The two-day conference, an Amnesty International initiative co-organised by the National Organisation for the Defence of Rights and Freedoms (HOOD) in Yemen, will take place at the Taj Sheba Hotel in the Yemini capital Sana’a on Saturday 10 - Sunday 11 April 2004.

The conference will gather together lawyers and experts on international law and the Guantánamo Bay detentions, as well as human rights activists and relatives of detainees.

Delegates are expected from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, USA, Kuwait, Qatar, Australia, Canada, Bahrain and the UAE.

Discussions will focus on the universality of human rights and the legal framework of detentions. A press conference will conclude the event and a press release will be issued.

Last September Amnesty International published a report showing that in the months following 11 September 2001, Yemen embarked upon mass arrests, extra-legal detentions and the secret deportation of foreign nationals. This was described by the human rights organisation as an example of the ‘Guantánamo Bay factor’ in respect of violations of international human rights standards.

Relevant information

Yemen: The rule of law sidelined in the name of security, report - 24 September 2003: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE310062003?open&of=ENG-YEM