As many as 700 cases of slavery have been reported in the Yemeni governorate of Al-Mahweet , prompting Human Rights Watch to mandate a fact-finding mission to probe the phenomenon on which the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera Media Network has run a documentary, the Economic Media Magazine unmasked.
As many as 700 cases of slavery have been reported in the Yemeni governorate of Al-Mahweet , prompting Human Rights Watch to mandate a fact-finding mission to probe the phenomenon on which the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera Media Network has run a documentary, the Economic Media Magazine unmasked.
The magazine, issued by the Studies and Economic Media Center (SEMC), has run an investigative report on slavery in Yemen, which was carried out by investigative reporter Omar Al-Omaqi. The report comes in a series of investigative reports run by the monthly magazine on a wide range of socio-economic and political issues.
Human Rights Watch mission has made field trips to the areas notorious for slavery , and interviewed several slaves who gave their testimonies.
Al-Omaqi , who accompanied the mission, said the slaves , who were interviewed and had their stories published by the magazine, were intimidated by influential forces with an aim to dissuade them from speaking to the group’s representative.
The group’s team met a number of local council member in the province , who confirmed that numerous cases of slavery are still existing there.
The mission recorded a number of testimonies and remarks, and documented the story of a slave whose family has been inhering slavery for a long time.
The team has also obtained answers to several questions posed to those slave; however, they are not authorized to speak to the media regarding the visit to the area, which they described as “The right path to uncover this piteous situation”. The mission would probably pay another visit to the areas where the phenomenon is still existing, Omaqi said.
SEMC is a non-profit civil society organizations that works towards spreading awareness of economic and development issues, enhancing transparency and good governance, and public participation in decision –making. It also seeks for professional and creative media.
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