The Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council on Friday, June 28th, 2024, discussed ongoing arrangements for a new round of consultations on the issue of prisoners and detainees, under the auspices of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Omani capital, Muscat.

In an extraordinary meeting chaired by Rashad al-Alimi, the council reiterated its commitment to supporting efforts aimed at ending the suffering of detainees, abductees, and those forcibly disappeared, and reuniting them with their families based on "all for all," with a particular focus on the release of politician Mohammed Qahtan, who is subject to a UN Security Council resolution.

According to the official Yemeni news agency Saba, the council condemned the extensive abduction campaign recently launched by the Houthi group, internationally designated as a terrorist organization, against dozens of UN agency staff, and international and local non-governmental organizations.

The council deemed the arrest campaign a "flagrant violation of national legislation, laws, and international conventions," stressing the "importance of exerting maximum pressure to compel the Houthis to release all these detainees unconditionally."

The council called for "accelerating the process of relocating the headquarters of international agencies to the temporary capital, Aden," reaffirming the government's commitment to ensuring a safe and conducive environment for these organizations to operate and provide services to all Yemenis in all governorates of the country.

Last Wednesday, Yahya Kazman, head of the internationally recognized Yemeni government delegation and negotiator for the issue of prisoners and detainees, revealed "high-level" directives to attend the upcoming negotiations scheduled to take place in the Omani capital, Muscat, at the end of this month.

In a post on the X platform (formerly Twitter), Kazman stated, "There has been a lot of debate and questions from the media and families of prisoners, abductees, and those forcibly disappeared regarding the round of negotiations scheduled for the end of this month in Muscat."

Kazman highlighted that "high-level directives mandate our attendance and working towards the release of all detainees and those forcibly disappeared on the basis of all for all, with Mohammed Qahtan at the forefront."

Earlier, the office of the Yemeni presidency instructed the government negotiating delegation on the issue of prisoners and those forcibly disappeared to "not enter into any prisoner exchange deal with the Houthis that does not include politician Mohammed Qahtan, or disclose his fate and enable him to communicate with his family," according to a circulating document reviewed by Barran Press.

In early May, the government delegation in the prisoner and detainee negotiations accused the Houthi group, internationally designated as a terrorist organization, of "obstructing repeated calls to resume negotiations and hindering any efforts to resolve the prisoner issue."

On January 3rd, the Yemeni government delegation in the prisoner and detainee negotiations announced the postponement of a round of negotiations scheduled for that week with the Houthi delegation to "an indefinite date" following "Houthi intransigence and obstruction," according to the government delegation spokesperson.

On April 17th, 2023, approximately 887 prisoners were released in a prisoner exchange deal between the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Houthi group, designated as a terrorist organization, based on an agreement reached in the last round of negotiations in Switzerland. This was the second-largest exchange overseen by the UN and the ICRC since the outbreak of the conflict in Yemen.

On October 16th, 2020, the ICRC facilitated a deal between the Yemeni government and the Houthis involving the release of 1,056 prisoners and detainees, including 15 Saudis and 4 Sudanese from the Arab coalition forces.