The United Nations announced that the Houthis detained ten of its Yemeni employees on Thursday, in the latest campaign against its staff targeted by the Houthis for years.
The Houthis have harassed dozens of United Nations staff and relief workers, detaining them over the years, accusing them of spying for the United States and Israel, charges that carry the death penalty in Yemen and have been strongly denied by the United Nations.
The Houthis intensified their arrest campaigns since the start of the Gaza war over two years ago, following the death of nearly half their government members, including the Prime Minister in Israeli strikes in August.
Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said, "We can confirm today the arbitrary detention of ten United Nations staff by the Houthi de facto authorities in Sanaa, bringing the total number of detained United Nations staff to 69."
The United Nations confirmed that all the detained staff are Yemeni.
The recent arrests came days after Guterres discussed the detention of staff in the United Nations, diplomatic missions, and non-governmental organizations with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman, who has been mediating in the Yemen conflict.
Last week, Guterres said some of the detainees had been taken to a special Houthi court and urged the Houthis to reconsider their decision and release them.
The Houthis have used their judicial system to target non-governmental organizations, journalists, and opponents.
Media outlets affiliated with the Houthis reported last month that a Houthi court had issued death sentences by firing squad against 17 people on charges of espionage.
In mid-September, the office of the United Nations Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen was moved from Sanaa to Aden, under the control of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.
Ten years of civil war have plunged Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, into one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, according to the United Nations.
