A/HRC/45/CRP.7 Notwithstanding this lack of cooperation, and the challenges of conducting investigations during the more restrictive COVID environment, the Group of Eminent Experts has conducted more than 400 interviews with witnesses, victims and other sources. The Group of Eminent Experts’ report this year is entitled “A Pandemic of Impunity in a Tortured Land”. It is the people of Yemen who are suffering the brunt of the parties’ continued disregard for international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The title also highlights the palpable failure of the parties to hold accountable those responsible for the violations and to take action to realise victims’ rights. After six unremitting years of armed conflict in Yemen, the multi-party war continues with no end in sight for the suffering millions caught in its grip. The scale and nature of violations should shock the conscience of humanity. Yet too often Yemen is the “forgotten conflict”. Airstrikes continue to be carried out by coalition forces without appropriate regard to international law principles of distinction, proportionality and/or precaution. Persistently high civilian casualties from airstrikes on markets and farms, for instance, indicate the coalition may be failing to take all legally necessary measures to protect civilians and civilian objects. Some airstrikes may amount to disproportionate attacks. The Houthis as well as coalition forces are continuing to deploy indirect fire weapons, such as mortars and rockets, including in heavily populated areas. These indiscriminate attacks are killing and wounding civilians and damaging critical infrastructure, such as health facilities. The legacy of landmines unlawfully planted during previous years, is disturbingly apparent, in the deaths and injuries of civilians, e.g. children playing in fields, and in the diminished access to arable lands and fishing areas. Were the parties to abide by their international obligations, the situation could and would be significantly mitigated and the death of innocent people avoided. The Group of Eminent Experts has found that the Houthis in particular are interfering in humanitarian aid, and that all parties are impeding humanitarian operations. Furthermore, parties to the conflict are failing in their obligations with respect to fundamental economic, social and cultural rights such as the right to education, the right to food and the right to health. Away from the frontlines, serious violations continue to occur at the hands of all parties to the conflict. Persons have been unlawfully killed by security or law enforcement officials or armed groups. Individuals continue to be subjected to arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture, and other forms of ill-treatment. Those perceived as dissenting from or opposing the party in control of territory – such as human rights defenders and journalists – are particularly at risk, as are vulnerable groups within the community – such as internally displaced persons, migrants, refugees and members of religious or social minorities. Gender-based violence, including sexual violence against women and girls, men and boys, is continuing, and individuals have been subjected to violations because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Boys and girls, allegedly as young as seven years of age are being recruited into armed forces or armed groups and used in hostilities. Their right to education is being compromised both by the conduct of hostilities, but also by direct actions against educators, and the use of schools for military purposes or ideological indoctrination. While the justice system of Yemen should serve as an avenue for obtaining a remedy for violations, the Group of Eminent Experts has found that the administration of justice is gravely compromised, with serious consequences for fair trial rights. There remains an endemic lack of access to justice for survivors. The Group of Eminent Experts is concerned that impunity continues largely unabated for those who perpetrate serious violations. While the Group of Eminent Experts has seen some progress in terms of investigations conducted by parties and some matters have been referred for criminal prosecution, to date no-one has been held accountable for the violations that the Group of Eminent Experts has identified. The Group of Eminent Experts is calling upon the international community to take a more active role in Yemen and upon the Security Council to refer the situation in Yemen to the ICC, and to list further individuals responsible for violations under their sanctions regime. The Group of Eminent Experts supports the creation of an international criminal justice investigation mechanism (similar to the bodies established for Syria and Myanmar), as well as further discussions about the possibility of a specialised court to deal with the international crimes committed during the conflict. The 2