Responding to the news that Tawfiq al-Mansouri, one of four journalists detained since 2015 and sentenced to death in April 2020 by the Huthi de facto authorities, is being denied health care despite suffering from serious health conditions, Diana Semaan, Amnesty International’s Acting Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
Tawfiq al-Mansouri should never have been detained in the first place, let alone sentenced to death.
Diana Semaan, Acting Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa
“The Huthi de facto authorities’ denial of urgent medical treatment for Tawfiq al-Mansouri is a callous act of cruelty that violates the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment. Amid appalling detention conditions, he has suffered chronic illnesses including diabetes, kidney failure, asthma, and heart problems.
“Tawfiq al-Mansouri should never have been detained in the first place, let alone sentenced to death. The Huthis must immediately grant him access to the health care that he so urgently requires.
“It is crucial that the Huthis stop violating the fair trial rights of Tawfiq and the three other journalists — Akram Al-Walidi, Abdelkhaleq Amran and Hareth Hamid — detained alongside him. These men must be immediately released, and their convictions and death sentences quashed without delay.”
Tawfiq, and the journalists, detained alongside him, must be immediately released and their convictions quashed.
Diana Semaan
Background
On 27 July 2022, Tawfiq al-Mansouri’s brother received information from the family of another detainee confirming that Tawfiq’s health condition has significantly deteriorated. Tawfiq al-Mansouri has been denied transfer to a hospital for treatment since 2020.
The Huthi de facto authorities arbitrarily detained Akram Al-Walidi, Abdelkhaleq Amran, Hareth Hamid and Tawfiq Al-Mansouri in 2015 and held them without charge until December 2018. They have also been held incommunicado at times and subjected to a range of human rights abuses, including enforced disappearance, solitary confinement, beatings and denial of access to health care.
In April 2020, the Specialized Criminal Court in Sana’a sentenced the four men to death following an unfair trial — a verdict the defendants have since appealed. According to their lawyer, their appeal hearing will be held on 31 July before the Specialized Criminal Appeals Division in Sana’a, Yemen.