Amnesty International calls for Al-Dailami’s release [Archives:2006/989/Front Page]
SANA'A, Oct. 15 ) Amnesty International called for Yemeni authorities to reveal the location where Ali Al-Dailami, Executive Director of Yemen Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, is detained. They demanded authorities release Al-Dailami.
The call comes within a week of Al-Dailami's arrest at the Sana'a Airport on Oct. 10 when he was heading for Denmark, along with other Yemeni NGO representatives.
Amnesty International demanded Al-Dailami be released immediately without any restriction or condition, as he has been detained for struggling to promote human rights in the country. They say there is no clear reason why Al-Dailami is detained besides his work with human rights activities.
Al-Dailami launched a campaign on the behalf of his brother, Yahya Al-Dailami, a religious scholar, who was sentenced to death on May 29, 2005 following an unjust trial. The courts then reduced the sentence and freed the scholar.
The Amnesty International statement want authorities to allow Al-Dailami to appoint a lawyer, visit his relatives and have an access to healthcare. It expressed concern about the mistreatment of the human rights activist who has been jailed in an isolated prison and they worry he might face torture and mistreatment.
“Al-Dailami seems to be a prisoner of opinion, who has been detained for his human rights-related activities,” Amnesty International stated.
Al-Dailami's NGO released a statement on Friday expressing concern about the fate of its executive director who was held by security authorities while he was planning to travel to Copenhagen to participate in human rights activities and workshops.
The statement said Al-Dailami's participation comes as part of a partnership program with civil community organizations, affiliated with the Danish Institute for Human Rights. It added the political security manager at the Sana'a Airport prevented Al-Dailami from flying to Denmark and arrested him without any legal justification.
According to the statement, the political security manager confirmed to relatives of the prisoner that he doesn't know why he was captured, however, he said that Al-Dailami was wanted by political authorities.
The statement indicated Al-Dailami was arrested at 1:00 p.m. last Monday and transferred to a microbus with a police plate and three security officers on board.
“What raises much concern is that political security authorities refuse to reveal the location where Al-Dailami is detained and say that they know nothing about him,” the statement argued.
Amnesty International condemned all these conducts, which it described as barbaric abuses against citizen's rights. It urged official parties, namely President Saleh, to release Al-Dailami and punish perpetrators who commit such violations. Also, it called on all local, regional and international human rights groups and organizations to express solidarity with the inmate and take action to secure his release.
——
[archive-e:989-v:14-y:2006-d:2006-10-12-p:front]