The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) calls for the immediate and unconditional release of ten additional United Nations staff detained by Ansar Allah (Houthis) on 18 December 2025, bringing the total number of UN personnel arbitrarily held to sixty‑nine. These actions blatantly breach international law and directly assault humanitarian operations in a country already enduring one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
This latest wave of arrests adds to a broader pattern of repression in which Houthis have arbitrarily detained lawyers, educators, and civil society workers. Many of those held have been subjected to enforced disappearance. Additionally, documented deaths in Houthi custody, including UN and NGO staff, underscore the life-threatening conditions of detention marked by torture, ill-treatment, and denial of medical care. Detainees are generally denied access to legal counsel, and smeared with baseless accusations. Families are routinely denied information about their loved ones’ whereabouts or conditions.
“The Houthis are committing serious violations against the people of Yemen,” said Ziad Abdeltawab, CIHRS Director. “By falsely accusing civil society actors and UN humanitarian workers of espionage, and using arbitrary arrests as a tool of control over an already fragile society, the Houthis’ irresponsible actions are deliberately deepening Yemen’s man-made catastrophic humanitarian crisis.”
According to information available to CIHRS, the Houthis’ arbitrary arrests have paralyzed humanitarian operations in Houthi-controlled areas, obstructing the delivery of food, medicine, and shelter to millions. The UN Secretary-General has condemned the detentions, warning that they “put millions of lives at risk” and violate the fundamental obligation to respect and protect the safety, dignity, and ability of humanitarian workers to carry out their essential work.
This pattern of repression, encompassing arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, death in detention, and silencing of independent voices, has been ongoing for years. These violations strike at the heart of humanitarian operations, foster a climate of fear that debilitates civil society, and drive away skilled professionals, massively undermining future peace and rebuilding efforts.
The Houthis must immediately and unconditionally release all UN personnel detained on 18 December, along with the sixty-nine UN staff, NGO workers, civil society members and all prisoners of conscience currently held. Houthis must also cease all practices of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and ill-treatment.
CIHRS further urges the United Nations, concerned governments, and regional mediators including Oman, to exert urgent, coordinated pressure to secure the release of detainees and ensure accountability for these egregious violations. Impunity for crimes committed will weaken humanitarian standards and extinguish any genuine prospects for accountability or justice in Yemen.
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