Yemen’s Houthis unilaterally release 600 detainees: Red Cross

Yemen's Houthi group unilaterally released 600 detainees in Sanaa, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Sunday.

In a statement, the organization said its delegates held private interviews with the detainees before their release and provided assistance to support their dignified return home.

"The release was initiated by the National Committee for Prisoners Affairs and does not fall under the Stockholm Agreement," it said.

The ICRC said it did not play any role in determining who or how many people would be released.

"The ICRC remains ready, at the request of the parties, to act as a neutral intermediary in facilitating or supporting future releases, transfers and repatriations of people detained in connection with the conflict in Yemen, as it has done in previous years."

Abdul Qader al-Murtada, head of the Houthi National Committee for Prisoners' Affairs, confirmed the release of 600 prisoners.

He said the new release brought the number of detainees unilaterally freed by the group to 2,612 since the start of the Yemeni war.

There was no immediate comment from the Yemeni government on the announcement.

Following talks in Stockholm, the Yemeni government and the Houthis reached an agreement in December 2018 for the exchange of prisoners and detainees, whose number on both sides had exceeded 15,000 at the time.

Last month, the ICRC announced the release of 159 detainees by the Houthis.

Yemen has been ravaged by civil war since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several other provinces in September 2014. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.