At the time of his arrest, agents threatened Ahmad's parents, as well as his sister. The agents did not give their identity, nor did they give any reason for the forced entrance or present a warrant for his arrest - merely stating that they were "government agents". They searched the al-Mahfili home and trashed the premises before taking Ahmad to an unknown location.

During the first two and a half months after his arrest, Ahmad Mohsen Yahia Ali al-Mahfili, who is a minor (aged 17), was held in secret detention. It was only after this time that the Political Security officer finally acknowledge his arrest and detention, explaining that they would be holding him until his brother handed himself in, effectively holding him hostage without any legal basis.

At present, there are major concerns for Ahmad al-Mahfili's health, particularly his psychological state. Due to his young age, the current prison conditions are a major threat to his fragile psyche. The fact that he has been effectively held hostage for eight months in ransom of his brother's surrender is a source of obvious concern and is having severe repercussions on Ahmad and his family.

With no legal justification for his arrest and on the basis that Ahmad is suffering from inhumane and degrading treatment tantamount to torture, Alkarama submitted an urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT), on 23 October 2009, asking him to urgently intervene in this case, in order that the Yemeni authorities respect the edicts of the Convention against Torture (CAT), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which they are a State Party - and release him immediately. Alkarama had also previously sent his case to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on 20 May 2009, informing them of his arbitrary detention.