The key facts

  • ICRC: the Houthis released 159 recently detained people with the committee's support
  • Houthis: release under an amnesty by Mahdi al-Mashat; the detainees 'voluntarily surrendered without a fight'
  • ICRC: the action is not part of the 2018 Stockholm Agreement

Unilateral release with ICRC support

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Saturday that the Sanaa authorities, with its assistance, released 159 people recently detained by the Houthis. Committee delegates interviewed the detainees before their release, notified their families and arranged assistance for their return home. Medical teams assessed their health and fitness to travel by road, and those in need were provided with additional support along the way.

Positions of the parties

The release was initiated by the Houthi-affiliated National Committee for Prisoners' Affairs. The ICRC stressed that it did not take part in determining who and how many people would be released. The Houthis said on Friday that those released were detainees who had 'voluntarily surrendered without a fight during recent events'. According to them, the release was carried out under an amnesty issued by the head of the Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat, and local authorities are coordinating the return of the people to their families and home areas.

Context

The ICRC noted that the action does not fall under the Stockholm Agreement, reached in December 2018 in Sweden under UN auspices between the internationally recognized government of Yemen and the Houthis. The release took place against the backdrop of renewed fighting between the Houthis and forces loyal to the internationally recognized government, which are supported by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition. The Houthis have controlled Sanaa and large parts of northern and western Yemen since 2014; the coalition intervened in the conflict in 2015 on the side of the recognized government.