Barran Press
Yemen's internationally recognized government on Monday, July 8th, 2024, sharply criticized international and UN organizations for their "passive and negligent" stance towards their staff detained by the Houthi group, designated as a terrorist organization by several countries.
Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani stated that the lack of any reaction from these organizations towards the Houthis has caused "disappointment among most Yemenis." He pointed out that thousands of current and former employees of these organizations are now at the mercy of a "terrorist group that does not adhere to any covenants, pacts, or commitments."
According to the official Yemeni news agency Saba, the Information Minister warned of a "large-scale terrorist and criminal plot" that the Houthis are allegedly planning for the near future.
Al-Eryani explained that the plot involves the arrest of hundreds of local employees working in various foreign embassies and international organizations. He cautioned that this could potentially extend to foreign staff still present in areas under Houthi control. He reiterated the government's call for all organizations to immediately relocate their headquarters to the temporary capital, Aden.
He asserted that the Houthis' "kidnapping and forced detention campaigns" targeting organization staff are ongoing and escalating, with a one-month deadline given to anyone who worked with these organizations in the past to surrender themselves.
Al-Eryani highlighted the deafening silence from the UN and its agencies, along with other international organizations, in response to these actions. He condemned this silence as "shameful," particularly as it has extended to covering up recent cases of kidnapping and forced detention of their own staff. He emphasized that this inaction will not deter the Houthis from their criminal practices or lead to the release of detainees. Instead, it will only encourage them to further escalate their repressive measures and use detainees as bargaining chips for pressure, extortion, and propaganda.
The Information Minister urged the UN, its special envoy to Yemen, and international organizations and agencies to exert genuine pressure on the Houthis to release all those forcibly detained in their prisons.
Last Thursday, July 4th, human rights sources reported the arrest of Yemeni national Akram al-Akhlani, who served as the Senior Development Policy Officer at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Yemen, by the Houthi group.
According to the sources, al-Akhlani was arrested after a raid on his home in Iran Street in the Hada district (southwest of the capital Sana'a). The Houthis have refused to disclose the reasons for his arrest, his location, or allow him to communicate with his family.
Since late May, the Houthi group has been conducting a continuous campaign of arrests targeting dozens of employees of UN and international agencies, and foreign embassies in Sana'a.
On June 24th, 2024, Minister of Human Rights and Legal Affairs Ahmed Arman accused the Houthis of detaining over 70 individuals, including employees of UN agencies, international and local organizations, among them five women.