Yemen’s Houthis seize UN office in Sanaa

Yemen’s Houthis stormed the headquarters of the United Nations’ Human Rights Office in the capital, Sanaa, seizing documents, furniture and vehicles, a senior UN official said Tuesday.

The seizure was the latest move in a crackdown by the Houthis on people working with the UN, aid agencies and foreign embassies.

The Houthis took over the UN Human Rights Office’s premises in Sanaa on August 3, after forcing UN Yemeni workers to hand over belongings, including documents, furniture and vehicles, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

The UN’s Human Rights Office said it had suspended the office’s operations in Sanaa and other Yemeni areas controlled by the Houthis following the June crackdown campaign. But it still operates in the parts of Yemen controlled by the internationally recognized government.

In June, the Houthis detained more than 60 people working with the UN and other NGOs, according to the UN Human Rights Office.

Among the detainees were six workers with the Human Rights Office, who joined two of their colleagues detained by the Houthis in November 2021 and August 2023, it said.

Days after the arrest campaign, the Houthis said they had arrested members of what they called an “American-Israeli spy network.”

The Houthis issued what they purported to be videotaped confessions by 10 Yemenis, several of whom said they were recruited by the US Embassy in Yemen.

The UN Human Rights Office said one of its staffers who was detained earlier appeared in a video in which he was forced to confess to allegations, including of espionage, the office said.