The United Nations (UN) has strongly condemned the Houthi takeover of their Human Rights Office in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa. Earlier this month, the Houthi group stormed the office, seizing documents, furniture, and vehicles, according to a senior UN official on Tuesday.
This act is part of the Houthis’ increasing aggression towards the UN, humanitarian organizations, and foreign embassies, which appears to be a response to Israel’s conflict in Gaza. The group has also intensified its attacks on vessels in the Red Sea.
The takeover of the office occurred on August 3, when local UN staff were forced to surrender their belongings and documents. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, demanded that “the Ansar Allah forces immediately vacate the premises and return all assets and belongings.”
As a result, the UN Human Rights Office has suspended operations in areas under Houthi control, including Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. This follows a previous crackdown on foreign organizations in June, during which the Houthis detained over 60 individuals working with the UN and other NGOs, claiming to have arrested members of an “American-Israeli spy network.”
The group released videos of ten Yemenis, including an employee from the UN Human Rights Office, who allegedly confessed to being recruited by the American embassy. However, the UN has insisted that this confession was coerced. “All such allegations are baseless,” said Turk. “My office has never engaged in anything other than activities in support of the Yemeni people, in accordance with my mandate.”
The ongoing wars in Yemen have resulted in over 150,000 deaths and have created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, claiming tens of thousands more lives.