SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties said today that the military and security authorities in Marib Governorate, along with the General Staff Command and the Ministry of Defense, must immediately disclose the whereabouts of journalist Hamoud Hazza, who disappeared yesterday evening after being taken from the Grand Hall in Marib city while attending a public event titled “National Alignment.” The authorities must also allow his family and lawyer to contact him without delay.
According to information received by the organization from local sources, Hazza was taken from the Grand Hall by individuals believed to be affiliated with military bodies linked to the General Staff Command and the Ministry of Defense. No official authority has so far acknowledged responsibility for his detention, disclosed his whereabouts, or stated the legal basis for any measure taken against him.
SAM said that concealing Hazza’s whereabouts and denying him contact with his family or lawyer raise serious concerns that he is being held incommunicado. The available facts so far indicate a suspicion of arbitrary detention, while the continued concealment of his whereabouts and refusal to disclose his fate may amount to enforced disappearance under international human rights standards. Whichever authority is holding him bears full responsibility for his physical and psychological safety.
SAM stated: “The authorities in Marib, the General Staff Command, and the Ministry of Defense must immediately disclose the fate of Hamoud Hazza. No person may be held in an undisclosed location or outside the oversight of the law. If there are charges against him, he must be informed of them and brought before a competent judicial authority, or released immediately.”
SAM affirmed that the Yemeni Constitution guarantees personal liberty and prohibits the arrest or detention of any person except in accordance with the law. Article 48 of the Constitution provides that no person may be arrested, searched, or detained except in cases of flagrante delicto or pursuant to a reasoned judicial order in accordance with the law, and that the person must be informed of the reasons for their arrest and enabled to contact whomever they wish to notify. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Yemen is a party, also guarantees every individual’s right to liberty and security of person, prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention, and requires that anyone detained be informed of the reasons for their detention and brought promptly before a competent judicial authority.
The organization stressed that combining a military or official position with journalistic work or expressing opinions on public affairs does not justify disappearance or undeclared detention. Even if Hamoud Hazza is affiliated with a military body, as this justification is repeatedly invoked in connection with every violation, this does not deprive him of the basic legal safeguards guaranteed to every detainee. Nor may his official or military status be used to deny his right to freedom of opinion and expression or to justify cutting him off from his family and lawyer.
SAM said that any alleged violation related to his official or military status must be addressed through clear and public legal procedures, not by taking him from a public event and concealing his whereabouts. The opinions expressed by journalists or members of public institutions, including views critical of the authorities or of military and political performance, remain protected unless they involve direct incitement to violence or a clear violation defined by law and adjudicated by a competent judicial authority.
SAM added that disciplinary or employment-related restrictions, if any, must be prescribed by law, necessary, and proportionate, and must not become a cover for arbitrary detention, retaliation for opinion, or the silencing of journalists. Treating Hazza as “only a military member” in order to justify his disappearance or deny his media role represents a dangerous confusion between legitimate professional accountability and extralegal punishment.
SAM said Hazza’s disappearance comes amid a troubling pattern of restrictions and violations affecting journalists and media workers in Yemen in recent years, including arbitrary arrests, security summonses, threats, and prosecutions over their opinions or media activities. This has created a hostile and unsafe environment for journalistic work across the country.
SAM called on the military and security authorities in Marib, the General Staff Command, and the Ministry of Defense to immediately disclose Hamoud Hazza’s whereabouts, allow his family and lawyer to contact and visit him, announce the legal basis for any detention, ensure his physical and psychological safety, and refer him to the competent prosecution and judiciary if there are clear legal charges against him, or release him immediately if there is no legal justification for his detention.
SAM said that the continued detention of Hazza in an undisclosed location, without any official announcement or judicial oversight, constitutes a grave violation of the rule of law and undermines the authorities’ obligations to protect press freedom, the rights of detainees, and fair trial guarantees.