Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on Friday called on Yemen's Houthi rebels to release dozens of UN and aid workers who have been detained for nearly a year.
The arrest and detention of aid workers has "a direct impact on the delivery of lifesaving assistance to people in critical need of aid" in a country enduring one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, the two rights groups said in a joint statement.
Since May 2024, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have carried out several waves of arrests in regions under their control, targeting UN staff as well as workers in local and international humanitarian organizations.
The arrests have prompted the United Nations to limit its deployments and suspend activities in some regions of the country devastated by more than a decade of civil war.
Only seven aid workers have been released, while at least 50 remain in detention "without adequate access to lawyers or their families, and without charge", HRW and Amnesty said, calling on the rebels to "immediately and unconditionally release" them.
"It is shocking that most of these UN and civil society staff have now spent almost a year in arbitrary detention for simply doing their work in providing medical and food assistance or promoting human rights, peace and dialogue," said Diala Haidar, Yemen researcher at Amnesty International.
"They should have never been arrested in the first place," she continued.
Niku Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at HRW, meanwhile, said: "The Houthis need to facilitate the work of humanitarian workers and the movement of aid.
"All countries with influence, as well as the United Nations and civil society organizations, should use all the tools at their disposal to urge the release of those arbitrarily detained and to provide support to their family members."