Information regarding the nine prisoners is as follows:

(1) Fahd Faysal Abdullah Salam Al-Baly, 29, is a student living in Aden. He was arrested 30 July 2007 and initially detained for several weeks at the political security services detention center before being transferred to the Al-Mansoura central prison.

(2) Mohamed Sahl Ibrahim Abdallah, 26, lives in Aden. He was arrested at his home in August 2007 by political security officers. He was held until February 2008, including one month in incommunicado at the political security services' "Fatah" detention center, before being transferred to Al-Mansoura central prison in Aden where he is still detained.

(3) Saber Mohamed Hamid Qaid Al-Maqtari, 24, is a student living in Aden. He was arrested on 13 December 2007. He was first detained incommunicado for five months at the political security prison in Sana'a before being transferred to the Al-Mansoura central prison in Aden where he is currently detained.

(4) Sultan Abdelbari Abu Baker Al-Afifi, 29, lives in Aden. He was arrested on 5 November 2008 at his home by political security officers and for six months, his family were unable to get any information regarding his whereabouts. He was first detained political security services' detention center in Aden, as well as that in Sana'a, before being transferred to Al-Mansoura central prison in Aden, where he remains in custody.

(5) Khaldoun Abdelhakim Abdullah Ali, 19, lives in Aden. He was arrested 24 March 2009 at his home by National Security officers. He was initially detained inside "Fatah" detention center, before being transferred on 15 October 2009 to Al-Mansoura central prison in Aden, where he remains unto this day.

(6) Wajdi Ahmed Nasser Hussein Azzan, 27, lives in Aden. On 5 December 2008 he was arrested by political security offices on a road in Aden. He was held incommunicado for almost a month in "Fatah" detention center, before being transferred on 5 January 2009 to Al-Mansoura central prison in Aden, where he is currently detained.

(7) Kasem Saleh Alkhadr Mohamed Mahrouk, 24, lives in Al-Chahba. He was arrested 16 November 2008 at his home by agents of the political security forces. He was held until February 2009 detention center "Fatah" within the political security forces before being transferred to the central prison of Al-Mansoura, where he remains detained.

(8) Fahd Ahmed Ali Sawda Sayel, 34, is an official at the Ministry of Awqaf, who lives in Abyan province, northeast of Aden. He was arrested 30 November 2008 by political security forces. He was first detained incommunicado for three months in the political security detention center in Abyan before being transferred to Al-Mansoura central prison, where he remains detained.

(9) Farouk Abdulhakim Ali Mohamed Thabet, 20, is a student who lives in Aden. He was arrested on 15 April 2008. He was first held at the political security prison in Sana'a before being transferred to the "Fatah" detention center in Aden and finally to Al-Mansoura central prison in Aden, where is currently detained.

Since the reunification in 1990, southern Yemen has witnessed substantial turmoil, particularly widespread antipathy towards the northern political elite who to dictate the central government. In recent years, several protests in the Aden region have been sparked by this very issue. The southerners' resentment of the North is fueled by the fact that they consider themselves as the object of discrimination by central government in Sana'a; while also accusing the government of appointing senior officials of "northern" origin within the local government and security establishment.

An informal coalition known as the "Southern Movement" was formed to protest against this form of discrimination. Gatherings are often held in the south and while most of them are peaceful, acts of violence are still committed and the security services do not hesitate to arrest and detain demonstrators and even bystanders.

It has often been the case that the authorities justified these arrests under the pretext of the "fight against terrorism". The victims are incarcerated, without ever being subject to any form of legal proceedings, in various detention centers.

The persons named above were arrested between July 2007 and March 2009 by the security services and have been held incommunicado for several months in detention centers, particularly at "Fatah" detention center in Aden and the political security prison in Sana'a.

All these men are still being held today without any due process of law and without ever having been brought before a judicial authority. They were all arrested without judicial warrant.

Their detentions are clearly arbitrary and contrary to the legal norms presently in force in Yemen and also in complete disaccord with the international standards enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

We recall that the Committee against Torture considered the periodic report of Yemen in November 2009. In its provisional concluding observations, the Committee recommended: Setting "immediately implement effective measures to ensure that all detainees are held in the practice of all the fundamental guarantees at the outset of their detention, in particular, they must exercise right to prompt access to counsel and to have an independent medical examination, to notify a close and to be informed of their rights at the time of detention and the charges against them, and appear before a judge within international standards."