The UN rejects the Houthis' "outrageous" accusations.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has called on the Houthis in Yemen to "immediately and unconditionally" release UN staff and other aid workers, rejecting accusations that they are part of a spy network.

On Monday, the Houthis announced that the people they arrested last week were part of a Spy network They added that the protesters worked "under the cover of international and UN organizations."

Türk responded on Tuesday in a statement: "I categorically reject the outrageous allegations against our employees and am deeply concerned about the conditions of their detention."

and announced United Nations Last week, the Iran-backed Houthis arrested more than 10 aid workers, many of them UN employees, in what appeared to be a coordinated move.

He did not specify Houthis Number of people arrested.

But Türk explained that 13 UN employees were detained, including six UNHCR staff members.

"I urge the Houthis, the de facto authority in Sana'ato immediately and unconditionally release them, as well as other individuals detained because of their association with the United Nations, international nongovernmental organizations, or other actors supporting humanitarian activities."

"It is crucial that the de facto authorities ensure that these detainees are treated with full respect for their human rights and dignity, and that they have access to their families. "The UN must also be allowed access to the detained colleagues as soon as possible.

As for the non-UN detainees, the Yemeni human rights organization Miyun announced that 18 Yemeni employees and workers of relief organizations were kidnapped in four Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Houthis have abducted, arbitrarily detained and tortured hundreds of civilians, including United Nations and nongovernmental organization workers, since the conflict began in 2014.

Tusk said: "These latest arrests are in addition to two other employees of my office, one detained since August 2023 and the other since November 2021. Both are being held incommunicado without access to their place of detention or due process," Tusk said.

"There are also two employees of the UNESCO "They have been detained since before the recent arrests.

Sky News