AL-MUKALLA: Relatives of Yemeni staff from the UN and other world organizations abducted by the Iran-backed Houthis have urged the international community to secure their release after a UN worker died in the militia’s custody.

The UN high commissioner for human rights said on Saturday that Mohammad Al-Shami, a staff member of the UN Human Rights Office in Yemen, had died while being held by the Houthis, and called for an immediate investigation into the circumstances of his death.

The Houthis abducted Al-Shami and dozens of Yemeni employees of UN agencies and other international humanitarian organizations in June 2024. He is the fourth aid or humanitarian worker reported to have died in Houthi custody over the past two years.

His death has intensified fears among relatives of other detainees, who urged the UN, humanitarian organizations and the wider international community to increase pressure on the Houthis to release those still held.

Khaled Al-Yemeni, whose father Ahmed Al-Yemeni is among the abducted aid workers, told Arab News by telephone from Paris that Al-Shami’s death had left the family “in genuine fear” for his father’s safety.

Ahmed was abducted on the same day as Al-Shami, but the Houthis have allowed the family to visit him only once. They have since refused to disclose his whereabouts or provide information about his health.

“My father has been held for more than two years. We have only been allowed to visit him once, and we have no reliable information about the conditions of his detention or his state of health,” he said.

“After hearing about Mohammad’s death, we fear that the other detainees could face the same fate if urgent action is not taken to secure their release.”

Like many relatives of abductees, Khaled referred to the Houthis by their official name, Ansar Allah, apparently to avoid antagonizing the militia.

He called on the group’s leadership to disclose the whereabouts of those being forcibly disappeared, allow them to communicate with their families and launch an investigation into Al-Shami’s death.

“My appeal to the Ansar Allah leadership (is) act now before another family receives tragic news.

“Disclose the fate of all detainees, ensure their safety, allow their families to communicate with them, and launch an independent investigation into the death of Mohammed Al-Shami. We do not want to bury our loved ones; we want them to return home alive and safe,” he said.

Safiah Mohammed, the wife of Dr. Ali Al-Mudhwahi, a UNICEF public health consultant who remains in Houthi detention, offered condolences to Al-Shami’s family and renewed her appeal for the immediate release of her husband and the other abductees.

“The news of his death in detention is devastating, and it heightens our anxiety and fear for our loved ones, about whose condition or safety we know nothing,” she wrote on Facebook.

Since her husband was abducted in the same crackdown on Yemeni employees of international organizations more than two years ago, Safiah has used social media to highlight her family’s suffering and growing concerns about his health and well-being.

Al-Shami’s death sparked outrage among local and international human rights activists, Yemeni government officials and UN representatives, who condemned the Houthis’ treatment of detainees and called for the release of those still held and an independent investigation into his death.

Mohammed Al-Omada, head of the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms, said Houthi detention facilities had become “factories of terror” where detainees are subjected to physical and psychological abuse.

He added that families were also suffering psychological trauma because the Houthis denied them visits and withheld information about detainees’ whereabouts and health.

“Al-Shami’s life came to an end before his ordeal in captivity could conclude, leaving his family to continue their search for truth and justice. Any delay in protecting those who remain abducted only prolongs their suffering and increases the danger to their lives,” Al-Omada told Arab News.

Amat Al-Salam Al-Hajj, chairperson of the Abductees’ Mothers Association, which represents female relatives of civilian detainees, echoed those concerns and warned that more abductees could die in custody without urgent action.

“We appeal to everyone to stand with us and help secure the urgent release of our sons who are being held in detention before we lose them one by one. We call upon all to support us in this humanitarian cause,” she told Arab News.

Since 2023, the Houthis have carried out a sweeping crackdown on Yemenis working for UN agencies, international humanitarian and human rights organizations, former employees of the US Embassy in Sanaa, and academics.

Dozens have been abducted from their homes and workplaces or while traveling. Some have been forcibly disappeared, while others have been put on trial on espionage charges linked to the US and Israel.

Nadwa Al-Dawsari, an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, said the UN should have relocated its local staff from Houthi-controlled areas to safer locations when the authorities began targeting and harassing aid workers.

“His (Al-Shami’s) death fills me with deep grief for the price Yemeni local staff keep paying, but more than anything, I am furious.

“The UN put its local staff at risk by insisting Houthi areas were safe, and when the Houthis torture them to death in custody, all it offers are hollow, box-ticking statements. There must be accountability,” she told Arab News.

The UN has repeatedly rejected Houthi allegations that its employees engaged in espionage and has defended its presence in Houthi-controlled areas as essential to delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance to millions of Yemenis.