Heads of United Nations institutions and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) urged for the immediate release of employees arbitrarily detained by Houthis, amid indications that some of them may now face criminal charges.
Six OHCHR staff members, one woman and five men, were unlawfully arrested by the Houthis in June, along with seven other UN officials. Another two OHCHR employees and two colleagues from other UN organizations have been detained and kept "incommunicado" since 2021 and 2023, respectively.
In a joint statement, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Yemen, the leaders of UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, WFP, WHO, and OHCHR, as well as the heads of the INGOs Oxfam International, Save the Children International, and CARE International, voiced serious concern about the situation.
The group emphasized that the reported referral to “criminal prosecution” further raised serious concerns about the safety and security of their staff, and further compounds the lengthy incommunicado detention they have already endured.