shifts in Arab public opinion across 15 countries, including Lebanon.
At a press conference in Beirut, Mohammed Al-Masri, the center’s executive director and coordinator of the Arab Index program, presented Lebanon-specific survey results to academics and researchers.
The survey included 2,400 participants, he said.
Lebanese participants identified Israel as the primary threat to Lebanon’s security (56 percent), followed by the US (20 percent) and Iran (17 percent).
Regarding Lebanese citizens’ engagement in civil organizations and political parties, the survey found that “Lebanese involvement in these organizations is low, not exceeding 2 percent.”
Only 10 percent of participants reported political party membership.
Additionally, 62 percent do not trust political parties, while 36 percent do.
Fifty-one percent of Lebanese citizens plan to take part in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, tentatively scheduled for May, while 40 percent do not intend to take part.
The Arab Index asked about perceptions of the Lebanese army after the last Israeli war in Lebanon.
Fifty-six percent reported a more positive view, while 40 percent said their opinion remained unchanged.
Sixty-six percent of Lebanese respondents said their view of Hezbollah had not changed, while 13 percent viewed it more positively and 19 percent more negatively.
A majority of Lebanese considered the war a defeat (59 percent), while 38 percent viewed it as a victory.
Eighty-nine percent of respondents opposed Lebanon recognizing Israel, while 9 percent supported it.
Half of those in favor conditioned recognition on the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Most opponents cited Israel’s colonial, racist and expansionist policies, with few referencing cultural or religious reasons.
Ninety-one percent of Lebanese viewed US policy on Palestine unfavorably.
Additionally, 58 percent perceived Iranian policies, and 40 percent perceived Russian policies, as threats to regional security and stability.
Thirty-six percent cited media outlets as their main source of information about the US, while 21 percent relied on the internet, particularly social media.
The index shows that public opinion has become more negative over the past decade. More than 70 percent of Lebanese believe the US seeks to impose its policies globally, control Arab countries, exacerbate divisions and favor non-democratic governments.
Fifty-six percent of respondents disagreed that the US protects human rights.
Thirty-seven percent said that changes in US policy toward Palestine, such as protecting Palestinians and ending support to Israel, would improve their perception of the US.
Fifty-eight percent of Lebanese citizens believe the country is heading in the wrong direction, while 39 percent disagree.
Most who believe Lebanon is on the wrong track attribute this to economic issues, political turmoil and the political system’s failure to meet its responsibilities.
They also cite “poor governance, flawed public policies and the lack of stability in general.”
Ninety-seven percent of those who believe Lebanon is on the right track attribute this to “the end of war, the election of a new president and the formation of a new government.”
Only 14 percent of respondents rated Lebanon’s security as “good” or “very good,” while 85 percent rated it as “bad” or “very bad.” Additionally, 86 percent rated the economic situation as “bad” or “very bad.”
Eighty-five percent of respondents provided a meaningful definition of “democracy,” which the Arab Opinion Index said is notably high.
However, only 51 percent support a political system in which the military holds power.
The percentage of respondents who support a political party’s accession to power through elections, even if they disagree with its principles, dropped from 50 percent before 2018 to 38 percent afterward.
The survey also revealed “near-unanimous agreement among Lebanese citizens that financial and administrative corruption is widespread,” adding that “this figure has not changed significantly since the survey began in 2011.”
Sixty-seven percent of respondents expressed some interest in political affairs.
Forty-four percent now rely on the internet for political news, the highest level since 2011 and a more than tenfold increase. Reliance on television has declined over the same period.
