On Thursday, local sources reported that the Iran-backed Houthis temporarily released activist Rabab Al-Mudhwahi. Detained since June in Sana’a alongside several UN and international agency employees, Al-Mudhwahi was allowed a brief reprieve to attend her mother’s funeral. According to human rights sources, the Houthis permitted her a few hours of freedom before returning her to prison.

Al-Mudhwahi’s mother died in a hospital in Amman, Jordan, after her health declined, reportedly due to distress over her daughter’s detention. A human rights activist and former head of the information department at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Sana’a, Al-Mudhwaahi has been held in Houthi custody with other international organization staff since June.