Airport authorities detain 2 rights advocates in Yemen

SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni rights advocates are reporting that two of the country’s most prominent activists have been detained and taken to an undisclosed location at an airport in western Yemen.

The advocates, including Tawakol Karman, who won the Noble Prize for Peace in 2011, denounced the arrest of Radhya al-Mutawakel and Abdul Rasheed al-Faqih at Sayoun airport on Monday.

“This is an attempt to silence the voices of dissent,” said Baraa Shiban, another Yemeni rights activist. He called the arrests illegal.

The airport is under the control of the Yemeni government and a Saudi-led coalition, who battling Iran-backed Houthi rebels that control northern Yemen.

The detained duo runs Sanaa-based Mwatana for Human Rights which documents abuses by both sides in the country’s civil war. Airport authorities declined to comment their arrest.