A statement issued by the Yemeni Coalition for Human Rights: "PASS Foundation is a member of the coalition."
One Year On, UN and NGO Staff Remain Detained by Houthis
It has been one year since Ansar Allah (known as the Houthis) arbitrarily detained 13 UN staff and 50 employees of international and Yemeni civil society organizations, including four women, in a wave of arrests that began on 31 May 2024. On 23 and 25 January 2025, another eight UN staff members were arrested, prompting the UN to suspend all official movements in Houthi-controlled areas. Despite the efforts of international, regional, and tribal mediators, which led to the release of some detainees, including at least two women, throughout the year, several individuals remain arbitrarily held in Houthi prisons, without due process, fair trial or clarity about their conditions of detention.
The death of a World Food Program (WFP) employee in Houthi prisons on 11 February 2025, has heightened concerns over the safety of the remaining detainees. Despite repeated calls from the UN Secretary-General and human rights organizations, the Houthis have refused to release UN and civil society detainees or allow a transparent, independent investigation into the death of the WFP employee.
These violations persist largely due to the lack of effective international pressure, enabling the Houthis to continue suppressing freedoms, targeting civilians, and persecuting aid and humanitarian workers. Such actions clearly violate international humanitarian law, which requires all parties to an armed conflict to respect and protect humanitarian workers from harassment, ill-treatment, and unlawful arrest and detention.
These arrests have had a devastating impact on the families of the detainees, who have endured the loss of their main breadwinner for an entire year, in addition to the psychological and social damage caused by media smear campaigns against the detainees, who have been accused of spying and conspiring against the country’s interests.
As a result of the arbitrary arrest of staff from UN agencies and international and local organizations, many international organizations working in the humanitarian and community sectors have suspended their activities and operations in Houthi-controlled areas, depriving millions of Yemenis living in extremely harsh conditions of urgent humanitarian services and assistance. This has further exacerbated the dire humanitarian situation in Houthi-controlled areas, where more than 18 million people, including 14 million women and children, are in need of humanitarian support.
The Yemeni Coalition for Human Rights and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies reiterate their demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees and an end to the targeting of humanitarian, human rights, and development workers in Yemen. We also call on the UN and governments with influence over the Houthis to intensify pressure and redouble efforts to secure the release of all UN agency and civil society organizations staff detained by the Houthis and to ensure the protection of humanitarian and other civil society workers in Yemen.