Wire reporting: (Reuters, via Al-Monitor)

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Friday demanded that Yemen's Houthi authorities return the body of a Yemeni staff member of his office who died in their custody, according to Arab News and other accounts of the U.N. statement^2,3,4.

Arab News identified the employee as Mohammed Ibrahim El-Shami of the U.N. Human Rights Office and said U.N. spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva that, two weeks after the U.N. learned of the death, the body had not been given to relatives³. Middle East Eye, using a shorter form of the name, said the family learned of the death on Oct. 30, more than a month after it occurred, and had received no explanation of the cause or circumstances². Accounts agreed he had been held since June 6, 2024^2,3,4.

Turk called on the Houthi de facto authorities to establish the date, cause and circumstances of the death and to hold those responsible to account, Arab News reported, and repeated a demand that all detained U.N. and humanitarian personnel be released immediately and unconditionally³. A U.N. Human Rights post cited by Middle East Eye made the same points and asked for information on the whereabouts and health of remaining detainees².

The Human Rights Office also condemned videos circulating this week that it said appeared to show another detained U.N. employee making confessions, voicing fear of torture or ill-treatment^2,3. Arab News said Shamdasani described the material as coerced and said its release put the staff member at greater risk and distressed his family³.

More than 70 U.N. employees and dozens of humanitarian workers remain in detention in Yemen, the reports said^2,3,4. Arab News said El-Shami was the second U.N. staff member to die in Houthi detention, after a World Food Programme employee in February 2025, and that a Yemeni government minister alleged he was tortured to death; that allegation was not independently confirmed in the other accounts³.

The Houthis have previously said detained U.N. and aid workers were part of a spy network working for the United States and Israel, a charge the U.N. rejects, according to Reuters and Arab News^3,4. Reuters said there was no immediate Houthi comment on Friday⁴. Middle East Eye said the family stated earlier this week that the Houthis had agreed in principle to an investigation².