A/HRC/45/CRP.7 arm is not working anymore”. Other migrants reported to the Group that they were raped or had witnessed rapes in the camps. One 20-year-old woman told the Group how she was raped six days in a row by Ethiopian and Yemeni smugglers as a way to extort money. Some witnessed the death of migrants in these camps as a result of physical abuse and lack of health care to treat diseases that rapidly spread within these camps. 314. Reportedly, the time in captivity varied between a few days, weeks and months (the Group documented a maximum stay of up to six months). Migrants told the Group how they managed to escape from these captivity camps and how some started walking towards Aden. Some reported they were arbitrarily detained and subjected to sexual violence at the hands of SBF. 476 “It is hard to distinguish who is the military and who isn’t". Ethiopian migrant477 315. The Group also received allegations that unidentified armed men in uniform in the south were collaborating with smuggling networks. For instance, some migrants told the Group that smugglers were paying bribes to what they referred as “Southern security forces” at checkpoints on the main road to Aden while they were transporting migrants. The Group was not able to verify the affiliation of these so-called “Southern security forces.” “It happened at different times that the police in Aden would call us by the name ‘Houthis’. Every time we go to the main road and pass from one checkpoint to another, they would always say to us ‘You, Houthis, where are you going?’. On the main road of Aden, at each checkpoint, they tell us to ‘go back, because you are going to work for the Houthis’." Ethiopian male migrant living in Aden478 316. Additionally, many migrants reported experiencing discrimination and theft of personal belongings while in Aden. Three Ethiopian migrants reported, that in around January 2020, they were violently forced to get into a car with three men wearing green uniforms, who took them to an isolated place, searched them and stole all the money they were carrying. Another migrant reported that on his way to the IOM Office in Aden, two armed policemen forced him to walk toward an isolated place where he was held at gun point and had all his belongings stolen. The Group was not able to verify the affiliation of the perpetrators. 317. Under international human rights law, the State has an obligation of due diligence to protect individuals from abuses perpetrated by other individuals and groups, including through having effective systems of investigation and prosecution of those responsible. There are no indications that authorities in the areas where migrants are being held are fulfilling their duties to protect migrants from abuse at the hands of smugglers and associated third parties. It appears that authorities are largely turning a blind eye to the abuses suffered by migrants. 4. Journalists and human rights defenders “I imagine sometimes that military vehicles from Ansar Allah would come and attack our house because of my knowledge and experience from my work as a journalist. I don't want to be in jail or live under constant threat. I have to wear the niqab from fear of being recognised". Threatened woman journalist479 318. The Group is particularly concerned about the continuous targeting of and violations against journalists and human rights defenders, including lawyers and rights activists, by parties to the conflict, which seek to repress dissent, curtail criticism, and to consolidate the party’s authority in the territory under its control. The Group documented cases in which journalists and human rights defenders were prevented from working freely, threatened, arbitrarily detained and even tortured, including by sexual violence. During this reporting period, the Group continued to follow the case of the 10 journalists detained by the Houthis 476 See Gender and Gender-based violence section, paras. 194 and ff. Confidential source on file. 478 Confidential source on file. 479 Confidential source on file. 477 80