A/HRC/18/21 day, Suhail TV headquarters, owned by an opponent, was attacked. Furthermore, several Sabafone telecommunication network services, owned by the same person, were disconnected by the Ministry of Communications. 49. The Mission learned about attacks and expulsions of foreign journalists. Specific information relayed to the Mission concern the arrest and beating of personnel from at least five international media outlets. In addition, on 24 March 2011, Al-Jazeera’s offices in Yemen were closed, and the licences of their reporters withdrawn by judicial orders from the State Prosecution. 50. In general, the Mission observed a diminishing space for freedom of expression,with several prominent human rights defenders and witnesses of violations choosing to stay out of the country or flee to distant villages. The prevalence of threats against public media, harassment campaigns and the raiding and looting of homes of activists signal both increasing intolerance and greater physical risks for those who express political views or defend human rights. 51. Several interlocutors testified that students had been sanctioned, threatened or expelled for expressing anti-government views, and teachers have allegedly been called on by colleagues or protesters to boycott work. The Mission also received information about demonstrations at Ta’izz University and an alleged assault on the President of the University by a senior officer of the Republican Guard. In that case, the victim denied the incident, though several sources indicate that this may have been due to pressure. F. Freedom of movement 52. Freedom of movement has been significantly restricted during the recent unrest. Roads have been closed by demonstrators and Government security forces, making it difficult for citizens to move around or to access certain areas. Frequent demonstrations and the clashes accompanying many of them have made it unsafe for people to carry out their daily business and for youth, especially girls, to attend school. 53. In addition, the supply of fuel for vehicles has been limited, and travellers have reportedly been stopped at security forces checkpoints and sometimes prevented from leaving or entering cities. G. Right to an adequate standard of living 54. Many interlocutors pointed to deteriorating living conditions – in a country where more than one third of the population was already living under the poverty line prior to the unrest–,11 rising unemployment and inflation, notwithstanding continuous gross domestic product growth.12 The Mission witnessed long queues at petrol stations and reduced traffic on the roads due to the fuel shortage. Transportation difficulties have severely affected the economy and resulted in a shortage of cooking gas and many other basic supplies and commodities. As very little fuel is sold at petrol stations, the black market fuel price is 567 per cent more that the official cost, and the average price of basic food commodities has increased by 43 per cent.13 Power outages that cannot be exclusively attributed to sabotage 11 12 13 12 United Nations Development Programme, Yemen Poverty Assessment Report 2007. See World Bank indicators on GDP growth, available at http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG/countries/1W?display=default. See OCHA, Yemen Humanitarian Emergency - Situation Report No. 5, 25 July 2011, available at http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Full_report_182.pdf.