ICRC commends Sanaa’s unilateral release of 159 detainees

SANAA, Oct. 17 (YPA) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) commended on Saturday the unilateral initiative by the Sanaa authorities to release 159 individuals belonging to the opposing side, with the support of the ICRC.

The released individuals had been recently detained due to reasons related to the ongoing conflict in Yemen.

In an official statement, the ICRC stated that prior to the release, its delegates conducted confidential individual interviews with the detainees, notified their families of their imminent release, and provided assistance to support their safe return home. ICRC medical staff also evaluated their health conditions, verified their fitness for overland travel, and provided individualized travel support for those requiring additional arrangements.

The ICRC statement clarified that the release initiative was undertaken by the National Committee for Prisoner Affairs. It noted that the operation falls outside the framework of the Stockholm Agreement, and that the ICRC played no role in determining who or how many detainees would be released.

The international organization expressed its readiness to act as a neutral intermediary, upon the request of the concerned parties, to facilitate future releases, transfers, or repatriations of individuals detained in connection with the conflict in Yemen, continuing the role it has played in previous years.

Earlier Saturday, the Prisoner Affairs Committee in Sanaa announced during a press conference the release of 159 prisoners who had surrendered during recent events, implementing the presidential amnesty issued by Mahdi Al-Mashat, President of the Supreme Political Council in Sanaa, on September 10, 2026, in the presence of the Head of the ICRC Delegation in Sanaa, Christine Cipolla, and committee members.

Abdulqadir al-Mortada, Head of the Prisoner Affairs Committee, stated that this release represents the second batch freed under the presidential amnesty, following the release of the first batch on September 15 in Hodeida Governorate, which included 323 individuals who had surrendered, alongside several field operations in Taiz Governorate that saw the release of dozens who surrendered voluntarily.

Al-Mortada emphasized that today’s release, and preceding operations, confirm that the general amnesty is a genuine, practically implemented decision rather than a mere media announcement. He called upon misled individuals still fighting alongside Saudi forces to return to their country and people and seize the opportunity of the presidential amnesty decree before it is too late.

YPA