Kidnapping of UN Staff
Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC):
The Houthi militia commits serious violations against UN and international organization staff in Yemen
Taiz /
The Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC) condemns in the strongest terms the Houthi militia’s continued perpetration of a series of serious violations against UN and humanitarian workers in areas under its control, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and all international conventions and agreements.
Based on UN sources and international reports, the center documented an unprecedented escalation in kidnappings and arbitrary detentions from 2021 to October 2025. The militia abducted more than 100 UN, international, and local employees, including women. Dozens of them remain detained or forcibly disappeared, while a number of detainees have died under torture or in mysterious circumstances in Houthi prisons.
The Houthi militia continues to abduct employees of international organizations, the most recent of which occurred yesterday evening, when the Houthi militia abducted seven more employees.
The violations included storming the headquarters of the United Nations and international organizations such as the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the FAO, and humanitarian relief offices; confiscating their property and equipment; imposing restrictions on the movement of their staff; and transforming aid into a tool for political pressure and blackmail.
The Center emphasized that these practices have led to a near-total paralysis of relief activities, depriving hundreds of thousands of Yemeni families of essential aid. They have also created a hostile environment that is among the most dangerous for humanitarian workers in the world.
The Human Rights Information and Training Center holds the Houthi militia fully responsible for the lives and safety of all abductees and detainees. It calls on the United Nations and the international community to take urgent and decisive action to ensure their immediate release, to launch an independent international investigation into the crimes of detention, torture, and death inside Houthi prisons, and to impose specific sanctions on the officials involved in these violations.
The Center also reiterates its call for the United Nations to review its field operations in Houthi-controlled areas, activate legal and humanitarian protection tools for its staff, and not resume its activities there without genuine guarantees for the safety of humanitarian workers and respect for the principles of humanitarian action.
Issued by:
Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC)
Date: October 25, 2025
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