Mohamad Hassan Tlass, a former officer of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Services, was arrested by Lebanese security services on 6 December 2012. He reportedly defected from the Syrian army in August 2011 and is today facing imminent extradition to Syria following a decision issued on 4 February 2013 by the Beirut Military Court. If he is forcible returned, he risks being tortured and executed for desertion.

 

 On 16 January 2013, the Appeal Court of Muscat upheld verdicts against nine online activists who will be serving prison sentences up to one year and a half on charges including "lèse-majesté", "violation of the Omani Information technol

Following the events of Nahr Al Bared in 2007, several hundred persons were arrested on suspicion of belonging to, or having ties with, the Islamist group Fatah Al Islam. Six years after the incident, the Lebanese authorities have now announced the beginning of their trial in form of preliminary hearings for tomorrow, 8 February 2013. After this excessive period of pre-trial detention, during which many inmates report having been tortured, it is the Lebanese Judicial Council, a court of exception, who will hear their case.

Following the US invasion of Iraq, many Arabs of non-Iraqi origin were arbitrarily arrested, detained and tortured between 2003 and 2009 by the US and Iraqi authorities on suspicions of belonging to the 'armed resistance' against the 'US Occupation Forces'. Sentenced to excessive prison terms or the death penalty in expedient trials, this group of non-Iraqi detainees became known as the 'Arab Prisoners'.

Rami Al-Mrayat, a 25 year-old Jordanian citizen and former employee of the Gulf aircraft maintenance company, was arrested by the Emirati security services on 19 November 2011 at Abu Dhabi International Airport while he was about to return to his country. Tortured and held in secret detention for almost 5 months, he was transferred to Al-Wathba prison in Abu Dhabi on 4 April 2012.

When Mrs Badria Abu Meri was arrested in May 2010, media reported that she had been taken into custody for her own protection although she was in fact summoned on alleged implication in a crime. Years later, she remains in Baabda prison – after being tortured and held without sentence for over 32 months.

The suffering of a family of Palestinian refugees continues after being forcibly deported from Taif, Saudi Arabia to Yemen in 2007. All the members of Al-Hadad family were recently detained by Yemeni security forces and then taken to Sana'a central Prison without any legal proceedings.

On 5 and 12 December, the appeal court of Muscat upheld verdicts against 29 human rights activists, including 36 year-old Omani human rights defender Said Ben Sultan Al Hashimi, who will be serving prison sentences for charges such as 'insulting the Sultan' and 'unlawful gathering'.