Mr. Salah Mohamed Al Kohali was arrested on 15 April 2007 without any legal procedure by the intelligence services (Al Amn As-Siyasi) and was driven to an unknown destination without any judicial mandate, and without even telling him the reasons for his arrest.

His arrest and detention were linked to the appearance of an article in the local press in which he had publicly expressed a critical point of view regarding government policy.  All the evidence indicates that this arrest constituted a violation by Yemen of the international obligations it undertook by ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

Alkarama for Human Rights had asked the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression for a request for urgent action. (Communiqué of 15 May 2007.)

Alkarama for Human Rights has sent a communication to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention informing it of the freeing of Mr. Al Kohali, while maintaining the request for an opinion on the arbitrary character of his imprisonment.