Alkarama Foundation

Iraq: Imminent risk of torture of Shawki Omar during frequent transfers

Alkarama, 24 May 2013

Arriving in Iraq in the hope to find a job in the context of efforts to rebuild the country, Mr Shawki Ahmed Omar was arrested in Baghdad in 2004. At the time subjected to severe torture and subsequently imprisoned after a grossly unfair trial, he remains in detention until this day. When Alkarama was informed that he was again severely beaten in November and December 2012, we informed the Special Rapporteur on Torture about his case on 30 January 2013. Concerns for his physical and mental integrity run again high after we learned that, three days ago, he was taken away from his cell and his current whereabouts remain uncertain.

Yemen/ USA: End use of 'targeted killings' in Yemen, investigate civilian deaths

Alkarama , 22 May 2013

As US President Barack Obama prepares to give a long awaited speech tomorrow regarding his administration's counter-terrorism policies, Alkarama and the Yemeni based NGO "HOOD" today submitted to two UN experts detailed information from investigations the organizations carried out into the US strike, an attempted 'targeted assassination', in Radaa on 2 September 2012 resulting in the death of twelve civilians.

Syria: Rights Activists Face Terrorism Charges ــــــ Free Award-Winning Journalist, Colleagues

Alkarama, 17 May 2013

(Amsterdam, Beirut, Cairo, Copenhagen, Damascus, Dublin, Geneva, London, New York, Paris, The Hague, Utrecht - May 17, 2013)

The international community should urge the Syrian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release and drop all charges against a freedom of expression activist and two of his colleagues, 19 regional and international human rights organizations said today. Mazen Darwish and two of his colleagues from the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), Hussein Gharir and Hani Zaitani, are facing trial on terrorism charges for their peaceful activism, the groups said.

Syria: UN General Assembly calling for the release of Mazen Darwish and colleagues

Alkarama, 16 May 2013

Yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly adopted its latest resolution on the situation in Syria despite strong opposition from Russia and an increase in abstentions. Alongside a number of other recommendations, the resolution calls for the release of Syrian human rights defenders Mazen Darwish and his colleagues from the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).

Lebanon: Two weeks of hunger strike for Mr. Tarek Rabaa

Alkarama, 15 May 2013

Human rights organizations demand his immediate release

Mr. Tarek Rabaa has been on hunger strike for 2 weeks. The undersigned organizations demand his immediate release pending trial, which would effectively end the excessive period of pre-trial detention for which he has been held. Furthermore, we are extremely concerned by the continuation of his trial in front of the military court as well as by the lack of investigation into the alleged torture he might have been subjected to, and that our organizations raised in a press release in 2011.

25th anniversary of the UN Committee against Torture

Alkarama, 07 May 2013

Time for universal rejection of torture!

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the UN Committee against Torture, the guardian of one of the most widely accepted international human rights conventions. In a campaign for universal ratification of the Convention against Torture, several leading human rights organisations now call on the remaining 42 countries to join the treaty and recognize the full competence of the Committee against Torture.

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