Guterres condemns Houthis’ referral of some detained UN staff to tribunal

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned on Tuesday a referral by Yemen’s Houthis of some of the dozens of UN staff they have detained to a special criminal court.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the terror group, which is backed by Iran, has arbitrarily detained 59 Yemeni UN personnel.

“The UN personnel have been held incommunicado, some for years, without any due process, in violation of international law,” Dujarric’s statement said. “United Nations personnel, including those who are nationals of Yemen, are immune from legal process in respect of all acts performed by them in their official capacity.”

The Houthis have controlled most of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, since seizing power in 2014 and early 2015.

Though some of the UN staffers the group has detained have been released, most aid workers have been held for months without official charges or trials.

The terror group says they are spies for the West and Israel, claims their families deny.

The raids, which started at the end of May 2024, saw dozens of aid workers arrested, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. For months, their families were not informed of their whereabouts and they had no contact with them, amounting to enforced disappearances, the report said.

“We call on the de facto authorities to rescind the referral and work in good faith toward the immediate release of all detained personnel,” Dujarric said. “The United Nations remains committed to supporting the people of Yemen and delivering principled humanitarian assistance.”

In a separate statement Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that one of his colleagues had been presented before the special Houthi tribunal on the grounds of “fabricated charges of espionage connected to his work.”

“This is totally unacceptable and a grave violation of human rights,” Turk said, calling for the immediate release of all UN employees and those of other organizations.

The Houthis have used their judicial system as a tool of repression against NGOs, journalists and opponents. Last month, a Houthi court sentenced 17 people to death by firing squad on charges of spying for Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia, according to a report by an official rebel media outlet at the time that did not identify the condemned.

Fears for the detainees’ well-being rose amid the recent conflict between the Houthis and Israel, as well as following American strikes on the group.

The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — began attacks on both Israel and international shipping routes in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas massacre that sparked the war in Gaza.

Seeking to restore freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, then-US president Joe Biden corralled an international coalition that started striking the Houthis in January 2024. US President Donald Trump escalated the US bombing campaign in March this year before announcing a ceasefire in May.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have launched over 130 ballistic missiles — some of which fell short — and dozens of drones at Israel since November 2023. A July 2024 drone attack killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv, prompting Israel’s first strike in Yemen.

Israel has attacked the Houthis in Yemen — some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) away — 19 times, including an August 28 strike that killed much of the rebels’ leadership.

Since a ceasefire in the Gaza war began on October 10, no attacks have been claimed by the rebel group. The last Houthi missile attack on Israel was apparently on October 5, and the last drone attack on October 7.

Last week, the Houthis released mariners held since a July attack on the ship Eternity C in the Red Sea, an assault that killed at least four on board and sank the vessel. Those released included a contingent of Filipino mariners.