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[Text/Observer Network Chen Sijia] According to Al Jazeera on August 13, the Yemeni Houthi armed forces recently raided the office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. After conducting a comprehensive search and confiscating assets, they expelled employees and closed the office. The United Nations condemned the Houthi armed forces' actions and urged them to withdraw from the office immediately.

The report quoted UN officials as saying that the Houthi armed forces sealed off the office of the UN Human Rights Office in Sanaa on August 3. The Houthi armed personnel raided the office and confiscated a number of assets including documents, vehicles, funds and computer hard drives containing important information.

In response, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement that UN staff were forced to hand over property and documents, and that "the Houthis must immediately leave the office and return all assets and property."

Al Jazeera said that in the past few months, the Houthis have taken a series of actions against UN agencies in Sanaa. In June this year, the Houthis arrested more than 60 people working for the United Nations and other non-governmental organizations, accusing them of being members of the "US and Israeli spy network."

Afterwards, the Houthi armed forces also released a "confession video" in which 10 Yemenis, including a staff member of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, admitted that they were "recruited by the US Embassy."

But the United Nations strongly denied the accusation. Turk said: "All these claims are baseless. My office will only engage in activities that serve the Yemeni people at all times and will not engage in other activities."

Al Jazeera pointed out that after being "suppressed" by the Houthi armed forces, the UN Human Rights Office has suspended its activities in areas controlled by the Houthi armed forces, including the Yemeni capital Sana'a and most of northern Yemen. However, the organization is still operating in some areas controlled by the Yemeni government.

Hans Grundberg, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen, called on the Houthis in July to unconditionally release UN staff and aid workers detained in Sanaa. He reiterated the UN's demands on all parties not to arbitrarily detain civilians and to respect the rights of Yemenis under international law.

In 2014, the Houthi armed forces seized Sanaa and the Yemeni government was forced to move to the southern city of Aden. Currently, the Houthi armed forces control most of the northern territory of Yemen and the main port city of Hodeidah on the Red Sea. Al Jazeera said that the civil war that has continued to this day has caused more than 150,000 deaths in Yemen, making the country face one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

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