Citizens protest Yemeni government’s secret detentions in Sa’ada war [Archives:2008/1173/Local News]
By: Saddam Al-Ashmori
For the Yemen Times
SANA'A, July 15 ) Parliament has formed a committee to consider the situation of secret detainees and covert detention centers run by the government security apparatus in conjunction with the war in Sa'ada governate between the Yemeni military and Houthi supporters. The committee was formed in response to demands made by a number of Members of Parliament (MPs) during last Monday's Parliament session, which took place while civil society organizations staged a sit-in to show their support for the detainees in Al-Tahrir Square. Security forces tried to disperse the protesters and imposed a blockade in the area. The civil society groups, including the National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms (known as HOOD), the Al-Taghir Organization, the Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights and the Dialog Forum, said in a joint press release that they were protesting the abusive arrest campaign in Sana'a launched by government authorities on the pretext of fighting the Sa'ada war. The organizations also delivered a letter to the Speaker of the Parliament contesting these arrests done in secret, which they said breached constitutional law. Protesters demanded that the Parliament intervene to put an end to these acts and release the “ghost detainees