A/HRC/12/50 558. The United Arab Emirates noted with appreciation Yemen’s positive steps towards implementing universal periodic review recommendations and voluntary commitments. It welcomed the efforts made by the Government to strengthen and promote human rights, in particular the rights of women and children. Yemen had accepted all recommendations related to these rights and to the rights to education and health and to poverty alleviation. It welcomed Yemen’s will to strengthen national institutions and raise the level of human rights awareness of its people. The United Arab Emirates asked the Council to extend to Yemen the support it requested. 3. General comments made by other relevant stakeholders 559. The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA-Europe) and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, in a joint statement, commended Yemen for having accepted recommendation 9, but expressed serious concern that Yemen maintained the death penalty for consensual sexual acts between adults of the same sex. The International Convention on Civil and Political Rights stated that, in countries that have not abolished the death penalty, the death sentence may be imposed only for the most serious crimes. In its resolutions on the death penalty and extrajudicial executions, the General Assembly had emphasized that homosexual acts did not fall within the definition of the most serious crimes. No international human rights document condoned this violation of human rights principles. 560. The Al-Hakim Foundation noted Yemen’s commitment to universal periodic review recommendations despite the difficulties and obstacles encountered by the country, in particular the ongoing military operations in the north, which had led many inhabitants to leave their homes. Many citizens were in need of food, shelter and medical care, and access to these people is difficult because of the continued fighting. It expressed concern regarding the increasing tension in the south, where the Government ignored claims related to basic services and development issues, which had led to demonstrations resulting in confrontations with security forces. 561. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies had noted an increase in human rights violations in recent months, in particular violations of the freedom of information and the press and peaceful assembly by the Government, in contradiction to a number of universal periodic review recommendations. Recent reports had confirmed the continued use of political arbitrary detentions, prolonged detentions and torture by governmental authorities. With regard to the war in Saada, governmental forces had killed 85 civilians in an aerial attack the previous week, resulting in the displacement of 150,000 people. 562. Amnesty International urged Yemen to implement the recommendations on women’s rights, including prohibiting any practice of forced marriage of girls. It strongly encouraged the Government to reconsider its position on recommendations regarding the death penalty, which it has rejected. It welcomed Yemen’s support for recommendation 55, and urged it to commute all outstanding death sentences imposed on individuals convicted of having committed a capital offence while under the age of 18 years. It called on the Government to immediately end violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the context of the conflict in the Saada region and to investigate urgently all allegations of serious violations by its forces. It requested a clarification on Yemen’s position on recommendations 20 and 21. 563. Human Rights Information and Training was pleased that Yemen had accepted most recommendations. It called for the implementation of all recommendations, particularly those regarding the establishment of a human rights institution, allowing the Ministry of Human Rights and non-governmental organizations’ greater access to prisons, especially those controlled by the political security department, and allowing the spread of human rights culture. It stressed that detainees held by the political security department should be given access to legal advice and information and that international humanitarian law be 147