The UN staff are in Yemen to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population and to monitor compliance with human rights. But the de facto rulers do not stop at violence.
The Houthis in Yemen have stormed a United Nations office in the capital Sanaa. The militia took 13 UN employees and more than 50 aid workers as well as an embassy employee hostage, reported the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva. Some were also picked up from their homes far away from the office.
The incidents occurred on June 6 and 7. Initially, silence was kept in the hope that the situation would be resolved quickly, said a UN spokeswoman. Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, appealed to those in power to release the people immediately. They were being held without contact with the outside world.
The military-political movement of the Houthi, which is allied with Iran, did not initially comment when asked. It controls the capital and large parts of the north.
The Houthis have already taken two employees of the UN Human Rights Office hostage in November 2021 and August 2023. One of them was forced to admit to alleged intelligence activities, as seen in online videos, reported Türk. Such statements are completely unfounded. He condemned this as a violation of human rights.
Since the end of 2014, Yemen has been ravaged by a devastating conflict between the government, the Houthi rebels and their allies. Saudi Arabia is supporting the government in the fight against the Houthi, who overran the country in 2014 and established themselves in the north. The United Nations considers the conflict in Yemen a humanitarian catastrophe that has brought the country to the brink of famine.
Source: Stern
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