UN chief condemns arbitrary detentions of staff in Yemen

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on August 31 strongly condemned the arbitrary detention of United Nations personnel by Houthi authorities in Yemen, calling the actions “intolerable” and demanding the immediate release of those held.

In a statement, Guterres denounced “the forced entry into the premises of the World Food Programme, the seizure of UN property, and attempts to enter other UN premises in Sanaa,” adding that the safety of staff and the inviolability of UN sites “must be guaranteed at all times," Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

He said he “strongly reiterated” his demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained UN and humanitarian workers, including those seized earlier this year and others held since 2021 and 2023.

“The continued arbitrary detention of all such persons is intolerable,” Guterres declared. “The personnel of the United Nations and its partners must never be targeted, arrested or detained while carrying out their duties for the world body.”

At least 11 UN staff members were detained on August 31 in Sanaa and Hodeidah, bringing the total number of detained UN employees in northern Yemen to 34, according to UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg.

The Houthis claimed a day earlier that their prime minister, Ahmed al-Rahawi, and several ministers had been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Sanaa on August 28. Vowing retaliation, Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Supreme Political Council, warned in a speech aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV that “Israel should await dark days.”

Guterres stressed that the UN would “continue to work tirelessly to secure the safe and immediate release of all arbitrarily detained individuals,” reaffirming that the organization and its partners remain committed to supporting the people of Yemen in their “aspirations for a just and lasting peace.”

By Sabina Mammadli