Press Releases

Yemen: Yasser Al-Wazir sentenced to 8 years imprisonment in an unfair trial

YEM - News | 20 January 2010
Having previously submitted his case as an urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders on 20 November 2009, Alkarama has just learned that Yasser Al-Wazir was sentenced on 17 January 2010 to 8 years imprisonment by the Specialized Primary Criminal Court in Sana'a.

Egypt: 15 previously disappeared victims from the so-called "Zeitoun Cell" now held at Istikbal Tora Prison

EGY - News | 19 January 2010
According to reliable sources from within Egypt, 15 of the 16 victims from the so-called "Zeitoun Cell" who were arrested on 2 July 2009 (and subsequently enforcedly disappeared), reappeared when they were presented to the Emergency State Security Supreme Court for a hearing on 4 January 2010. They have since been transferred to Istikbal Tora Prison near Cairo. Alkarama had previously submitted their cases to the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary (WGEID) on 19 August 2009 and as a consequence of their reappearance will submit their cases to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) in due course.

Egypt: Mr Djema'a Ramadhan held for one year after UN confirmed arbitrary nature of his detention

EGY - News | 19 January 2010
Mr Djema'a Al-Seyed Suleymane Ramadhan, was arrested on 11 May 1994 from his home. He was detained for more than 15 years following an unfair trialbefore a Military Tribunal, only being released in September 2009. On 9 September 2008, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) adopted opinion 18/2008 confirming Alkarama's submission that Mr Djema'a Ramadhan's detention was arbitrary.

Syria: Further disappearances following arrests by security forces

SYR - News | 19 January 2010
pirrostom
Ahmad Mustafa Ben Mohamed,
aka Pir Rostom

The troubling trend of disappearances in Syria continues. On 5 November 2009, Ahmed Mustafa Ben Mohamed, a Syrian Kurdish political activist and human rights defender usually known by his penname Pir Rostom, was disappeared following his arrest by Political Security forces from Aleppo. On 2 December 2009, Mohamed Daher, a Lebanese national, was disappeared following his arrest by the Syrian General Security forces at the Lebanese Syrian border, whilst traveling from Lebanon to Syria.