Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised alarm on Wednesday over the arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances conducted by Houthi officials in Yemen since May 31, 2024. The report highlighted that Houthi security forces have forcibly disappeared dozens of Yemenis, including at least 13 UN staff.

Since early June, Houthi authorities have conducted nighttime raids on the homes and offices of employees from several international and local organizations. Their residences would be surrounded and their electronic devices confiscated without any charges being disclosed.

HRW’s investigation, based on interviews with 20 sources and four Yemeni analysts, reveals a consistent pattern of arrests without warrants combined with the refusal to disclose detainees’ whereabouts to their families. These conditions meet the criteria for enforced disappearances, according to the organization, which is a serious violation under international humanitarian law.

The Houthis’ actions are being seen as an attempt to distract from their governance failures, particularly amid mounting economic pressures and a humanitarian aid pause by the World Food Programme (WFP) due to concerns over aid manipulation.

In response to international criticism, Mohammad Ali al-Houthi, a member of the group’s Supreme Political Council, issued a statement on June 17 defending the detentions. This statement, published by the Houthi-run Saba news agency, claimed that the UN staff were involved in espionage under the guise of humanitarian work.

The Houthis had released videos on June 10 showing detainees confessing to espionage for the United States and Israel. HRW suspects these confessions were coerced, undermining the detainees’ right to a fair trial. Houthi authorities have had a history of employing torture tactics in order to obtain confessions according to the HRW.

The international community, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, has called for the immediate release of all detained UN and NGO staff. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric had also at length expressed concerns about the detention of UN employees earlier this month.

Nations such as the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have also condemned the detentions.

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