Survey: Freedom of opinion in Yemen. Aden and Sana’a differ on the past

The majority of Young Yemenis feel that they can say their opinion on any subject without fear of consequences. The majority in question is too small to suggest a sensitivity to freedom of expression in Yemen. This is what the results of the Yemen Youth Square survey, which is part of Radio Netherlands World, show edited on freedom of opinion.

48% of respondents say they believe they can say their opinion without fear, compared to 44% who answered no.

The sample of 750 participants in the survey is a group that does not represent Yemeni youth honestly.

It should be noted here that young people under the age of 20 feel more free than participants from older age groups.

67% of respondents in this group feel free to speak their minds without fear, compared to 52% of the age group between the ages of 20 and 24, and 45% in the 25-29 age group. So the older the participant gets, the less he or she feels free.

This is about the absolute expression of opinion in everyday life. In the questionnaire, we asked a more specific question regarding the use of electronic platforms and social media to express opinions. A comparison of the two questions found that young people feel some kind of insecurity or reluctance to express their opinions through these platforms.

33% of respondents say they dare to express their opinions freely on electronic publishing and social media, compared to 51% who say they dare sometimes and 16% say they dare not at all.

However, with a reasonable percentage of respondents saying that they feel free to express their opinion, a similar percentage of the total respondents encountered problems because of their opinion, whether it was with an official authority or with citizens like them.

These problems range from verbal violence to direct threats and various types of harassment. One of them was physically assaulted, as he wrote:

“I was attacked by the Houthi and Saleh militias.”

Another was punished in a different way:

“Yes, I write my opinion in Elvis and my salary has been suspended and I am now wanted for the coup d’état as a mercenary.”

Cheating and labelling a person is the type of personal assassination or social isolation of the person. One of the respondents was punished in this way for his views:

“Unfortunately, some here, especially in the South, are fanatical people, both for their ideology and for their region. And when you criticize something that they don’t like to criticize you, they quickly betray you and disdain you without accepting the idea of the other.”

All this is in addition to the traditional methods of punishment of opponents and different opinions practiced by government agencies, such as dismissal, detention, torture and enforced disappearances, a phenomenon that is not limited to Yemen and is seen in many countries with dictatorial and police regimes.

The tendency and willingness to express opinions freely within a social system is matched by a set of red lines and prohibitions in which it is not absolutely desirable or forbidden to speak. In this questionnaire, we asked a question about topics that one would like to talk about if one had full freedom to publish what one wanted?

The results showed that the vast majority want to go into politics 66% of respondents chose politics as their preferred theme.

In second place are community issues, and these issues are broad and extended in a way that is difficult to count, but let’s think about the marriage of young women, the relationship between adults and young people, marriage, ponies, customs, traditions and everything that can be put under the weight of generational conflict. This is an example because it has not been discussed or explored further in this questionnaire.

It should be noted here that the younger the participant, the more he or she wants to talk about politics and delve into its issues, the younger the under-20s choose politics with a greater percentage of participants in older age groups. 47% were selected by the 20-24 age group by 45% and 30-34 by 23%.

Participants had the opportunity to name topics they wanted to talk about that were not included in the proposed list in the question. Many participants chose the subject of corruption, women’s freedom and sex.

As in previous questionnaires, we have put forward a number of hypotheses to explore the views of participants. The first hypothesis in this questionnaire is that the Yemeni man is tolerant of the other opinion, even if he is different with him. Ironically, exactly 50% of the respondents agreed with this hypothesis and the rest opposed it or did not express an opinion about it, a general indication that tolerance towards opposing opinion is not a central value in everyday dealing.

In response to this hypothesis, it is noted that male participants strongly believe and agree that there is a greater tolerance of the other opinion than female participants. 53% for males versus 36% for females.

The second hypothesis is that freedom of expression is guaranteed in Yemen and everyone can express their opinions. A small percentage of respondents approved the hypothesis, reaching 34% between strongly approved to yes to the hypothesis. Among the respondents, 62% of respondents were a clear indication of the lack of space for freedom of opinion in Yemen.

It is noteworthy here that participants from Taiz believe that there is more freedom of opinion than participants from other cities such as Sana’a 47% for Taiz compared to 30% for Sana’a. Perhaps it explains that the Houthis’ grip on Sana’a is more tight than Taiz’.

The third hypothesis explores the comparison between the previous situation under President Saleh and the situation that followed, and the current in terms of freedom of opinion. Twenty-four percent of respondents agree that the current situation of freedom of expression in Yemen is better than in the past, a small percentage that indicates that the situation of freedom of expression in Yemen has worsened.

We also note here some differences between the residents of Sana’a and Aden in not approving the proposal. Sanaa residents strongly disagree that the status of freedom of expression in the current situation is better than in the past, compared to the participants from Aden. 76% of Sanaa strongly disapprove of the proposal, while in Aden it has dropped to 48%. This, as we observed in Taiz, may be due to the fact that the Houthi authority is concentrated in Sana’a while the people of Aden enjoy greater freedom.