The Yemeni Center for Human Rights has condemned what it described as the continued intransigence of the Saudi-U.S.-Emirati-led coalition and its local allies, accusing them of deliberately obstructing the implementation of agreements and understandings related to the issue of prisoners and detainees.

In a statement, the center denounced the coalition’s withdrawal from UN-sponsored understandings reached in May regarding the release of more than 1,600 prisoners and detainees from all sides, despite the completion of logistical preparations and procedures by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, and under UN supervision.

The center described the prisoner file as one of the most serious humanitarian consequences of the coalition’s war in Yemen since 2015, warning that continued delays and alleged obstruction constitute a grave violation of fundamental rights and deepen the suffering of hundreds of prisoners and their families.

It accused the coalition and affiliated armed groups of using the humanitarian issue as a tool of political and military pressure, despite existing agreements and mutually approved lists, and said that prolonging detention, obstructing releases, and causing psychological suffering to prisoners and their families amount to serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

The center held the Saudi- and Emirati-led coalition and its allied forces fully responsible for the safety and well-being of all prisoners, calling for the immediate and complete implementation of the prisoner exchange agreement based on the principle of “all for all.”

It also urged the international community, particularly the United Nations, the Security Council, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to exert effective pressure to ensure compliance with signed commitments and end what it described as continued obstruction of the humanitarian process.