In Yemen, Houthi security forces have arrested and forcibly disappeared dozens of people, including at least 13 United Nations staff and many employees of nongovernmental organizations operating in Houthi-controlled territories.
Many of these people, who are all Yemeni, have spent their careers working to improve their country. And yet their arbitrary arrests appear to be based on present or past employment.
The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, are an armed group controlling much of Yemen. They recently made headlines for attacking ships on the Red Sea.
Houthis arrested and disappeared the UN staff and others while hunger and thirst remained rampant across Yemen, including in areas they control. The arrests also happened during a recent, major cholera outbreak that the Houthis hid for several months, based on ongoing Human Rights Watch research.
Houthi forces did not present search or arrest warrants at the time of arrests, and authorities have refused to tell families where those arrested are being held, meaning that these acts amount to enforced disappearances. They have held detainees incommunicado, without access to lawyers or their families.
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