July 29, 2013
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On July 23 2012, Abdulelah Haider Shaye, a Yemeni
journalist imprisoned since 2010 at the request of President Barack
Obama, was finally released from Yemeni State Prison.
Shaye was a
well-respected Yemeni journalist, known in Yemen for his investigative
journalism and breaking stories. He was recognized in the U.S. for
conducting interviews with the US-born Islamic cleric, Anwar Al Awlaki,
and with leaders of al Qaeda in Yemen, and often provided news coverage
for US media outlets such as the
Washington Post and
ABC News. He
later came to the spotlight in December 2009 after reporting on a
military offensive that the Yemeni government claimed had been carried
out against Al Qaeda militants but had actually been carried out by the
United States. Shaye went to the site that the Yemeni forces claimed to
be a “suspected al Qaeda training camp” in Al Majalah village in
southern Yemen, only to discover dozens of dead bodies and the remnants
of missiles and cluster bombs, weapons the Yemeni government didn’t
have. To Shaye, things were not adding up.
With the help of
Amnesty International, Abdulelah Haider Shaye investigated the attack
and discovered that U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles and cluster bombs made
by General Dynamics were used. He revealed the pictures of the missiles
along with the names of those who died. He discovered that among the
so-called militants were 14 women—five of whom were pregnant—and 21
children, the youngest being two-years-old.
The government
interrogated, beat and threatened Shaye for reporting about the innocent
deaths and the U.S. involvement in the Al Majalah massacre. “We will
destroy your life if you keep on talking about this issue,” one
interrogator told him. But he knew the truth and refused to let the
perpetrators get away with cold-blood murder.
A month later,
Yemeni security forces stormed into Shaye’s house, beat him, arrested
him and threw him into solitary confinement where he stayed for 34 days
without access to a lawyer. He appeared before a court in September 2010
but was not charged until October. He was convicted in January 2011
with a five-year sentence and two years house arrest . Shaye was
convicted of “recruiting al Qaeda members and being a propagandist for
Anwar Al Awlaki”, despite no evidence ever presented in any of the
trials. Shaye refused to present a defense as a way to protest the
court. “I don’t recognize the legitimacy of this court,” he told the
judge.
People Power, Movement Building and Deep Change
After
his conviction, popular resistance against Shaye’s verdict grew
throughout Yemen and within a month of his sentencing, then Yemeni
President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced he was going to pardon the
journalist. But Shaye was never released due to a
direct interventionby Constitutional Law Professor Noble Peace Prize winner President Obama.
Two
years and five months later, Shaye was given another presidential
pardon, this time by appointed President Abdul Mansour Hadi, (appointed
by the GCC initiative with the support of the U.S. & E.U. through a
one-man election.).
The movement for Shaye’s release is a direct
result of years of organizing. Human rights lawyers, media
organizations, community organizers, activists and journalists rallied
around his case immediately after his verdict in January 2011. Activists
armed with photos, banners and signs, wheat pasted the city, held
protests, vigils, sit-ins, and hunger strikes to show solidarity with
Shaye.
On May 6, 2013, President Hadi promised to release Shaye
before the start of Ramadan. On July 24, 2013, Hadi pardoned Shaye with
the condition that he remain under house arrest for two years with full
security watching his every move. After he finishes two years of house
arrest, a travel ban will be imposed for another three years.
Abdulelah
Haider Shaye, wrongfully incarcerated for three years and 8 days, is
now in the comfort of his home, sitting with his family, eating,
laughing and crying together. But he is still not a free man. “Although I
have been released, in the eyes of the political and national security
agencies I am still a threat. Therefore, I am still a prisoner and I am
not free,” Shaye told his lawyer, Abdulrahman Barman, after his release.
Despite
these onerous conditions, many Yemenis began hailing Hadi’s actions and
started, rightfully so, celebrating Shaye’s release.
While
Shaye’s release is a huge victory and a step in the right direction for
press freedom, many questions remain: Why did the Yemeni government
arrest Shaye in the first place? Can we really applaud President Hadi
for releasing Shaye under such harsh conditions, justifying his arrest
and treating him as though he is a criminal despite a total absence of
due process? Was Shaye’s release a tactic for President Hadi and
President Obama to appease the popular global resistance against the
drone wars?
The White House response to Shaye’s release was
atrocious. "We are concerned and disappointed by the early release of
Abdulelah al-Shai, who was sentenced by a Yemeni court to five years in
prison for his involvement with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," said
Bernadette Meehan, a spokesperson for the National Security Council. On
Democracy Now!, investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill
commented
on the White House statement by saying: “Let that sink in. President
Obama is concerned and disappointed over a Yemeni journalist who was
imprisoned in Yemen and released in Yemen.”
On August 1, President
Hadi is scheduled to meet President Obama at the White House to discuss
the Yemen-US counter-terrorism partnership (the U.S. drone program is
expected to be discussed), and the transfer of the 56 Yemeni prisoners
held in Guantanamo that have been cleared for release and designated for
transfer. It would be nice if someone in the press corps questioned
these leaders about imprisoning a journalist for exposing US crimes in
Yemen and about US drone strikes that continue to kill innocent Yemenis.
That would be a good way to honor Abdulelah Haider Shaye.
One
thing remains certain: what happens when you try to silence an important
issue? Well, as the Yemeni and U.S. Government found out last Tuesday,
people will be there to make some noise. Abdulelah Haider Shaye is a 35
year old journalist with a conscious--and because he has a conscious has
been charged with “aiding a terrorist group.” Shaye is in good spirits,
celebrating life and clinging on to hope and optimism that with
continuous collective efforts, truth and freedom will never be silenced.
Rooj Alwazir is a Yemeni-American anti-drone organizer and Co-founder of SupportYemen media collective.
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