A/HRC/45/CRP.7 those from “Yemeni” tribes. It also means that they are not afforded the same protections by tribal mediation that others may enjoy. (b) De Facto Authority Detention, Torture and Sexual Violence against Women and Girls in Sana’a 205. Between 6 December 2017 and December 2019, members of the de facto authorities, including the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and National Security, detained women and girls because of their political views and/or participation in demonstrations, and tortured them, including inflicting rape and other forms of sexual violence, as well as other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, in a series of secret detention facilities in and around Sana’a. In this context, the Group of Experts verified that members of the de facto authorities raped six women, and also subjected two of these women to other forms of sexual violence.291 Over extended periods of time they raped three of these women on more than twenty occasions. “They detained me for attending the protest. After they interrogated me and falsely accused me of promoting drugs and prostitution, a man came into the room who they called ‘Wali Allah’.292 He told me he was going to purify my sins by forcing me to perform ‘nikkah jihad’.293 They blindfolded me, restrained me with handcuffs, and removed my clothes. For the next hour, he and other men took it in turns to rape me. I tried to scream but they gagged me. I could only cry. It was brutal, they had no mercy.” Woman survivor of rape294 206. Members of the de facto authorities conducted these violations under the guise of tackling “immorality” and prostitution. In its 2019 report, the Group found that they arbitrarily detained women and girls who spoke out against the Houthis, were involved in women’s rights work and/or were part of women-led protests that occurred in Sana’a between December 2017 and April 2019.295 During this current reporting period, the Group of Experts received credible reports that the de facto authorities detained an estimated 279 women and girls, some as young as 14 years old according to witnesses, in five former residential buildings in and around Sana’a, which had been converted into secret detention facilities. They took women directly to the facilities or some via the CID on Al-Adal Street and police facilities in central Sana’a. Women and girls were kept at these facilities for periods of between one month and nine months, and some, reportedly, for much longer. They were kept incommunicado and in some cases in solitary confinement.296 207. The de facto authorities subjected the women and girls at these facilities to a routine of humiliation, indoctrination and torture, including rape. Facility supervisors, interrogators and other male personnel, repeatedly and regularly raped detainees. This conduct was described by the perpetrators and by female Zainabiyat guards as “purification” and “rehabilitation” for their immoral behaviour. They told all six survivors that the “purification” was by way of, and justified by, “nikkah jihad”. The men, often armed, violently beat, and threatened them, sometimes with the assistance of the female guards. They raped them one at a time, vaginally, anally and orally. In some cases, this included gang rape. This was always in the room where detainees were interrogated or in adjacent rooms. They informed survivors during the rapes of the “accusations” against them,297 that they were complicit with the enemy, and referred to the superiority of the rapist. In several cases survivors were told by perpetrators or female guards that the “purification” was by a Wali 291 Confidential sources on file. Vice-regent of God, a term used to denote a man of seniority who is pious and close to God. 293 Reportedly, also referred to by perpetrators as Jihad Al Nikkah, and Jihad Al Mara Bilfarj. This translates as “war marriage” or “sexual jihad”, the assertion that women and girls “contribute” to the war effort through the consensual practice of temporary or long-term marriage, including sexual intercourse with fighters. 294 Confidential sources on file. 295 Confidential sources on file. 296 Confidential sources on file. 297 None of the former detainees interviewed by the Group, including the six survivors of sexual violence, were formally charged. 292 56