Houthis Take Over U.N. Office, Keep Staff Hostage in Yemen

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) condemned the Houthi terrorist organization of Yemen on Tuesday for raiding its office in the national capital, Sana’a, stealing critical documents, and taking employees hostage.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk demanded the freedom of his employees and uninterrupted access to Yemeni civilians in a statement on Tuesday revealing a previously unreported Houthi raid on U.N. officials on August 3. The Houthis, whose Iran-backed terrorist organization is formally known as “Ansarallah,” have for years brutalized human rights workers within their reach. More recently, in June, the Houthis launched an abduction spree in which they raided the homes of U.N. and non-governmental organization workers and took them hostage, severely disrupting humanitarian efforts.

The OHCHR affirmed that the United Nations had been one of several targets of the June raids, in which the Houthis abducted 13 U.N. staffers, six of them affiliated with the Human Rights Office.

“They are all being held incommunicado.”

On August 3, Houthi leaders reportedly expanded the repression by raiding the OHCHR office in Sana’a and stealing critical information. That office had stopped operating after the raids in June.

“Ansar Allah de facto authorities sent a ‘delegation’ to the premises of the UN Human Rights Office in Sana’a that forced national staff to hand over belongings, including documents, furniture and vehicles, in addition to the office’s keys. They are still in control of the premises,” the U.N. body confirmed on Tuesday.

Turk, the high commissioner, issued an outraged statement demanding the return of the office’s belongings and freedom for its workers.

“Entering a UN office without permission and seizing documents and property by force are wholly inconsistent with the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations,” Turk said. “This is also a serious attack on the ability of the UN to perform its mandate … Ansar Allah forces must leave the premises and return all assets and belongings immediately.”

The Houthis are a Shiite terror organization that heavily relies on funding and other support from Iran, the world’s premier state sponsor of terrorism, to operate. The Houthis seized control of Sana’a from the legitimate government of Yemen in 2014 as part of an attempted takeover of the country, which resulted in a civil war that continues to this day. The legitimate government of Yemen, supported by neighboring Saudi Arabia, currently operates out of the southern port city of Aden.

The Houthis became significantly more important as an Iranian ally after October 7, when another Iranian proxy terrorist organization, Hamas, invaded Israel and engaged in a terror spree featuring door-to-door raids in residential neighborhoods, the killing of an estimated 1,200 people, and widespread evidence of gang rape, torture, infanticide, and other atrocities. Hamas terrorists also abducted dozens of Israelis, over 100 of whom are still believed to be in Hamas custody in its stronghold of Gaza.

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In solidarity with the Hamas terrorists, the Houthis – who falsely claim to be the government of Yemen – declared war on Israel in late October. That war has largely consisted of attacks on random commercial ships attempting to traverse the Red Sea, causing massive disruptions to international shipping. While Houthi leaders claim that they are only targeting ships affiliated with Israel and its allies, the United States and United Kingdom, ships associated with allies such as Iran and China have also suffered Houthi attacks in the past ten months.

The raid of the U.N. Human Rights Office was part of a larger persecution action in June that Houthi leaders claimed was necessary to dismantle an American-Israeli “spy network” in the country, allegedly working under the “cover of international organizations and UN agencies.” The allegation was particularly bizarre in the context of the United Nations, which has for decades harbored overt anti-Israel biases and whose Palestinian agency, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), admitted evidence exists linking its employees directly to the terrorist acts of October 7.

Volker Turk confirmed on Tuesday that his office had attempted to secure the release of its Sana’a employees in conversation with Houthi representatives, but “all our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.”

“I appeal again, with a heavy heart, for their immediate and unconditional release. We are doing all we can to make sure they are united with their loved ones as soon as possible,” Turk said. “Until then, the de facto authorities must ensure they are treated with full respect for their human rights, and that they are able to contact their families and legal representatives.”

Turk added that espionage allegations were “baseless.”

The June raids that affected at least 13 United Nations workers also resulted in the mass abduction of humanitarian workers for groups such as OXFAM and Save the Children and targeted the homes of those employees as well as their offices. While Yemen is one of the world’s most impoverished states as a result of the civil war and has suffered near-famine levels for years, humanitarian aid groups pose a threat to the Houthis, as they have a long record of human rights violations these groups oppose. Among the most egregious systematic human rights violations the Houthis engage is in the use of child soldiers on the battlefield against the Yemeni government.

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