- Dozens of staff members taken with them
Houthi rebels in Yemen stormed a United Nations office in the capital, Sanaa. According to the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva, the militia took 13 UN staff and over 50 humanitarian workers, as well as a diplomatic staff member, hostage. Some were also reportedly abducted from their homes away from the office.
These incidents occurred on August 6 and 7. Initially, silence was maintained in the hope of a swift resolution. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged the authorities to immediately release the captives, stating they are being held without contact with the outside world.
The Houthi movement, which is linked to Iran, initially did not respond to requests for comment. They control the capital and large parts of the north.
The Houthis have previously abducted two UN human rights workers in November 2021 and August 2023. One of them was forced to make false confessions of alleged intelligence activities, as seen in online videos, according to Türk. He condemned this as a violation of human rights.
Yemen has been devastated by conflict since late 2014, with the government, Houthi rebels, and their allies fighting each other. Saudi Arabia supports the government in its fight against the Houthis, who overran the country in 2014 and entrenched themselves in the north. The United Nations considers the Yemen conflict a humanitarian catastrophe, pushing the country to the brink of famine.
The UN Human Rights Office in Geneva strongly condemned the Houthi rebels' actions, citing the hostage situation as a clear violation of human rights. The international community calls for the immediate release of all captives, including UN staff and humanitarian workers, to uphold the principles of human rights in Yemen.
