Washington, D.C., January 2, 2025—The Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) announced on Saturday, December 28, 2024, the execution of 11 individuals, including Yemeni journalist Mohamed Al-Maqri, whom they accused of spying and abducted in 2015.
“The killing of Mohamed Al-Maqri highlights the extreme dangers Yemeni journalists face while reporting from one of the world’s perilous conflict zones. Enforced disappearances continue to endanger their lives,” said Yeganeh Rezaian, CPJ’s interim MENA program coordinator. “CPJ demands that those responsible for Al-Maqri’s killing be held accountable. It is long overdue for all factions in Yemen to immediately end the abhorrent practice of subjecting journalists to years of enforced disappearance.”
Al-Maqri, a correspondent for television channel Yemen Today, was abducted while covering an anti-AQAP protest in Al-Mukalla, the capital of the southern governorate Hadhramaut. The AQAP, the Yemeni branch of the Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaeda, had subjected him to enforced disappearance since October 12, 2015.
At least two other Yemeni journalists are currently subjected to enforced disappearance, a practice defined as state-sponsored abduction followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person’s fate or whereabouts.
Waheed al-Sufi, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Al-Arabiya, has been missing since April 2015 and is believed to be held by the Houthi movement. Naseh Shaker was last heard from on November 19, 2024, and is believed to be held by the Southern Transitional Council.
