Kamal Sharaf

Front Line is concerned regarding the arrest of artist and human rights defender Mr Kamal Sharaf on 16 August 2010.

Further Information

Kamal Sharaf is a critical cartoonist with the daily newspaper “Aljomhooria” and the independent Yemeni news site, Barakish.net. He is also a board member of the “Binibserkom” (“We are Watching You”) Initiative, an online Yemeni movement against corruption.

On the evening of 16 August 2010, Kamal Sharaf was arrested at his home by an armed security group wearing head masks, who were accompanied by a number of cars and armored vehicles. The group claimed that they belonged to an anti-terrorism unit of the National Security Apparatus. The men also confiscated his laptop. His family and young children were present at the time of the raid. Kamal Sharaf's whereabouts have since been unknown.

Front Line believes that the arrest and detention of Kamal Sharaf is directly linked to his human rights activities, particularly his critical stance on corruption in Yemen. Front Line fears for the physical and psychological integrity of Kamal Sharaf, and views him as being at risk of torture or other forms of ill treatment while being held incommunicado in an unknown location.