Government: UN and humanitarian workers kidnapped by Houthis are being tortured in secret prisons

The Ministry of Human Rights in the Yemeni government revealed that 70 employees of UN, international and local non-governmental agencies have been subjected to various forms of torture in secret prisons affiliated with the terrorist Houthi militia for four months.

This came in a statement by the ministry, published by the Yemeni News Agency (Saba), on the occasion of the 120th day since the Houthi militia kidnapped humanitarian workers.

In its statement, the ministry renewed its strong condemnation of the continued kidnapping and disappearance of more than 70 employees and activists, including 5 women, since the beginning of June 2024 in the prisons and detention centers of the terrorist Houthi militia.

The statement said that the abductees, including 19 employees of UN agencies and international organizations, are still forcibly disappeared and their families have not been able to know their places of detention or their health conditions in the cellars of the terrorist Houthi militias, in a flagrant violation of their right to life, freedom and personal security.

The statement pointed out that this crime and the suffering of the families of the kidnapped victims after 120 days, confirm the black record of the terrorist Houthi militias in dealing with civil society and humanitarian work, including employees of the United Nations and international organizations, without paying attention to all international appeals to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The statement explained that the follow-ups carried out by the ministry "confirm that detainees and abductees in secret prisons are subjected to various forms of torture and cruel, degrading and inhumane treatment to force them to make statements and confessions that incriminate them."

In this context, the statement referred to the media campaign that accompanied the kidnapping campaign by promoting misleading information through its media platforms accusing them of being spies and agents for America, Israel and other external parties, which distorts the image of humanitarian work and degrades their humanitarian roles in front of their families by targeting beliefs and social values.

The statement stressed that "these illegal practices represent a flagrant violation of international human rights law and the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, which protect the rights of civilians in armed conflicts. They also represent a flagrant violation of the Universal Declaration and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and constitute a serious and grave violation and are considered crimes against humanity, including the crime of obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid. These practices require that their perpetrators be held accountable before international courts."

The statement considered the Houthi militias' disregard for the appeals of the United Nations and the UN Security Council and their boasting about these violations as confirmation of what the ministry had been saying about the militias' indifference to the international community and the UN Special Envoy to Yemen.