The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Tuesday strongly condemned the storming of his Office’s representation in Sana’a by the Ansar Allah de facto authorities and renewed his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all UN staff detained in Yemen.
“Entering a UN office without permission and seizing documents and property by force are wholly inconsistent with the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. This is also a serious attack on the ability of the UN to perform its mandate, including with respect to the promotion and protection of human rights, which our Office is there to defend,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told the biweekly UN press briefing in Geneva.
On 3 August 2024, Ansar Allah de facto authorities sent a “delegation” to the premises of the UN Human Rights Office in Sana’a that forced national staff to hand over belongings, including documents, furniture and vehicles, in addition to the office’s keys. Shamdasani said that they were still in control of the premises.
On 6 and 7 June, the de facto authorities detained 13 UN staff, including six employees of the UN Human Rights Office, in addition to over 50 NGO workers and an embassy staff member. Two other UN Human Rights staff had already been detained since November 2021 and August 2023 respectively, in addition to two other UN staff detained previously. They are all being held incommunicado.
Shamdasani said that multiple calls for the release of the detained staff – from the High Commissioner and other high-level officials – have not been heeded.
“We regret that all our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. We appeal again, with a heavy heart, for their immediate and unconditional release,” Shamdasani said.
“We are doing all we can to make sure they are united with their loved ones as soon as possible. Until then, the de facto authorities must ensure they are treated with full respect for their human rights, and that they are able to contact their families and legal representatives,” Shamdasani told reporters.
“It is crucial that the de facto authorities respect the United Nations and its independence, release all detained UN staff immediately, and create conditions in which our Office and other UN agencies can continue their critical work for people of Yemen without threats or hinderance.”
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact:
In Geneva:
Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org
Thameen Al-Kheetan - + 41 76 223 77 62 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org
Tag and share - Twitter: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani on storming of UN Human Rights office in Sana’a, renewed calls for release of detained UN staff
TRT: 1’35
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 13 August 2024 – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shot: Palais des Nations
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Entering a UN office without permission and seizing documents and property by force are wholly inconsistent with the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. This is also a serious attack on the ability of the UN to perform its mandate, including with respect to the promotion and protection of human rights, which our Office is there to defend.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We appeal again, with a heavy heart, for their immediate and unconditional release.
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): We are doing all we can to make sure they are united with their loved ones as soon as possible. Until then, the de facto authorities must ensure that they are treated with full respect for their human rights, and that they are able to contact their families and legal representatives.”
- Cutaway: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “It is crucial that the de facto authorities respect the United Nations and its independence, release all detained UN staff immediately, and create conditions in which our Office and other UN agencies can continue their critical work for people of Yemen without threats or hinderance.”
- Cutaways: Briefing room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line have continued to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
2
1
3
Edited News | UNOG
“State of Silence”: Diego Luna brings the fight to protect the press to the UN in Geneva
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna has brought his fight to protect journalists all the way to the United Nations, in Geneva. Together with documentary director Santiago Masa, he is putting a spotlight on the silencing of investigative journalism in his country, and on the incredibly high price that many journalist have to pay in pursuit of truth.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Today marks the grim milestone of 1,000 days since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. Our Office has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance told the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
With COP29 in Baku now in its second - and final - week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has reiterated his call for urgent human rights-based climate action.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNICEF , WHO
Lebanon: Increased violence along Blue Line and ‘horrific new normal’ for children
In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers have witnessed “shocking” destruction of villages along the Blue Line and ever-deeper Israeli ground incursions, while the situation of children across the country is becoming increasingly desperate, the UN said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy infrastructure is on the brink and drones terrify communities on the front line, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence & Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Sudan’s displaced have endured “unimaginable suffering” in their search for shelter from the country’s ongoing war, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘Exceptional achievement’: Humanitarians reach over 105,000 with polio vaccine in north Gaza
Despite ongoing attacks and access challenges, humanitarians have managed to inoculate over 105,000 children in north Gaza with the second and final dose of the oral polio vaccine, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.