Yemen’s Houthis seized UN rights office in Sanaa: UN official

Cairo: Yemen’s Houthi rebels 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 crackdown comes as the Iranian-backed rebels have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The rebels 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.

“Ansar Allah forces must leave the premises and return all assets and

belongings immediately,” Turk said, using the official name of the Houthis.

A spokesman for the Houthis didn’t return phone calls and messages requesting comment. 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.