Alkarama had requested the WGAD in a communication dated May 9, 2007 that it declares the detention of Mr. Al Chouiter as arbitrary. After his liberation, the UN body took the view that consideration of the request remained justified given the circumstances of the arrest and detention.

We recall that Mr. Saqar Abdelkader Al Chouiter, born in 1972, residing in Ibb, 200km south of Sanaa, is a teacher at Ennahda school. He was arrested on April 7, 2007 at his workplace by agents of intelligence services and led to an unknown destination. No judicial warrant had been presented to him and the reasons for his arrest had not been notified.

The arrest occurred shortly after the public release by a group of activists of the "Attahrir" party, of which Mr. Al Chouiter is a member, of a document criticizing the corruption, mismanagement and violations of human rights by authoritarian Arab regimes . This document had been circulated during the 19th Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia on 28 - 29 March 2007.

Throughout the duration of his detention, Mr. Al Chouiter has not been brought before a magistrate to be formally charged and had no access to a counsel or a legal procedure of appeal to oppose his detention. So far, the legal reasons for his arrest remain unknown.

Solicited by the WGAD, the Yemeni government did not deny the arrest, contending that Mr. Al-Chouiter had been interrogated for a short duration without disputing the fact that he had been detained for 52 days without legal grounds and without access to a counsel and the possibility of appealling against his detention.

The WGAD considers that the right to liberty and security and therefore the obligation to be informed of reasons for arrest and be brought as soon as possible before a judicial authority, as well as the right to appeal were circumvented. On another level, freedom of expression was not respected.

The WGAD considers that the detention of Mr. Al Chouiter is indeed arbitrary and that the Yemeni state has violated the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Articles 9 and 19) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Articles 9 and 19) ratified on February 9, 1987 by Yemen.

The WGAD recommends that the State of Yemen takes the necessary measures to avoid this kind of abuse and to comply with the standards set forth in the universal principles which it has adhered to.