On 29 September 2014, Alkarama and Human Rights Guardians wrote to the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances to alert them on the case of Ahmed Shaar, a 62 year-old Syrian shopkeeper from the port of Latakia, disappeared over a year ago after being abducted by pro-government militia, and asking the Working Group to urgently intervene with the Syrian authorities so they release him or put him under the protection of the law.

On 22 July 2014, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, copied to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), to bring their attention to the case of Abdullah Ahmed Mohammed Ismail Alfakharany, a 24 years old student at the University of Cairo, Journalist and co-Founder of a news platform, Rassd News Network (

On 24 September 2014, Alkarama sent a communication to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) regarding the case of Hind and Rachaa Munir Abd Al Wahab Ali Nassr, two sisters arrested and detained because of their participation in a peaceful sit-in in Cairo.

On 30 September 2014, Alkarama submitted an urgent appeal to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) regarding the case of two Qatari nationals who have been detained incommunicado since their arrest on 27 June 2014 by United Arab Emirates' police.

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.