SANAA (The Thursday Times) — The United Nations has demanded an independent investigation into the death of Mohammad el-Shami, a UN Human Rights Office employee who died in Houthi detention in Yemen after being held since June 2024.
El-Shami died more than a month ago, but his family was told only recently. UN human rights chief Volker Turk said they had received no explanation of the cause or circumstances, and called for all medical and detention records to be disclosed, evidence preserved and any stated cause of death independently examined.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “appalled” and repeated his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all UN staff and aid and civil society workers held by the Houthis.
The Houthis accused more than 60 UN and NGO workers detained in 2024 of belonging to an “American-Israeli spy network”. As of February this year, 73 UN staff and dozens of other humanitarian workers were being held, according to Amnesty International. El-Shami is the second UN employee to die in Houthi custody, after a World Food Programme worker in February 2025.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government held the Houthis fully responsible. Its human rights minister, Meshdal Mohammed, said the case called for a serious review of how the detainee file is handled.
