UN human rights chief demands Houthis return body of staffer who died in custody

NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s human rights chief on Friday demanded that the Houthis immediately return the body of a UN staff member who died in their custody in Yemen.

The high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, also warned that another detained UN worker might have been tortured into making “confessions” that were filmed and circulated online this week.

Two weeks after the UN learned of the death of Mohammed Ibrahim El-Shami, a Yemeni employee of the UN Human Rights Office, the Houthis have still not handed over his body to his relatives, UN spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva. He is believed to have died at least a month before the family was informed.