A/HRC/45/CRP.7 separate action to achieve the full realisation of this right.151 Furthermore, States “should refrain at all times from food embargoes or similar measures which endanger conditions for food production and access to food in other countries. Food should never be used as an instrument of political and economic pressure.”152 Moreover, under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, States shall ensure children’s right to health, including by providing adequate nutritious foods and clean-drinking water.153 Factual findings 116. The parties to the conflict have contributed to the deterioration of the humanitarian situation through the way in which they have conducted military operations, and through impeding, and failing to properly facilitate access to, humanitarian relief supplies. Further, certain actions by parties, such as the non-payment of salaries, access restrictions, economic policies, or ongoing restrictions on international entry points for supplies, have diminished further the population’s capacity to access basic necessities. The dire humanitarian situation in Yemen could be substantially mitigated if parties to the conflict implemented their obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law. 1. Attacks affecting objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population 117. The Group continued to investigate a series of attacks impacting the Red Sea Mills (Mills) in Al-Hudaydah. As a major wheat storage and processing site, the significance of the Mills as a source of humanitarian relief increased during the reporting period as food insecurity worsened. 118. Between August and October 2018, when the Mills were controlled by the Houthi forces, mortar shelling allegedly fired by the Government of Yemen armed forces against the Houthi forces led to some of the shells falling inside and around the Mills compound. Mines and IEDs were subsequently planted inside the warehouses and in the yards of the compound, allegedly by Houthi forces, to slow the enemy advances. The most severe shelling happened in December 2018 and January 2019, with the latest incident reportedly causing serious damage by fire to one silo. A source indicated to the Group that the most recent attacks, allegedly by the Houthis, occurred on 18, 19 and 20 May 2020, further damaging the production line and some parts of the silos resulting in the Mills not functioning for more than ten days. The various attacks on the Mills not only directly affected the functioning of the site but also impacted the distribution of food aid as they used to contain – before hostilities started in Al-Hudaydah – a quarter of WFP’s in-country stock, access to which was halted several times. Reportedly, during 2019, attacks affecting the Mills restricted access to critical food supplies for as many as 455,571 households.154 Before the conflict, the Mills contained an estimated 51,000 metric tons, enough wheat to feed 3.7 million people for one month. 119. Other attacks and restrictions affecting WFP food storage and distribution were reported to the Group, and require further investigation to verify the circumstances of the attacks and the affiliation of the perpetrators. For example, the Group received allegations of WFP trucks being held at checkpoints and sometimes having their cargo unloaded. It also received reports of WFP trucks being shelled. 120. On 16 December 2018, a coalition airstrike struck a water tanker transporting a fresh supply of water for a village and crops in As Sawadiyah district, Al-Bayda Governorate, in a rural area with no known military targets nearby. A witness and survivor of the airstrike reported hearing noises overhead while driving the water tanker with his six-year-old son and Ibid., para.36, recalling the “spirit” of art. 56 of the UN Charter, arts. 11, 2(1) and 23 of the ICESCR and the Rome Declaration of the World Food Summit. 152 Ibid., para. 37. 153 Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), art. 24(c). 154 See, for instance, Civilian Impact Monitoring Project (CIMP), Yemen 2019 Annual Report, reporting period: 1 January – 31 December 2019, p. 7 and 12, available at: https://civilianimpactmonitoring.org/onewebmedia/2019%20CIMP%20Annual%20Report.pdf 151 36