A/HRC/39/43 Military objectives 13. JIAT finding in 24 cases that it had attacked military objectives also raises concerns. The Experts received reliable information that during the period covering at least 25 of the 28 cases at issue, dynamic targeting decisions were made by field commanders who routinely failed to consult with those in the Joint Command holding information about the ‘No Strike Lists’ and de-confliction information before approving attacks. It is not clear whether this was still the case in 2017 and 2018. 14. The Experts have serious concerns that where field commanders either did not have access to such information or did not seek such access, they may not have had the requisite information necessary to make proportionality assessments and may have failed to take all feasible precautions to avoid or minimise civilian loss of life, injury or damage to civilian objects. 15. All but one of the 24 strikes were on what appear to be civilian objects. In one case, an international NGO reported that Houthi/Saleh armed forces had placed an office in the Nour Center for the Care and Rehabilitation of the Blind, Sanaa. This would appear to be in violation of Article 58 of Additional Protocol I on precautions against attacks. However, such violations do not release other parties to the conflict from their own obligations, particularly to take precautionary measures to protect civilians. 16. The Experts have serious concerns about the paucity of information released by JIAT about how the coalition determined that apparently civilian objects had become military objectives as a result of use by Houthi/Saleh forces. Where JIAT relies on intelligence received, there is no indication as to whether the reliability of that intelligence has been assessed by the Joint Intelligence Assessment Centre and if so, how. There is no evidence that JIAT carries out its own independent assessment of the intelligence. In addition, as noted above there may have been a presumption within the coalition that certain types of vehicles were carrying weapons. In one case, an ambulance was struck in Sa’dah on 21 January 2016. The JIAT concluded that it had been carrying weapons, a conclusion at odds with the information provided by the humanitarian organization responsible for the ambulance. 17. As so few details are contained in JIAT summaries, it is impossible to ascertain how, once a military objective has been identified, proportionality assessments were carried out and what precautions in attack were implemented. Nor is it possible to ascertain whether JIAT has carried out its own independent assessments on how those procedures were carried out in individual cases. The response to the attack on Khamees market 15 March 2016 is emblematic as the JIAT findings contradict earlier coalition claims and appear to suggest that because the market struck was named “Thursday market”, the coalition could not have anticipated that civilians would be present on a Tuesday. 18. With respect to the 11 October 2015 attack on a detention facility, the coalition found that Al-Bayda prison “was not a prison” but rather a weapons storage depot. Neither the coalition nor JIAT addressed the large number of civilian or hors de combat casualties alleged. Similarly, in response to allegations that the coalition unlawfully attacked a teachers’ syndicate on 18 August 2015, JIAT claimed that the building had lost its protected status because Houthi leaders were in the building but failed to address the 49 civilian casualties alleged by OHCHR. With respect to another case, JIAT asserted that the targeted bridge was clear of civilians and vehicles during the time of both attacks but did not address the OHCHR report of at least 110 civilian casualties. 19. That proportionality assessments and precautionary measures are not mentioned in the JIAT summaries does not necessarily indicate that they were not performed. However, reliable information indicates the Saudi military is trained for conventional state on state conflict, and in particular, to attack military columns in austere environments, and has little if no training relevant to combatting insurgents in urban environments. 3 The type of conventional warfare that the Saudi military is trained to fight would require a different 3 36 The Experts were unable to obtain information about military training with respect to other coalition member states.