Following the examination of the Mauritanian National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) in November 2017, the Subcommittee on Accreditation (SCA) of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) recommended that the CNDH be downgraded from A to B status given its lack of compliance with the

In view of the second periodic review of Mauritania by the Committee against Torture (CAT), Alkarama submitted on 26 June 2017 its contribution to the List of Issues prepared by the Committee’s experts.

On 22 June 2017, and after more than a month of arbitrary detention, Hussam Al Abdallat, a Jordanian journalist charged with “defamation on social media” for criticising corruption within the Jordanian government through a Facebook post, was released on bail. However, he is still at risk of being sentenced to prison terms as the charges against him have not been dropped.

Mohammed Husayn Ali Al Khadrawi and Mahmoud Ali Al Bashir Rajb, two officials of the Libyan Ministry of Interior of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) were arrested on 25 June 2017 at the Jeddah Airport by Saudi security forces. During the following days, at least twenty other Libyan citizens, known for having participated in the revolution against the Gaddafi regime were subjected to the same fate. The men were arrested while they were returning home after having performed the Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca.

On 13 May 2017, following popular protests, the Iraqi Parliament decided to indefinitely postpone the vote on the Draft law on freedom of expression and peaceful demonstrations, a text that restricts the fundamental rights and freedoms of Iraqi citizens.

Hamzeh Bani-Issa, 30 year-old Jordanian teacher in primary school, has been detained for more than six months merely for his alleged political opinion. Accused of “membership to an unauthorised organisation”, on 12 June 2017, Jordan’s State Security Court (SSC) is to deliver its judgment on his case.

On 24 May 2017, prominent human rights defender and co-founder of the Union for Human Rights, Mohamed Al Otaibi, was arrested at Doha International Airport while on his way to Norway. On 28 May 2017, he was extradited from Qatar to Saudi Arabia. Al Otaibi had fled to Qatar in March 2017 to escape prosecution for his peaceful activism and seek political asylum in Norway, which had granted him travel documents to allow him to apply for refugee status upon arrival.

Jamil Al Nimr, former head of the General Intelligence in Jisr Al Shughur, Idlib governorate, was detained in Sednaya Military Prison since his arrest in June 2011 for having disobeyed orders to fire live bullets on peaceful protesters. He suddenly disappeared in December 2012, after his wife’s last visit.

Since the beginning of the six-year long armed conflict, thousands people have become victims of enforced disappearances and security services have abducted many of them at checkpoints.