UN and aid group leaders call for immediate release of 17 officials detained by Yemeni rebels

UNITED NATIONS — The heads of six UN agencies and three international humanitarian organizations issued a joint appeal on Thursday to Yemen’s Houthi rebels for the immediate release of 17 members of its staff who were recently detained, along with many others also detained by the Iranian-backed group.

His call was echoed by a statement from several dozen nations and the European Union ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Yemen, where UN special envoy Hans Grundberg said the Houthis were holding all detainees in the incommunicable repression.

The Houthis said on Monday they had arrested members of a “American-Israeli spy network” days after detaining UN and humanitarian organization officials.

Maj. Gen. Abdulhakim al-Khayewani, head of the Houthis’ intelligence agency, announced the arrests, saying the spy network initially operated from the U.S. Embassy in the capital Sanaa. After it was shut down in 2015 following the Houthi takeover of Sanaa and northern Yemen, he said, they continued “their subversive agenda under the cover of international organizations and the UN.”

He did not say how many people were arrested. Houthi authorities released what they claimed were videotaped confessions by 10 Yemenis, several of whom said they were recruited by the U.S. Embassy. They did not include any of the UN officials who were arrested. The Houthis’ claims could not be independently verified.

Samantha Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development, strongly condemned the abuse and detention of current and former USAID employees, as well as UN and NGO staff, and demanded their immediate release,

“These arrests are an affront to both diplomatic norms and the dedication the individuals have shown in supporting the people of Yemen,” she said in a statement. “The Houthis’ attempts to spread disinformation about the role of USAID, the US government, the UN and other international organizations working to improve the lives of the Yemeni people through the use of forced and fraudulent ‘confessions’ are deplorable.”

The statement from the heads of the UN and humanitarian aid organizations whose staff are detained called their detentions “unprecedented – not just in Yemen, but globally”.

They asked the Houthis to confirm the exact whereabouts of the detainees and to be granted immediate access, citing international humanitarian law that requires all parties to an armed conflict to respect and protect humanitarian personnel.

“Attacks on humanitarian, human rights and development workers in Yemen must stop,” the joint statement said. “All detainees must be released immediately.”

The statement by UN member states, read by British Ambassador Barbara Woodward outside the Security Council chamber, strongly condemned the detentions since 7 June, demanded the release of all detainees and expressed grave concern at the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Yemen. .

Countries expressed deep concern about the risk of delivering humanitarian aid in Yemen and called for unimpeded access for all humanitarian workers.

The Houthis have been involved in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, since 2014, when they took control of Sanaa and most of the north.

Grundberg, the UN envoy who has been trying to bring both sides back to the negotiating table to end the conflict, has called not only for the release of the 13 recently detained UN officials – including one of his staff – but also for the release of four other UN officials. held incommunicado – two since 2021 and two since 2023.

“The United Nations is there to serve the Yemenis,” he told the Security Council. “These arbitrary detentions are not the expected sign of an actor seeking a mediated solution to the conflict.”

The arrests took place at a time when the Houthis were targeting maritime transport across the entire Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas War in the Gaza Strip.

At the same time, his administration faced increasing financial pressure and the group cracked down on dissent nationwide, including the recent death sentence of 45 people.

Grundberg expressed concern about the 45 death sentences, reiterating the United Nations’ opposition to the death penalty.

It is unclear what exactly triggered the latest arrests. Former employees of the US Embassy in Sanaa, which closed in 2015, were also detained and detained by the Houthis.