Case History: Ali Al-Dailami
Ali Al-Dailami is under a travel ban in Yemen.
Ali Al-Dailami, a prominent human rights defender, is the General Coordinator of the Yemeni Organisation for the Defence of Rights and Democratic Freedoms.
On 14 December 2010, human rights defenders Ms Tawakkol Karman, Ms Bushra Al-Sorabi and Mr Ali Hussain Al-Dailami were physically assaulted during a peaceful protest in Sana'a, Yemen.
Tawakkol Karman and Bushra Al-Sorabi are Chairperson and Executive Director respectively of Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC), an organisation which campaigns for freedom of the press and other human rights in Yemen. Ali Hussain Al-Dailami is the executive director of the Yemeni Organization for the Defence of Democratic Rights and Freedom.
Tawakkol Karman has been the subject of Front Line Urgent Appeals dated 9 October 2009 and 27 October 2010, along with Bushra Al-Sorabi. Ali Hussain Al-Dailami has been the subject of Front Line Urgent Appeals dated 17 October 2006 and 10 April 2009.
It is reported that on 14 December 2010, the three human rights defenders were assaulted while participating in a peaceful sit-in in front of the House of Representatives to call for the release of detainees related to the Sa’da conflict.
The anti-riot police intervened, allegedly using excessive force to disperse the protesters: during the crackdown, Tawakkol Karman and Bushra Al-Sorabi were reportedly pushed and violently harassed while Ali Al-Dailami was reportedly beaten over his back with batons and dragged along the street by police in a humiliating manner. Many other participants in the sit-in were allegedly assaulted and/or detained by the riot police.
In 2009, Ali Al Dailami received direct threats, as well as threatening phone calls and messages in relation to his role in the ongoing campaign for the release of detainees related to the Sa'da conflict.
On 16 April 2012, Yemeni Human Rights Defender Mr Ali Al Dailami was stopped, threatened and harassed for four hours by national security officers at Sanaa airport on his arrival from Cairo where he had attended a human rights conference.
On his arrival at Sanaa airport Ali Al Dailami was held by members of the national security and subjected to interrogation in a provocative manner during which it was alleged that his name was included on a list of those wanted by the Yemeni police since 2006. He was held for up to four hours at the airport harassed and threatened with punishment which the security officers did not specify. His passport was confiscated, but when he showed the security officer a card indicating his human rights work, he was given his passport back. Shortly afterwards, however Ali Al Dailami's passport was again confiscated and he was accused of leaving Yemen illegally, despite having an exit visa stamped on his passport when he passed through the same airport on 11 April 2012 on his way to Cairo.
Ali Al Dailami, who is now effectively prevented from travelling, denounced the manner in which he was treated by the national security and the presence of his name on a list of those wanted by the police. He protested at the provocative and unlawful way he has been treated each time he enters and leaves Sanaa airport. At the time of this incident, Ali Al Dailami was returning form Cairo to which he had been invited by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies to attend a consultative meeting on the human rights situation in the region held in the presence of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly and Association.
