Alkarama launched an urgent appeal today, to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights, in the case of Maamar Al-Abdelli, who was arrested for the second time on 13 July 2009 at a hotel in Aden by agents of Yemeni Intelligence Services.

Yasser Alezzi Hamud Al-Fakeeh, a 23 year old student, was arrested on 22 September 2009 by Political Security agents and military personnel while on his home was with his father after prayer. To date, he has been detained for nearly five months without legal procedures.

Yemeni prisons and detention centers are filled with hundreds of detainees who have no idea when they will be released or even if they will ever be tried. Many of these prisoners were either arrested on suspicion or often with no reason at all, as the Yemeni authorities continue to use loosely defined anti-terrorism laws to arbitrarily detain suspects in the fight against the so-called "War on Terror". Alkarama's most recent case involves Azam Hassan, detained since late October 2007, and who has been on a hunger strike since 25 January 2010 in protest of his deteriorating state of health.

On 26 January 2009, Sana'a's Specialised State Security Court ruled against Mohamed Qasim Ali Al-Gholi and Amin Al-Naggar - two cases which Alkarama had previously submitted to the UN special procedures. The court, which is an exceptional court and considered by Yemeni lawyers and human rights activists as illegitimate, handed out sentences of ten years for Mr Al-Ghouli and seven years for Al-Naggar.