A/HRC/45/6 74. Between June 2015 and February 2020, in all governorates under their control, the Houthis recruited boys as young as 7 years old. The Group of Eminent Experts verified 11 individual cases and received allegations about the recruitment of a further 163 boys. They were recruited from schools, poor urban areas and detention centres through indoctrination, financial incentives, abduction and/or peer recruitment, with very high rates of boys being used in combat resulting in their death or injury. 75. The Group of Eminent Experts also received credible reports regarding Houthi recruitment of 34 girls (aged 13–17), between June 2015 and June 2020, for use as spies, recruiters of other children, guards, medics and members of the Zainabiyat. Girls from Houthi-affiliated or socioeconomically disadvantaged families, or those in detention, were especially targeted for recruitment. Twelve of the girls allegedly survived sexual violence and/or forced and early marriage directly linked to their recruitment. 76. The Group received 24 allegations and verified three cases of boys recruited and used by some brigades or units, with the alleged involvement of members of the coalition and/or the Government of Yemen, all following a similar modus operandi. Boys were recruited in Ta’izz and Lahij in Yemen, then transported to Saudi Arabia, where they were trained and then deployed in Yemen. Nearly all of these boys were used as combatants, eight allegedly died in combat and others were detained by the Houthis for their alleged association with the enemy. 77. The Group verified the cases of two boys recruited by the Special Security Forces of the Government of Yemen in Shabwah, used in combat in Abyan in May–June 2020, and detained by the southern transitional council in Aden. 78. The Group of Eminent Experts notes with great concern that some parties to the conflict continue to deprive children of their right to education through the military use of schools, manipulation of education and targeting of educators. During this reporting period, the Group verified the case of a school being used as a military barracks and detention facility in Shabwah by the Special Security Forces of the Government of Yemen. The Group also received allegations of military use of four schools by the Houthis for weapons storage and manufacturing, and training. Moreover, the Group found that the Houthis had used the education system to indoctrinate students on Houthi ideology, incite violence and recruit children in 34 schools across six governorates (Amran, Dhamar, Raymah, Sa’ada, Sana’a and Ta’izz). The Group verified two cases of detention and forced displacement of educators, and received allegations of 54 educators being threatened, detained and financially and/or administratively sanctioned for refusing to collaborate with Houthi child recruitment efforts. 79. These violations have devastated children’s already precarious access to education during the conflict. The Group of Eminent Experts found reasonable grounds to believe that the Houthis, the Government of Yemen and the coalition have continued to violate the right of children to education, and to recruit and use children in hostilities in contravention of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces or groups or using them to participate actively in hostilities is a war crime. G. Treatment of specific groups 80. The Group of Eminent Experts remains extremely concerned at the situation of minorities, including religious minorities and social minorities such as the Muhamasheen, and internally displaced persons, migrants and refugees, all of whom face ongoing discrimination and whose risk of exploitation and physical abuse is exacerbated by the dire economic situation and the conflict itself. The Group is also concerned that the parties to the conflict continued to target human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and activists to repress dissent and curtail criticism. Women human rights defenders also continue to face repression by all parties on the basis of their gender and/or their work on women’s rights. The Group received reports of the numerous obstacles faced by persons with disabilities in accessing health services and assistive devices, humanitarian aid, education and employment opportunities. Older people are also particularly vulnerable. 13