(Dubai) UN agencies and NGOs have expressed “grave concern” after the criminal proceedings against many of their employees “arbitrarily detained” by the Houthis in Yemen, and called for their immediate release, in a press release published on Saturday.
The Houthis, supported by Iran, have detained dozens of employees of the United Nations and several humanitarian organizations, most of them since last June.
“We are extremely concerned by reports that the de facto Houthi government has initiated criminal proceedings against a significant number of arbitrarily detained colleagues,” said the statement signed by the heads of UN agencies and NGOs. affected. Houthi authorities have made no comment on the matter.
Signatories to the declaration include WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and Executive Director of Oxfam International, Amitabh Behar.
In June 2024, the Houthis arrested 13 UN staff members, including six employees of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 50 NGO members and an embassy employee.
The Houthis claimed to have arrested members of “a US-Israeli spy network” operating under the cover of humanitarian organizations, allegations categorically denied by the United Nations.
Two other UN human rights staff had already been detained since November 2021 and August 2023 respectively. They are all held incommunicado.
In early August, Houthis stormed the office of the High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), forced staff to hand over the keys and seized documents and property.
The signatories of the declaration renewed on Saturday their “urgent call for the immediate and unconditional release” of all detained employees.
The Houthis, supported by Iran, seized the capital Sanaa in 2014 and hold the most populated areas of the country, after forcing the internationally recognized government to flee to Aden.
A Saudi-led coalition intervened to support the beleaguered government the following year, in a war that left hundreds of thousands dead and sparked a severe humanitarian crisis.
Fighting has decreased significantly since the United Nations negotiated a six-month truce in April 2022.