The Houthis, who exercise control over large areas of central and northern Yemen, including the capital, Sana'a, have proceeded this Sunday with the release of 600 people who remained detained for their involvement in the armed conflict in the country. This is a unilateral decision promoted by the National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs and backed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Before the release became effective, ICRC delegates held "private interviews" with each of the detainees in order to learn firsthand about their individual situation and ensure that their return to their homes took place under dignified conditions. At the same time, the organization’s medical teams reviewed their health status and coordinated the additional assistance needed for those who required it.
In a public note, the ICRC has underscored that its role has been limited to humanitarian supervision and has emphasized that it has had no participation whatsoever in the selection of the people who would benefit or in determining the total number of those released.
Similarly, the organization has clarified that this release is not linked to the Stockholm Agreements, signed in December 2018 in Sweden between the internationally recognized Yemeni government and the Houthi insurgents under the umbrella of the United Nations, but rather is a separate initiative.
Lastly, the ICRC has reaffirmed its willingness to continue acting as a neutral intermediary to facilitate future releases, transfers, and repatriations of detainees in the context of the war in Yemen, a role it has already carried out previously. "The ICRC remains willing, at the request of the parties, to act as a neutral intermediary," the organization said.