A committee has been set up to defend Yemenis detained in their country or at a US base in Cuba in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks, lawyer and member of parliament Mohammed Naji Alaweh said Tuesday.
Their "detention without trial or an accusation of a precise offence violates the constitution which forbids arrest without authorization from the courts," Alaweh, who chairs the committee, told AFP.
He said the forum comprises parliamentarians, lawyers, journalists and human rights activists.
It will write to Yemen's Interior Minister Rashad al-Alimi "to ask for the exact number of Yemenis held in Yemen and on Guantanamo base, and especially the accusations which they face," he said.
"The committee will exert pressure on the Yemeni government to help free it of pressure from the US administration which is blackmailing all governments including that of Yemen," the lawyer said.
In late May, Yemeni police said the number of suspects held in Yemen were not more than 85, while an official weekly, 26 September, has reported that 32 Yemenis are among the terror suspects being held in Guantanamo. (Albawaba.com)
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