A/HRC/45/CRP.7 389. At a technical level, Yemeni law582 requires significant reform to support prosecutions for the full range of violations amounting to international crimes and to ensure coverage of appropriate modes of liability.583 Its Criminal Code, for instance, currently does not appear to criminalise enforced disappearance, war crimes or crimes against humanity. It has some coverage of torture, however it is limited and does not match the definition provided in international treaties.584 Nor does it cover all aspects of sexual violence. The Code does not appear to address all relevant modes of liability (e.g., superior/command responsibility). On the face of the Criminal Procedure Code, there are some potential limiting clauses, e.g., in relation to time to file complaints, or extra permissions needed for pursuing prosecutions against a judicial enforcement officer or civil servant.585 While in theory there are a range of procedural guarantees attaching to defendants, all too frequently the basic procedural guarantees are illusory. Yemeni law discriminates against women, including with respect to the value accorded to women’s testimonies.586 Some of the domestic offences that might be used to cover serious violations (e.g., murder, kidnapping accompanied by death) attract the death penalty,587 intensifying the concern about due process deficiencies. Added to this, is the fact that there is little experience in the Yemeni justice system of prosecuting international crimes. 390. Alongside the civilian justice system is the military justice system. Its proceedings are governed by the Military Criminal Procedure Law.588 The substantive criminal law matters it deals with are set out in the Military Crimes and Penalties Code,589 which includes a chapter on war crimes. From a textual reading of the law, it is not clear if the scope extends to all serious violations of international humanitarian law amounting to war crimes under customary international law or only those arising under treaty law.590 The Military Court’s 582 In the following analysis, reliance has been placed on copies of Yemeni laws that are publicly available and/or provided by interlocutors. Where only Arabic versions of relevant laws are available, unofficial translations have been undertaken. 583 In general, the Group considers it preferable for serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law amounting to crimes under international law to be tried as such, to demonstrate the gravity of the offences and facilitate appropriate sentencing, as well as to acknowledge the extent of harm to victims and the community. 584 Under the Yemeni Law concerning Crimes and Penalties, Decree No. 12 of 1994 (Criminal Code), torture by a public employee is a criminal offence if it is used to force a confession during arrest, investigation, detention or imprisonment or to force a victim, witness or expert to testify (art.166). However, there is no stand-alone provision of torture mirroring the definition of torture under the CAT, a matter commented on by the Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations (2010), CAT/C/YEM/CO/2/Rev.1, para.7. The Constitution of Yemen contains a broader prohibition of torture, but it is the Criminal Code that would govern prosecutions. The CAT Committee also noted limitations on the modes of liability: with coverage of those who order torture or carry it out, but not for those who are otherwise complicit: Ibid. 585 Criminal Procedure Code, Decree No. 13 of 1994, art. 26. See also Criminal Code, art. 26. 586 See A/HRC/42/CRP.1, para.619. 587 See Yemeni Criminal Code, arts. 234 and 249. Concerns have also been raised previously as to the scope of persons to whom the death penalty has been applied in practice: see Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations, CCPR/C/YEM/CO/5 (2012) para.14. 588 Military Criminal Procedures Law, Decree No. 7 of 1996. 589 Military Crimes and Penalties Code, Decree No. 21 of 1998. 590 Art. 21 of the Military Crimes and Penalties Code reads: “A penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment or sanctions commensurate with the results of the crime shall be inflicted on any person subject to the provisions of this Code who in time of war commits any act that harms persons and property entitled to protection under the terms of international conventions to which the Republic of Yemen is a party. The following acts in particular, shall be deemed war crimes punishable under the terms of this Code: 1 – Killing prisoners of war or civilians and such penalty shall not relieve him from the criminal case if the killed person is of respectable ancestry. 2 - The torture, ill-treatment or deliberate infliction of severe pain on prisoners or their subjection to scientific experiments; 3 - The deliberate infliction of serious damage to the physical and mental integrity and health of military and civilian prisoners or their conscription into the armed forces. 98