On 31 March 2010, Alkarama submitted Mr Al-Dobii's case to the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances requesting their intervention with the authorities for his release.

Mr Mohamed Hammam Modhish Al-Dobii, aged 18, was kidnapped on 23 March 2010 from his shop in Nouqm, Sanaa by masked and armed intelligence officers who arrived on the scene in three unmarked vehicles. During the arrest the officers threatened the adjacent shop owners and terrorized witnesses and passer-bys.

Following the arrest, Mr Al-Dobii's parents tried to find their son or at least learn of his whereabouts, but to no avail. They even contacted the local authorities and the Security Services, who all categorically denied any knowledge of Mr Al-Dobii.

The circumstances of his arrest clearly demonstrate the continued efforts by State Security agents to arrest young men under the pretext of the "fight against terrorism". Mr Al-Dobii's case is far from being isolate incident.

We recall that the Committee against Torture reviewed Yemen in November 2009. In its provisional concluding observations, the Committee recommended the setting of an "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 independent medical examination, to notify a relative 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 of allocated time. "