A/HRC/39/43 Annex IV Attacks affecting civilians 1. On 26 March 2015, 10 countries, led by Saudi Arabia, formed a coalition to initiate military action against the Houthis in Yemen. The coalition also included Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Senegal, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and, until June 2017, Qatar. 2. The first phase of the operation, called ‘Operation Decisive Storm’, lasted less than one month, and reportedly focused on gaining air supremacy and targeting the Houthis’ ballistic missile capabilities, troop concentrations, leadership locations, military camps and arms depots.1 On 22 April 2015, the coalition announced the new ‘Operation Restore Hope’, with a shift in focus from military operations to the political process, though it still entailed the use of force, including airstrikes. 2 Credible information collected by the Yemen Data Project, shows that the coalition carried out approximately 18,000 raids in Yemen from 1 March 2015 to 30 June 2018,3 which provides an indication of the campaign’s intensity.4 3. Coalition airstrikes have been and continue to be the leading direct cause of civilian deaths and destruction of civilian infrastructure in the conflict. The intensity of the air campaign has been unceasing, even after its impact on the civilian population became apparent. While there is no comprehensive account of civilian casualties in Yemen, according to OHCHR, coalition airstrikes have killed at least 4,300 civilians. 5 Likewise, there is no comprehensive and independent assessment of the consequences of airstrikes on Yemen’s infrastructure, but the coalition’s air campaign has certainly contributed to Yemen’s dire economic and humanitarian situation. 4. As with many other aspects of coalition operations, opacity has been a prominent and continuous feature of the air campaign in Yemen. To date, despite requests, the coalition has not shared its rules of engagement, standard operations procedures or methods to carry out proportionality assessments and its criteria to differentiate between civilians and combatants/fighters. The coalition’s establishment of the JIAT in 2016, has not resulted in any meaningful improvement with respect to transparency or clarity (see Annex 3). 5. The first nine months of the air campaign were the most intense; according to OHCHR, at least 1,750 civilians were killed. Many airstrikes during that period raise serious concerns about international humanitarian law violations and possibly war crimes. An illustrative example is the coalition’s bombing of Sa’dah Governorate between 6 April and 11 May 2015, in response to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia launched from the governorate. On 8 May 2015, the coalition’s spokesperson seemed to imply that the entire city of Sa’dah was a military target.6 Satellite imagery of Sa’dah after May 2015 shows over 3124 distinct impact locations, causing damage to or destruction of hundreds of buildings. On a visit to Sa’dah, the Experts confirmed the significant destruction and spoke to survivors. One airstrike hit a home, killing 27 members of a single family, including 17 children; others hit a market and a crowded petrol station. The Experts also witnessed firsthand the destruction of civilian infrastructure. 6. In likely the most visible attack on Yemen’s economic infrastructure, whose reverberating effects on the civilian population are still felt today, in August 2015, the coalition bombed the Hudaydah seaport. The airstrikes destroyed critical cranes and 1 2 3 4 5 6 38 www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EGe51MjqOk. www.operationrenewalofhope.com/operation-decisive-storm-ends-operation-renewal-of-hopebegins/#sthash.p0HaZrz6.dpbs. Approximately 5,800 in 2015, 4,800 in 2016, 5,200 in 2017, and 2,000 in 2018 (January to July 2018). In the absence of a response from the coalition to requests for specific information on its operations, the Experts are reliant on the scant publicly available information. Approximately 1,750 (2015), 1,070 (2016), 970 (2017) and 500 (January-June 2018). www.youtube.com/watch?v=l38aLG9l_ec.