UN seeks independent inquiry into staff member's death in Houthi custody
UN human rights chief Volker Turk has demanded an urgent investigation into the death of Mohammad El Shami, whose family learned only recently that he had died more than a month earlier in Houthi detention. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the killing of the Yemeni UN employee.
Omar Al Nuaimi
Family given no explanation
El Shami worked for the UN Human Rights Office and had been held arbitrarily by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis since June 6, 2024. His family has received no explanation of how or why he died, Turk said in a statement late Saturday.
Calling the death "utterly devastating", Turk urged the Houthis to disclose all relevant medical and detention records. He called for an urgent, thorough and independent investigation, with evidence preserved and any stated cause of death subjected to independent scrutiny. "There must be accountability for wrongdoing," he said.
The UN has not specified a cause of death. DPA reported that a Yemeni government minister had alleged El Shami was tortured to death in a Houthi prison, citing Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya. That allegation has not been independently verified.
Guterres described himself as "appalled and deeply saddened" and said El Shami was the second UN employee to die in Houthi detention. The earlier victim was World Food Programme employee Ahmed Ba'alawi, according to Human Rights Watch and The New Humanitarian. Ba'alawi died on February 11, 2025, after the Houthis detained him during a January 2025 roundup of at least eight UN staff.
Dozens of UN personnel remain detained
UN News reported that El Shami was one of 13 UN employees seized during Houthi raids in June 2024. According to Al Jazeera, the Houthis accused him and more than 60 other UN and nongovernmental organization workers detained that month of belonging to an "American-Israeli spy network". Human Rights Watch said the Houthi Security and Intelligence Service announced the "discovery" of what it called a "spying network" on June 10, 2024.
By January 4, 2026, Human Rights Watch had documented the arbitrary detention of at least 69 UN staff, all Yemeni nationals. UN News reported that the UN put the number of its personnel in Houthi detention at 71 as of mid-October 2026.
Seven of those still detained work for the UN Human Rights Office, Turk said. Other UN personnel and humanitarian and civil society workers also remain in custody, with families unable to contact them.
In a statement on X on Sunday, Guterres voiced grave concern for detained UN personnel, former staff and workers from humanitarian and civil society organizations. He again demanded their "immediate and unconditional release".
Turk said that until the detainees are freed, the Houthis must protect them, treat them humanely, provide needed medical care, permit family contact and give the UN access. "No family should have to endure what our colleagues' loved ones are now facing," he said.
There has been at least one recent release: Al Jazeera reported that on October 6, 2026, the UN announced the release of a World Food Programme employee who had been arbitrarily detained by the Houthis.
Detentions disrupt aid operations
Turk warned that holding UN workers was undermining the organization's ability to operate and maintain a presence in Houthi-controlled territory, limiting its capacity to support Yemenis during a severe humanitarian and human rights crisis.
The UN paused operations in parts of Houthi-held Yemen in February 2025 because of concerns about staff safety, according to Al Jazeera. Human Rights Watch also reported that the UN had suspended activities in Saada governorate and that Houthi forces had raided the UN Common Accommodation Facility in Sanaa.
Detainees' health has been a further concern. In an October 9, 2026, Security Council briefing, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said many had serious health problems, adding urgency to calls for their release, according to UN News.
Renewed fighting in Yemen
Grundberg also told the Security Council that Yemen had "slid back into full-scale war".
Fighting intensified sharply in July after the Houthis seized Yemen's western coast. Yemen's internationally recognized government and the Saudi-led coalition then launched airstrikes and a counterattack.
