New York: Yemen’s Houthis have returned the United Nations Human Rights Office in Sanaa, which they had held earlier, a UN spokesperson said Monday.
Earlier, on August 3, the Iran-backed group had sent a delegation to the UN Human Rights Office’s building and forced staff members to hand over the keys. Stephane Dujarric, UN spokesman for the secretary-general said that the office was handed back today to their resident coordinator in Yemen.
Dujarric said cited the coordinator as saying that the office seems to be in its original state, but an inventory is presently underway. UN rights chief Volker Turk called it a serious assault on the ability of the United Nations to perform its mandate.
The UN also called again for the release of thirteen of its staff and dozens of NGO and embassy employees who have been held by the Houthis for more than 60-day. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned regarding the well-being of the captives, Dujarric stated, adding that he called for their immediate as well as unconditional release.
Dujarric said that the UN and its partners should never be attacked, arrested or detained while conducting their mandates. The Houthis said they arrested an American-Israeli spy network operating under the cover of humanitarian organizations — claims rejected by the UN Human Rights Office.
