The Houthis, the de facto governing authority in Yemen’s capital Sana’a and other northern cities, have arbitrarily arrested and forcibly disappeared dozens of staff members from international organizations, local civil society and the United Nations, holding them for over six months. These arrests, based on fabricated accusations of “spying,” have sent shockwaves through Yemeni civil society, instilling fear and significantly undermining its capacity to deliver critical support to those in desperate need. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) urgently calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
Since 6 June 2024, the Houthis have targeted civil society workers based in Sana’a and other cities in Northern Yemen, including 13 UN personnel. Those detained include senior and junior staff as well as four women. To date, only one woman was confirmed to have been released last month.
“This campaign of repression is a direct assault on those working tirelessly to alleviate Yemen’s humanitarian crisis,” said Amna Guellali. “The Houthis portray themselves as champions of resistance against Israeli genocide in Gaza and gain political credit for it, but by silencing civil society, they are betraying the principles of justice and dignity they claim to uphold.”
CIHRS spoke to a family member of a man who works with the civil society and was arrested on 6 June. They said that he suffers from diabetes and they cannot send anyone to ask officials about his whereabouts, for fear of that person being arrested too.
A brother of one of the arrested told CIHRS: “We have been informally receiving promises for months now, and nothing has happened.”
The conditions in Houthi detention centers are deeply concerning. Human rights organizations have documented several deaths in custody due to inhumane treatment and neglect. For example, Sabry Al-Hakimi, an education expert, and Hisham Al-Hakimi, Safety and Security Director at Save the Children, both lost their lives in detention under suspicious circumstances. Most recently, Mohammed Khamash, was forcibly disappeared from June 2024 until October 2024, when the Houthis called his family and asked them to collect his body.
In October 2024, at least 12 individuals arrested between 2021 and 2023, who used to work for the United States embassy in Yemen and UN, were transferred to the Specialized Criminal Prosecution on charges related to spying. If convicted, they may face the death penalty. Many of these individuals had been held incommunicado since the moment they were detained until the news of their prosecution.
Following the June arrests, the Houthi-controlled television station Al Masirah aired several videos of alleged confessions by some of those arrested in previous arrest campaigns, some of them are likely from those currently prosecuted by the Special Criminal Prosecution. These “confessions” represent a clear violation of fair trial procedures, most notably the right of the individuals not to be forced to testify against themselves. There are serious concerns that the confessions may have been forced and extracted through duress, torture and mistreatment, which further raises the alarm at the fate of those recently arrested.
Heads of different UN bodies have expressed grave concern over the referral of some individuals to criminal prosecution saying, “At a time when we were hoping for the release of our colleagues, we are deeply distressed by this reported development. The potential laying of ‘charges’ against our colleagues is unacceptable and further compounds the lengthy incommunicado detention they have already endured,” they said.
“Far more must be done by the Houthis and the international actors with influence over them to protect Yemeni civil society and end these grave violations. The unjust detention of civil society members not only inflicts harm on the individuals and their families but also weakens Yemen’s ability to rebuild, support its people, and work toward peace,” said Amna Guellali.
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