Houthi security forces have, since May 31, 2024, arrested and forcibly disappeared dozens of people, including at least 13 United Nations staff and many employees of nongovernmental organizations operating in Houthi-controlled territories, Human Rights Watch said today. The arbitrary arrests appear to be based on the detainees’ present or past employment.

The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, carried out these arbitrary arrests while widespread hunger and thirst remain rampant across Yemen, including in areas they control, and during a recent, major cholera outbreak that the Houthis hid for several months, based on ongoing Human Rights Watch research.

“The Houthis are using arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances as a political tool at a time when the people living in their territories lack even the most basic needs,” said Niku Jafarnia, Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The Houthis should immediately release all of these people, many of whom have spent their careers working to improve their country.”

Human Rights Watch spoke to 20 people with knowledge of the arrests, as well as 4 Yemen analysts. Their identities are not being revealed for their safety, as they fear reprisals. Human Rights Watch also reviewed documents, videos, social media, and media reports, voice recordings, and other materials relevant to the detentions.

Houthi forces did not present search or arrest warrants at the time of arrest, and the authorities have refused to tell families where those arrested are being held, meaning that these acts amount to enforced disappearances. They have held detainees incommunicado, without access to lawyers or their families. On June 19, Human Rights Watch wrote to the Houthi human rights office with questions regarding the arrests and concerns about the apparent absence of any due process. The Houthis have not responded. 

As far as Human Rights Watch has been able to determine, no charges have been brought against the people detained. However, Houthi authorities have a long history of bringing dubious charges against detained people, including espionage.

Starting on June 10, Houthi authorities released a series of videos and curated social media posts on the Houthi-affiliated TV channel, Al-Masirah, and its related social media platforms. These show 10 Yemeni men who were detained between 2021 and 2023. Most of them have been held incommunicado.

The videos show the men confessing that they were spying for the United States and Israel, but there is a high risk that these confessions were coerced. Human Rights Watch has previously documented the Houthis’ use of torture to obtain confessions. Publishing videos of confessions undermines the right to fair trial and lacks credibility.

Though the Houthis have not said whether the current arrests are linked to the videos and their related announcements of uncovering a “spy network,” sources, including analysts, said that they feared that the Houthis were trying to frame the recently detained people as spies.

Yemen analysts interviewed by Human Rights Watch also suggested political motives for the arrests. The Yemeni government-controlled central bank issued a decision on May 30 to end transactions with six banks within Houthi territories that refused to move their headquarters to Aden, which is under the control of the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC). The decision has the potential for a significant negative economic impact on Houthi-controlled territories. Analysts said that the arrests may be an attempt to put pressure on the Yemeni government to reverse the decision.

Enforced disappearances, in which the authorities detain a person and then refuse to acknowledge their whereabouts or situation when asked, are serious crimes under international law and are prohibited at all times under both international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

All of the detainees are Yemenis. The Houthis have told families not to speak out about the detention of their family members, in many cases saying that detainees will be released as soon as the Houthis have completed their interrogations, as long as they do not find anything.

“[The Houthis] know there will not be an [international] escalation from the arrest of the Yemenis, but if they arrested international staff there will be a huge escalation from the international community,” said one source.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, have called for the release of all UN and nongovernmental organization staff, as have other senior UN officials.

However, some sources also told Human Rights Watch that the UN agencies or organizations where detainees had been working had not made efforts to contact detainees’ families, including those living abroad who could have been safely reached. 

“Continuing to work like business as usual cannot be done,” a source said. “The abductees that were part of the confessions yesterday, there was no huge demand for their release, barely anything was said by UN agencies,” referring to those shown in videos. 

One political analyst said that “he wider weak international reaction … proves that from [the Houthis’] perspective, they did the right thing.”

It is imperative for the United Nations, independent groups working in Yemen, and concerned governments to take every action in their power to ensure the release of those detained, Human Rights watch said. Oman, which has been a mediator in negotiations between the Houthis and other warring parties, should work with other countries collectively to ensure that the Houthis release the detainees.

“The international community should be doing everything in their power to ensure that these people are immediately released,” Jafarnia said. “Many of them have been invaluable members of Yemeni civil society organizations and staff in UN agencies and nongovernmental international groups.”

Based on interviews with informed sources, Human Rights Watch found that, starting on the morning of Friday, May 31, Houthi forces began arresting employees of several nongovernmental organizations, raiding their homes and offices, though a few arrests were before that date. According to one source, more than 60 people had been arrested as of June 12.

In one case, the Houthis also detained the husband and two children – a 3-year-old and a 9-month-old – of a woman who works with a civil society organization, a source said.

In all but one case, Houthi forces did not tell relatives where they were taking the person arrested, and none have had contact with their family members since they were arrested, as far as Human Rights Watch could determine. With the exception of one case, the authorities did not tell relatives where their loved ones have been detained when asked. Such conditions amount to enforced disappearance.

On June 18, Volker Türk said that the six staff members from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) who had been detained “have not had contact with their families, nor has the UN been able to access them.” In separate statements, he added that two other staff, who have been “held incommunicado, without any due process,” and two staff from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), had “already been arbitrarily detained for a lengthy period.”

“I can’t even describe the fear and concern that all of these people had for their safety and well-being,” one source said. “[The head of one organization] couldn’t eat for an entire week.” 

While the conditions of those disappeared remains unknown, many sources said that the Houthis had not allowed family members to send needed medicines for the detainees, including for serious medical conditions. Human Rights Watch has documented the Houthis’ use of torture in detention since 2015.

Since the initial raids and arrests on May 31 and June 6, the Houthis have continued arresting people, prompting many people in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen to flee their territory. 

One person who left Sanaa said, “Although I managed to flee.… I couldn’t sleep … I’ve had panic attacks every day since I fled from Sanaa … I’m very worr[ied] about my friends and colleagues in Sanaa who are just waiting for Houthis to arrest them.” 

Source: HRW