On 16 September 2014, the members of Alkarama's legal department met with the experts of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) to express their main concerns about the growing problem of enforced disappearances in the Arab world.

Alkarama welcomes the release of Mohammad Muthana Al Ammari by the Yemeni authorities on 30 September 2014, 10 months after he finished serving his two-year prison sentence for participating in demonstrations.

On 17 September 2014, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health to ask the Egyptian authorities to grant Ibrahim Hassan Mohamed Asuhaimi, an arbitrarily detained elder, the immediate medical attention his state requires.

In September 2014, Alkarama submitted information on Libya's upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in April/May 2015. Two main issues were approached: Libya's cooperation with the United Nations' human rights mechanisms and its compliance with its international human rights obligations.

Political Background

Any further intervention in the Middle East must include plans to address the suffering of Syrian civilians, said today a global coalition of over 40 leading human rights and humanitarian organizations, including Alkarama.

Alkarama recalled the case of Mr Al Najjar to the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders as he is to face his first hearing today, before the Federal Supreme Court which is famous for handling unfair trials.

Geneva, 23 September 2014

Prominent lawyer in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Shireen Issawi will receive the 2014 Alkarama Award for Human Rights Defenders. Shireen will be recognised for her courageous work in monitoring and documenting human rights violations committed by the Israeli authorities against Palestinian prisoners and advocating for their rights. The Alkarama Foundation will present its 2014 Award at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva on Thursday 11 December, to mark Human Rights Day (10 December).

In his last report to the Human Rights Council, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon raised cases of retaliation against persons who have cooperated with the United Nations, ranging from threats, travel bans, arbitrary detention and torture, which he says are only the "tip of the iceberg".

On 15 September 2014, Alkarama and Al Wissam Humanitarian Assembly sent a joint urgent appeal to the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances concerning the abduction of Riad Abdel Majeed Al Obeidi, a former Air Force Brigade pilot, in Al A'amiriya on 1 June 2014. Having not been seen since, his family fears that he be tortured or ill-treated, particularly after he managed to contact them, from his detention place, in mid-June.

In this article, Alkarama responds to the recent false accusations of supporting terrorism on behalf of Qatar, allegations peddled by Lebanese daily, As-Safir and echoed in other "news" sites in the region.