By Pishtaz | 2024-06-26

The Houthis' use of forced confessions to spread disinformation, following the group's recent abduction of human rights and humanitarian workers in Yemen, is a tactic taken directly from Tehran's playbook, analysts said.

The Houthis detained more than a dozen aid workers June 10 in what appeared to be a coordinated move, accusing them of being part of a "spy network" and broadcasting forced "confessions" to bolster their false claim.

The United Nations (UN) said 13 of its personnel had been detained, while the Yemeni Mayyun Organization for Human Rights said at least 18 Yemeni aid workers were kidnapped from Houthi-controlled areas.

The heads of six UN agencies and three international non-governmental organizations issued a joint call June 13 for the "immediate and unconditional" release of their local and international staff.

The heads of the UN health, food, human rights, development, culture and children's agencies signed the statement, along with the heads of Oxfam International, CARE and Save the Children International, AFP reported.

Describing the abductions as "unprecedented," they said the targeting of aid and development workers "directly impede[s] our ability to reach the most vulnerable people in Yemen" with humanitarian aid and protection.

In separate statements issued June 12, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk flatly rejected allegations that the aid workers were part of a spy network.

The United States strongly condemns "the Houthis' efforts to spread disinformation regarding the role of detained current and former US mission local staff through televised forced and fake 'confessions,'" Miller said.

"Yet again the Houthis are seeking to use disinformation to shift blame to the United States and other outside actors for their own failures," he added.

"These Houthi actions reflect a blatant disregard for the dignity of the Yemeni people and individuals who -- contrary to the Houthis' lies -- have dedicated themselves to their country's betterment," Miller said.

Iranian regime's playbook

Forced confessions are commonly used in Iran, rights groups say.

"Such confessions are extracted after physical or/and psychological torture, lengthy solitary confinement, threats or promises of reduction in the gravity of sentences," per the Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran of 2022.

Often used to frame dual nationals and foreigners as spies, forced confessions falsely incriminate perceived enemies of the regime, the US Treasury said.

Since 2009, state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) "has broadcast hundreds of forced confessions of Iranian, dual national and international detainees in Iran," it said.

Forced confessions are taken by Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and promoted and broadcast by IRIB, it said.

IRIB has a monopoly on television and radio services in Iran.