The Special Rapporteur for the follow-up of final observations to the Human Rights Committee sent a letter on 27 August 2009 to the permanent representative of Algeria to the United Nations reminding him that in the framework of the Committee‘s final observations, the State of Algeria has not submitted any information for three of of the observations during t

In the follow-up to the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee's periodic review of Tunisia, the government submitted, in March 2009, a reply to four of the recommendations.

While his family was asleep, at some time around midnight on 9 December 2006, Abdulrahman al-Hossami's home in Sana'a was raided by a 20-man drove of armed officers belonging to the military, the police and the Political Security forces. The agents arrived in unmarked vehicles, dressed in civilian clothing and carrying automatic weapons. They immediately surrounded the house and began an armed ambush.

Alkarama for Human Rights is pleased to announce the release on bail of the following individuals for whom Alkarama had submitted a communication to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (see our original communiqué of 15 July 2009):

Alkarama has received information from Iraq regarding the reappearance of seven individuals who were arrested and disappeared in connection with Mohammed al-Dainy, a well-known Iraqi human rights activist and Parliamentarian who visited Alkarama in Geneva in late October 2008 and then later

On 13 October 2009, Haitham al-Maleh, was summoned by Syrian Political Security in Damascus for an inquiry and has since vanished.

Early today, Alkarama submitted the cases of four torture victims to the special Rapporteur on Torture. Two of the four detainees have not yet received a final judgment and concerns are that false confessions extracted under torture may be used during their trials.

In the past 3 months, the Egyptian government has carried out successive mass arrests of leading members of the country's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, including Dr Ashraff Abdel Ghaffar and Dr Ahmed Heshmat.

The death of Salem Aboud Bahaneef on 29 September 2009 comes as another stark reminder of the inhumane conditions in Saudi prisons. Following the confirmation of his death, Alkarama has called upon the Saudi Arabian government to improve prison conditions, to ensure detainees are treated decently.

Sheikh Abdurahman Koki, was arrested after being summoned to the Political Security headquarters in Damascus on 22 October 2009 upon his return from Doha after having appeared on an Al-Jazeera television show.

Mr. Koki, 40, is a Syrian religious figure known throughout the Arab world.