A/HRC/19/51 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 13 February 2012 Original: English Human Rights Council Nineteenth session Agenda items 2 and 10 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Technical assistance and capacity-building Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Yemen * Summary In its resolution 18/19, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide a progress report on the situation of human rights to the Council at its nineteenth session. The Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) therefore deployed a delegation to visit Yemen from 20 to 27 December 2011 to gather first-hand information concerning human rights developments in the country and to report on the implementation of the recommendations made to the Government and other parties by OHCHR following its previous assessment mission (A/HRC/18/21). During the reporting period, force was used in the context of armed confrontations between Government forces and armed opposition groups, between non-State armed groups, and by Government forces against unarmed civilians exercising their right to peaceful assembly. Despite a relative lull from early December 2011 following the adoption of the agreement in accordance with the initiative of the Gulf Cooperation Council, political, tribal and sectarian tensions continue and the prospect of degeneration into civil strife remains high. Large parts of the country, including entire governorates and substantial parts of Sanaa and Ta’izz, appear to be under the partial or total control of nonState armed groups. The ongoing unrest is contributing to an increasingly dire humanitarian situation as a result of restricted access to health services, food, water, fuel, electricity and schooling. Economic activities have ground to a halt in many sectors, and many Yemenis have lost their livelihood. * GE.12-10491 Late submission.