Yemeni social media star and Independent contributor 'seized by 15 armed guards' and detained without lawyer

A prominent Yemeni activist and Indy Voice’s contributor has been detained without access to a lawyer for 15 days.

Hisham al-Omeisy was pulled from the street by 15 armed guards in the nation’s capital of Sana’a on 14th August and has not been heard from since, according to Amnesty International.

The right's group reported that the 38-year old social media activist’s detention is in breach of Yemen’s constitution — which requires those arrested be presented in court within 24 hours.

Mr al-Omeisy rose to fame during the Arab Spring and has used Twitter to criticise and document events, such as airstrikes, to his 25,000 twitter followers in real time.

The political analyst is one of the most prominent Yemeni activists and tweets in both English and Arabic, often multiple times a day.

The father-of-two has been praised by human rights charities for his compelling honesty about both how the war his affected both his family and the country as a whole which has raised the profile of the conflict in Yemen.

Mr al-Omeisy last tweeted that “armed goons” had shown up at his door, just two days before his arrest.

He has had no access to his lawyer or family since being detained and both Amnesty and Human Rights Watch are calling for his immediate release.

The organisation's Yemen researcher told The Independent: “The conflict in Yemen already gets very little coverage, despite the gravity of the rights violations ongoing and the scale of the humanitarian crisis.

“Yemen needs its activists more than ever, like Hisham, to highlight the impact of the is war on civilians, yet all sides are increasingly harassing, threatening, detaining and disappearing them.”

Samah Hadid, Amnesty’s head of Middle East campaigns, added: "Hisham Al-Omeisy is a prisoner of conscience, whose only 'crime' is peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression, and he must be released immediately.

"This detention illustrates the lengths to which local Houthi-Saleh authorities are willing to go to silence peaceful activists.

His followers immediately noticed his absence and thousands are using the hashtag #FreeHisham to raise awareness.

One Twitter user said: “A truly lovely person, it terrifies me to think what is happening to him.” Another: “His family worldwide is waiting”

In the last year Yemen has witnessed a surge in arrests, detentions and forced disappearances of activists. With political opponents, journalists and minorities among those targeted.

Human Rights Watch has documented 66 cases in which rebel Houthi forces have arbitrarily detained or forcibly disappeared people.

These include two deaths in custody and 11 cases of alleged torture and ill-treatment, including the abuse of a child.

The Yemeni Civil War began in March 2015 and as a result is currently experiencing the world’s worst cholera outbreak.

Over 10,000 people have been killed in fighting between those allied to the Houthi rebel movement and President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is backed by a Saudi-led coalition yet the country still receives little coverage by international media.