UN Special Envoy announces agreement to prepare final list of prisoners of war in Yemen

AMMAN, Aug. 01 (YPA) – The Supervisory Committee on the Implementation of the Detainees Release and Exchange Agreement between the parties in Yemen concluded its sixth meeting in Amman yesterday following six days of discussions to identify the names of detainees who will be released based on the numbers agreed upon by the parties in March 2022,  the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said in a statement on Monday

The meeting was co-chaired by the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

In the statement, Hans Grundberg said that the parties agreed to intensify efforts to finalize and consolidate lists of detainees from all sides as soon as possible. To that end, they also agreed to facilitate visits by the ICRC to detention centers to assist with the verification of the identities.

The parties moreover agreed to establish a joint committee to support the process of verifying the identities of detainees included in the lists.

The parties are expected to reconvene in the coming weeks once they have achieved further progress on the lists, he added.

“I am hopeful that the parties remain committed to their agreement and that they will spare no effort to achieve a successful release of detainees as part of the UN-facilitated process. The identification of names is a key step in that regard,” said Special Envoy Grundberg.

“It is unfortunate that the parties were unable to agree to the release of detainees at this point in time. It means that the detainees and their families will have to endure further suffering as they wait longer to be reunited. I therefore urge the parties to finalize their lists as soon as possible while also prioritizing the unconditional release of all sick, wounded, and child detainees, as well as arbitrarily detained persons, political detainees, and journalists.”

The Special Envoy expressed his appreciation to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for hosting this meeting.

E.M