Algeria
Bahrain
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Palestine/Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Mauritania
Morocco
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
Other Countries
Saudi Arabia: Authorities Refuse to Release Khaled Al Omeir After he Served His Full Sentence
On 5 October 2016, Al Omeir’s eight year sentence for “attempted illegal gathering” and “publishing information online” legally expired. However, Al Omeir has not yet been released and he has begun a hunger strike protesting the Saudi authorities’ refusal to release him. Hence, on 17 October 2016, Alkarama seized the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) – which had already deemed his detention to be arbitrary in 2013 – to inform them of the continued illegal detention of Khaled Al Omeir and urging his immediate release.
Syria: A 59-year-old Man Disappeared Since 1999 Following His Transfer by the Lebanese Authorities
On 13 October 2016, Alkarama wrote to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearance (WGEID) regarding the case of a Lebanese citizen from the village of Brummana, in the Mount Lebanese Governorate, who disappeared in Syria in 1999. Arrested by the Lebanese Army in 1997, he was brought to an unknown place of detention and later transferred to the Syrian authorities. His family remains without any official information on his fate and whereabouts since 1999, when his sister last saw him in a detention centre in Damascus.
Saudi Arabia: #Kingdom_of_Arbitrary_Detention
Arbitrary detentions, secret trials and lengthy prison sentences are the shared fate of anyone who dares to speak up about Saudi Arabia's human rights record or demand basic freedoms from within the Kingdom. Alkarama sheds light on the institutionalised repression practiced by Saudi authorities and honours the fight for human rights led by one of the Kingdom's most prominent group of victims: ACPRA, the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association.
Egypt: Alkarama Reports 4 More Cases of Disappearances, Including 2 Young Students, to the UN
On 12 October 2016, Alkarama alerted the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) of several cases of disappearances in Egypt, concerning two young students, Ahmed Abdelrahim Hanafi Abdelrahim and Ahmed Atef Ahmed Abdelrahim Al Baghdadi, who recently went missing, as well as two men, Mohamed Gomaa Youssef Afifi and Abdelrahim Mahmoud Abd Annabi Alsayed, who have been disappeared for 10 months and two years respectively.
Libya: Cleric Unlawfully Detained for Over 9 Months by Forces Affiliated to UN-backed Government of National Accord
On 11 October 2016, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) regarding the case of Mr Moustafa Abdelkhalek Al Darsi, a 48 year-old Libyan citizen who was arrested in the city of Zliten in January 2016 by members of the RADA forces; the main security force in Tripoli operating as an independent department under the Ministry of Interior of the UN-backed Government of National Accord installed in March.
Saudi Arabia: Joint Open Letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
On 12 October 2016, and as part of its campaign against arbitrary detention in Saudi Arabia and the prosecution of the Saudi Civil and Political Right Association (ACPRA), Alkarama, AlQst, the Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (MHRSA), the Saudi Organization for Rights and Freedoms (SAORF)and Dewany have called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, to urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release all members of ACPRA and implement legal changes as to guarantee the fundamental rights of all Saudi citizens.
