Dubai, United Arab Emirates — At least nine Yemeni employees of United Nations agencies have been detained for Yemen’s Houthi rebels in unclear circumstances, officials said Friday, as rebels face growing financial pressure and airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition. Other people working for aid groups may also have been detained.
The arrests come as the Houthis, who took Yemen’s capital almost a decade ago and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition since shortly after, have been Targeting shipping along the Red Sea corridor. for the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
But as it gains more attention internationally, the secretive group has cracked down on dissent at home, including He recently sentenced 44 people to death..
Regional officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists, confirmed the U.N. arrests. Those detained include staff from the United Nations human rights agency, its development program, the World Food Program and one who works for the office of its special envoy, the officials said. The wife of one of the detainees is also detained.
The UN declined to immediately comment.
The Mayyun Organization for Human Rights, which similarly identified detained UN staff, named other aid groups whose employees were detained by the Houthis in four provinces the Houthis control: Amran, Hodeida, Saada and Saana. Those groups did not immediately acknowledge the arrests.
“We condemn in the strongest terms this dangerous escalation, which constitutes a violation of the privileges and immunities of United Nations employees granted to them under international law, and consider it an oppressive, totalitarian and blackmailing practice for political and financial gain. economical. ”the organization said in a statement.
Activists, lawyers and others also started an open letter online, calling on the Houthis to immediately release those detained, because failure to do so would “help isolate the country from the world.”
Yemen’s Houthi rebels and their affiliated media outlets did not immediately acknowledge the arrests. However, the Iranian-backed rebels planned weekly mass demonstrations after Friday noon prayers, when Houthi officials typically discuss their actions.
It is unclear what exactly led to the arrests. However, this comes as the Houthis have faced problems in having enough currency to sustain the economy in the areas they control, something highlighted by their decision to introduce a new currency in the Yemeni currency, the riyal. Yemen’s government-in-exile in Aden and other nations criticized the move because the Houthis are resorting to counterfeiting. Authorities in Aden have also demanded that all banks move their headquarters there.
“Internal tensions and conflicts could spiral out of control and lead Yemen to total economic collapse,” Yemeni journalist Mohammed Ali Thamer warned in an analysis published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Bloomberg reported separately on Thursday that the United States planned to further increase economic pressure on the Houthis by blocking their sources of income, including a planned payment by Saudi Arabia of $1.5 billion to cover the salaries of government employees in Houthi-controlled territory. rebels
The war in Yemen has killed more than 150,000 people, including combatants and civilians, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more. The Houthis’ attacks on shipping have helped divert attention from their internal problems and the stalled war. But for months they have been facing increasing casualties and damage caused by US-led airstrikes against the group.
Thousands of people have been imprisoned by the Houthis during the war. An AP investigation discovered that some detainees were burned with acid, forced to hang by their wrists for weeks at a time, or beaten with batons. Meanwhile, the Houthis have employed child soldiers and laid mines indiscriminately in the conflict.
The Houthis have previously detained four other UN staff – two in 2021 and two others in 2023 – who are still being held by the militia group. In 2023, the UN human rights agency called such detentions a “deeply alarming situation, as it reveals a complete disregard for the rule of law.”
The Houthis are members of the minority Zaydi Shiite sect of Islam, which ruled northern Yemen for 1,000 years, until 1962.
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Baraa Anwer reported from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
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