As part of Yemen's 20th anniversary "festivities" yesterday, President Salih announced an amnesty for all journalists convicted or facing trial for press offences, together with "all detainees held in connection with the Houthi rebellion in the far north ... and the rioting in some southern provinces".

The release of the journalists is certainly welcome (assuming that it actually happens) but it's probably only a matter of time before he starts locking them up again. As for the others, if they are seriously believed to have committed violent offences, wouldn't it make more sense to put them on trial?

I know this is the way things work in Yemen, but treating people as a threat to the very existence of the state one minute, and releasing them on a whim the next, just makes a mockery of the legal system. In that respect, arbitrary releases do as much damage as arbitrary detention. Long-term, they both make it more difficult to establish the effective rule of law independently from politics.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 23 May 2010.