Skip to main content

On 24 August 2021, Alkarama seized the UN Special Rapporteur against Torture regarding the situation of  20 years old Yasser ROUIBAH, victim of torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment inflicted by Algerian police officers.

As part of its ongoing repressive policies against peaceful activists, the Saudi authorities have increased the prison sentence against detained activist Muhammad Abdullah Al-Otaibi, adding three years to his main sentence (for travelling to Qatar in 2017).

On 11 August 2021, Alkarama seized the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding the situation of Mr Sulaiman Muhammad Salim SULAIMAN and Mr Abdelhakim Imabarak Mohammed ALI, both arrested in 2016 by the "Special Deterrence Forces" in Libya.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) regretted that the Government of Libya's National Accord did not comply with the team's recommendations regarding the release of Mr Mustafa Talib Younis Abdel Khaleq Al-Darsi, who has been arbitrarily detained since 6 January 2016, calling for his immediate release and compensation.

More than 9 months after his abduction and enforced disappearance by Yemeni forces acting on behalf of the United Arab Emirates, Yemeni preacher Abdul Qadir Al-Badhiji (Al-Shaibani), for whom Alkarama made an urgent appeal to the United Nations Working Group on Involuntary Disappearances, has been released.

A report published by the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) highlighted the need to prevent torture in places of detention in Iraq, including in the Kurdistan Region, highlighting a number of issues that Alkarama had raised in recent years in this regard as part of its concerns about the human rights situation in the country.

A first batch of Yemeni Guantanamo detainees held in the UAE has arrived in Hadramot, including six of the 18 detainees hosted by the UAE government which has failed to honour its commitments to them.
The UAE's return of Yemeni Guantanamo detainees comes after a very difficult journey that lasted about 20 years, following extensive media and human rights campaigns.

Libya has seen recent killings of field commanders in General Khalifa Haftar's forces. These include commanders wanted for international crimes because of their involvement in war crimes, including executions against civilians. These assassinations could be part of a ploy to liquidate witnesses against major criminals wanted for justice together with their regional and international supporters.

On 14 July 2021, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding the current situation of Mr. Suleiman bin Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al Duwaish, who was arrested on 22 April 2016 by the personal guard of Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salmane for a series of critical tweets and has been held in incommunicado detention since then.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has warned of the dangers of the widespread and apparent use of Pegasus spyware to illegally infringe on the rights of those being monitored, including journalists and politicians, as part of tools to intimidate critics and silence dissent. According to the senior UN official, the surveillance programmes arrest, intimidate and even kill journalists and human rights defenders.

Subscribe to