UK backs inquiry into UN worker’s death in Houthi custody

Speaking at the Security Council in New York on 13 November, Ambassador Sarah MacIntosh said the UK was “appalled” by the news and supported an immediate and impartial investigation. UN Secretary-General António Guterres had called for an investigation on 31 October.

Al-Shami, a Yemeni national who worked for the UN human rights office, had been held by the Houthi authorities since 6 June 2024, the UN said. It said the circumstances of his death were unclear and that the authorities had provided neither information about his well-being nor proof of life, despite repeated requests.

On 31 October, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said Al-Shami’s family had only recently been told that he had died more than a month earlier, according to the Associated Press. The family had not been given a cause of death.

The UN said Al-Shami was the second UN staff member to die in Houthi detention, after a World Food Programme colleague died in February 2025. On 31 October, it said 70 UN personnel and five former staff members remained detained, alongside humanitarian and civil society workers.

MacIntosh also called for the immediate and unconditional release of detained UN, humanitarian, civil society and diplomatic personnel. The Houthis have accused detained UN and other international staff of spying; the UN denies the allegation, for which AP reported that the Houthis had provided no evidence.