Houthis 'Seize' UN Human Rights Office in Sanaa

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that the Houthis of Yemen have seized the office of this organization in Sanaa after storming it and forcing its employees to hand over equipment, including documents, furniture, and vehicles. Volker Turk, in a statement released on Tuesday, August 13, added, 'The Ansarullah forces (Houthis) must vacate this building and immediately return all its equipment and assets.' The seizure of the UN Human Rights office is the latest incident of attacks by the Houthis on UN staff and other international aid organizations. These actions come as the Iran-backed Houthis continue their attacks on international shipping routes in the Red Sea, which began in November. On Tuesday, two commercial ships passing through the Red Sea were attacked three times, attributed to the Houthis. A spokesperson for this militia group did not respond to the Associated Press's requests for comments regarding the raid on the UN Human Rights office in Yemen's capital. The UN Human Rights Office stated that following the Houthi crackdown that began in June, the organization had suspended all its activities in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, and other areas under the control of this group, but continued its activities in areas controlled by the legitimate Yemeni government. According to this organization, the Houthis arrested more than 60 employees of various UN agencies and other international aid organizations in June. Six of the detainees were employees of the UN Human Rights office. Two other employees of this organization were also arrested in November 2021 and August 2023. A few days after the June arrests, the Houthis claimed to have detained 'members of an American-Israeli espionage network.' Following that, the Houthis released several videos of what they claim are 'confessions' from 10 Yemeni citizens. Some of the detainees in these interviews stated that the US embassy in Yemen had hired them. The UN Human Rights Office stated that one of the detained employees of this organization appears to have been coerced into 'confessing' to fabricated charges, including espionage. Verification or confirmation of the Houthis' espionage claims regarding these individuals is not possible. The Houthis seized a large portion of northern and central Yemen, including Sanaa, in 2014, leading to the onset of the civil war in the country. It is estimated that over 150,000 people, including military and civilians, have been killed during the Yemeni civil war, and thousands more have died from disease and hunger due to the severe and widespread humanitarian crisis that the UN has described as the world's largest humanitarian crisis. In the past two years, the intensity of the war between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed legitimate Yemeni government forces has decreased, and hopes for some form of agreement to peacefully resolve this crisis have increased.