Rights Group Launches Campaign for Release of Detained Aid Workers

A new advocacy campaign, "Outside Justice," has been launched by the PASS Foundation for Sustainable Communities to demand the release of local and international organization staff detained by Houthi militias. The campaign coincides with the second anniversary of their detention in areas controlled by the group.

The foundation stated that the detainees are being denied basic legal guarantees and constitutional rights afforded by Yemeni law and international conventions. It highlighted that their continued detention without fair and transparent legal proceedings, and the prevention of contact with their families and lawyers, constitutes a grave violation of the Yemeni constitution, national legislation, and international standards for the protection of rights and freedoms.

The statement further detailed the severe humanitarian, psychological, and economic suffering endured by the detainees and their families over the past two years. This suffering stems from arbitrary detention, mistreatment, and the enforced disappearance of some individuals, compounded by media campaigns aimed at defaming them and their families through accusations unsubstantiated by fair and public judicial processes.

The foundation emphasized its rejection of what it described as the "political and media exploitation" of the detainees' situation or their use as bargaining chips in conflict contexts, asserting that such actions contravene the principles of humanitarian and civil work neutrality and violate the dignity of those engaged in it.

The foundation particularly stressed that the continued detention of women working in humanitarian and civil fields represents a compounded violation of national laws and international conventions, in addition to contradicting Yemeni social norms and values.

The PASS Foundation called for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained organization staff, disclosure of the fate of those forcibly disappeared, cessation of any arbitrary trials or proceedings against them, enabling them to communicate with their families and lawyers, and an end to defamation and incitement campaigns targeting them.

The foundation reiterated its appeal to community forces, tribal and social leaders, human rights advocates, media professionals, and civil society organizations to show solidarity with the cause, work towards protecting humanitarian and civil work from targeting and politicization, and safeguard the dignity of all those involved.