UNITED NATIONS, May 14 — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes the deal to release more than 1,600 conflict-related detainees in Yemen, his deputy spokesman said on Thursday.
“The secretary-general calls on the parties to move swiftly toward implementing the deal in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross, so that families can be reunited as soon as possible,” Farhan Haq said in a statement.
This deal between the Yemeni government and the Houthis, involving the largest such release agreed on since the start of the conflict in Yemen, is the result of weeks of direct negotiations in Amman, Jordan, under the auspices of the United Nations, the statement said.
Guterres also calls on the parties to work toward further releases, in line with their obligations under the 2018 Stockholm Agreement to release all conflict-related detainees, it added.
He urges the Yemeni government and the Houthis to build on the positive momentum generated by Thursday’s deal, and to engage constructively with his special envoy for Yemen toward an inclusive political process for a just and lasting peace in Yemen.
The secretary-general further urges the Houthis to immediately and unconditionally release all arbitrarily detained personnel from the United Nations, nongovernmental organizations, civil society and diplomatic missions, the statement said.
Guterres reiterates that UN personnel, including Yemen nationals, enjoy immunity from legal process in respect of words spoken or written and all acts performed in their official capacity and must be allowed to independently perform their functions without hindrance, consistently with the UN Charter and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. He reaffirms that the UN system is determined to work through all possible channels to secure their safe release, it added. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
