US Embassy Accuses Houthis of “Intimidation” to Distract from Governance Failure
Yemen Monitor / Riyadh / Exclusive:
The US Embassy to Yemen described the trials conducted by the Houthi group for Yemeni employees working for diplomatic missions and UN agencies as “sham trials.”
In a brief statement seen by “Yemen Monitor,” the Embassy considered the group’s recourse to a policy of intimidation as reflecting “weakness and inability” to govern the areas under their control in a legitimate manner, renewing its demand for the immediate and unconditional release of all detainees.
The statement said the Houthis “continue to use intimidation to distract attention from their inability to govern legitimately,” referring to the internal crises plaguing the areas under the group’s control.
The Embassy stressed that the “sham trials of innocent employees working for the U.S. Embassy, the United Nations, and NGOs are evidence of the Houthis’ weakness, not their strength.”
Washington called on the leadership of the armed group to immediately release these unjustly detained Yemeni citizens, stressing the necessity of ending their suffering so they can “return to their families after years of unlawful detention.”
This comes as the Houthi group continues to detain dozens of employees of the United Nations and international organizations, in addition to former employees of the US Embassy in Sana’a, held for varying periods, the most recent being a wide-scale arrest campaign launched last June.
The group has charged the detainees with “espionage” on behalf of the United States and Israel—charges that have been met with widespread rejection and condemnation by the United Nations, the UN Security Council, and human rights organizations, who considered the confessions to be “extracted under coercion” and lacking the minimum conditions of justice.
