On 12 March 2010 Alkarama sent their cases to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) requesting further corroboration regarding the legal violations, in this case, under domestic and international law, and thus asked the WGAD to intervene with the Yemeni authorities, particularly in the case of Osama who should have be released nearly five months ago.

On 13 October 2007 at 6:00 am, officers from the Political Security forces raided the Al-Saadi family home. They arrived with a dozen vehicles and surrounded the house. Some of the officers were armed and masked. They entered the main room of the house and took Mohammed to one of the vehicles before returning for the father. Osama, who was horror-struck at this point, began throwing stones in protest. Officers then fired shots and arrested him. A few minutes later, the security agents brought the father back into the house and conducted a length search of the premises.

Following the search, both Osama and Mohamed were taken to an unknown destination. For two months the family had no information as to the whereabouts of the two youngsters. They eventually learned that they were being held in Sana'a's infamous Political Security prison. After a few months, their parents were finally allowed to visit them once a week.

It was not until 3 January 2009, 20 months after their arrest, that the two brothers were presented for the first time before a State Security Court judge and their families were able to hear charges against them; namely belonging to a terrorist group and affecting public order.

Their lawyer, hired by the family, raised the issue of that the court did not have the jurisdiction try juveniles and requested during a subsequent hearing on 10 January 2009, that they are brought before a juvenile court.

The court overruled, and obliged itself to retain jurisdiction to try them despite their age. Following several postponements, on 24 February 2009, the special court sentenced Mohamed to seven years imprisonment and Osama to two.

Osama Al-Saadi, sentenced to two years imprisonment, should have been released 13 October 2009. He is however still in custody.

We recall that the Committee against Torture reviewed Yemen in November 2009, to which the Yemeni delegation decided not to attend. In its provisional concluding observations, the Committee recommended, " implement[ing] 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 have an 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. "