Yemen Monitor/News Room
The Yemeni government on Monday said it had officially rejected an invitation from the United Nations and its envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to participate in negotiations regarding the prisoners and detainees at the end of this month in the Omani capital, Muscat.
Minister of Legal Affairs and Human Rights Ahmed Arman said in a statement to the Chinese news agency Xinhua that the government’s rejection came due to the ongoing campaign of arrests and kidnappings of innocent citizens, including employees of organizations and humanitarian and relief work.
He confirmed that the number of detainees has so far exceeded 70 people, including employees of UN agencies and international and local organizations, including five women.
Arman called on all international organizations in Sana’a to leave quickly to ensure the safety of their employees and protect relief and humanitarian activities, stressing that “Sana’a is not safe and there are no guarantees to protect them.”
He called on the United Nations and all its organizations working in Yemen to immediately proceed to close their headquarters in Sana’a, even temporarily, until all employees detained by the Houthis are released.
He pointed out that the Yemeni government has officially rejected an invitation from the United Nations and its envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to participate in negotiations at the end of this month in the Omani capital, Muscat, on the file of prisoners and detainees, and the economic file.
The Yemeni minister considered that the priority should be to stop the campaign of arrests, protect relief workers, and speed up the release of detainees.
Yemeni government and local sources reported on Friday that the Houthi group had carried out a wide-ranging arrest campaign that included about 20 employees of international and Yemeni organizations in the capital, Sana’a.
The Houthi group carried out a wide-ranging arrest campaign in the first week of June targeting workers in UN, international and local Yemeni organizations in Sana’a, according to Yemeni government sources.
Arman said on June 7 that the Houthi group in Sana’a had arrested 50 employees of international and Yemeni organizations in the capital, Sana’a.
On June 10, the Houthi group announced the arrest of a “US-Israeli spy network” linked to the US Central Intelligence Agency.
