A/HRC/45/6 committed in detention facilities by the Government of Yemen and Emirati forces, and the Houthis, presented elsewhere in the present report. 69. Following its earlier investigations into mass arrests by United Arab Emiratesbacked Security Belt Forces of migrants on “national security” grounds at makeshift facilities in Lahij and Aden between March and July 2019, the Group of Eminent Experts investigated the occurrence of sexual violence in this context. It verified that Security Belt Forces had raped five women and four girls and subjected 12 boys and three men to forced nudity and two women and two girls to other forms of sexual violence. One survivor recounted being raped on multiple occasions over 13 days by a total of 28 soldiers. Rapes included gang rape by multiple male soldiers. The Group has serious concerns about further allegations that these forces raped another 30 women and girls and three boys. 70. The Group of Eminent Experts continued to investigate cases of women detained by the Houthis – in secret detention facilities operating in at least five former residential buildings in and around Sana’a between December 2017 and December 2019 – because of their political views and/or participation in demonstrations. Detainees were accused of prostitution and immorality, supporting the coalition, spying and affiliation with enemies. The Group verified that Houthi individuals had raped six women, with several being raped on multiple occasions over extended periods, and had subjected two of the women to other forms of sexual violence. The six women described how the male interrogators and female Zainabiyat7 guards referred to the rapes as “purification” and “rehabilitation” for detainees’ sins and supporting the war efforts. Detainees heard the screams and muffled cries of others allegedly being raped in neighbouring rooms. The rapes occurred in conjunction with other humiliating and degrading treatment and torture. 71. Discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity have been exacerbated in certain governorates since the conflict started. The Group of Eminent Experts verified cases of violations committed by the Houthis and Security Belt Forces against persons on the grounds of their sexual orientation and gender identity between 2016 and 2020. Nine witnesses described how they had survived violations, including arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, torture and sexual violence. Interrogators had accused them of spreading prostitution and homosexuality and supporting the enemy in doing so. 72. The Group of Eminent Experts found reasonable grounds to believe that parties to the conflict continue to commit acts of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, in contravention of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Such acts may amount to war crimes, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, cruel treatment and torture, and committing outrages upon personal dignity. F. Child recruitment and use in hostilities and related violations 73. A generation of children in Yemen has been immeasurably damaged through child recruitment, abuse and deprivation of the most basic human rights, including education. The Group of Eminent Experts continued its investigations into the complex patterns of child recruitment and use in hostilities by multiple parties to the conflict. The Group’s verified figures provide only a partial account of the scale and nature of child recruitment in Yemen, which risks the lives of boys in all governorates, and girls in Houthi-controlled territory, and puts them at risk of other violations. Whether and how a Yemeni boy or girl was recruited depended on which party to the conflict was involved and on his or her age, gender and economic status. Across all verified cases, poverty and hunger were powerful push factors, rendering children vulnerable to monetary incentives and manipulation by recruiters and peers. The Group documented 259 cases, and verified 16 individual cases, of children recruited and used in hostilities by several parties to the conflict. 7 12 The Zainabiyat are Houthi women’s security groups, trained to support the Houthis by, inter alia, indoctrinating women and girls in Houthi ideology, maintaining order in detention facilities and conducting law enforcement activities.