A/HRC/42/CRP.1 429. Between 1 March 2015 and 30 June 2019, the Yemen Data Project reported that coalition forces conducted 19,874 airstrikes on Yemeni territory.677 While the number of reported airstrikes has slightly declined over the last year, the impact of this kind of warfare continues to come at a cost too high for civilians living mostly in areas under de facto authorities’ control. In addition to airstrikes that were investigated as detailed in this report, the Group of Experts also examined 14 airstrikes that hit locations in Sa’dah and Hajjah governorates between March 2018 and June 2019.678 The airstrikes reportedly all hit civilian infrastructure, including farms, telecommunication towers, banks, schools, and trucks carrying agricultural goods. 430. This section of the report specifically looks at a few select airstrikes in northern parts of the country over the last year, which illustrate an ongoing pattern where civilians and civilian objects have been directly affected. Two out of the five cases were investigated by the JIAT, as detailed below. In addition to potential violations of international humanitarian law, the incidents investigated by the Group of Experts demonstrate that regardless of whether they hit a lawful target, or resulted from an accumulation of errors, their greatest and most direct impact is on civilians. (b) MSF Cholera Treatment Centre, 11 June 2018, Abs city, Abs district, Hajjah Governorate 431. On Monday 11 June 2018, at around 05:45 a.m., the coalition carried out an airstrike, using one guided bomb,679 on a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical facility in Abs, destroying one of its four buildings. No staff or patients were killed or injured as the facility was empty at the time. A patient ward was damaged, and an adjacent triage and observation ward was destroyed.680 The four warehouses constituting the building were taken over by MSF in March 2018 for the purpose of constructing a cholera treatment centre. MSF had placed the Red Crescent emblem on the facilities’ rooftops, as reportedly instructed by the Ministry of Health under the de facto authorities, in order to mark them. 681 Following the airstrike, MSF issued a public statement denouncing the attack: “This morning's attack on an MSF cholera treatment centre (CTC) by the Saudi and Emirati-led coalition (SELC) shows complete disrespect for medical facilities and patients. Whether intentional or a result of negligence, it is totally unacceptable. The compound was clearly marked as a health facility and its coordinates were shared with the SELC. With only half of health facilities in Yemen fully functional, nearly 10 million people in acute need, and an anticipated outbreak of cholera, the CTC had been built to save lives. MSF has temporarily frozen its activities in Abs until the safety of its staff and patients is guaranteed.”682 432. According to JIAT’s findings, released during a press conference on 16 January 2019,683 “the warehouse was considered at the time to be a legitimate military target, which in its destruction is a military advantage”. This assessment was “based on intelligence from inside of Yemen,” according to which “a warehouse was used by the armed Houthi militia as a storehouse for weapons and ammunitions,” However, JIAT also recognized that the operation had been completed without fulfilling “the necessary procedures used by the coalition Forces”. JIAT further stated that “due to the urgency of carrying out the task and not completing procedures by coalition intelligence, the targeting of the building was an unintended error”. Hence, the JIAT recommended that “coalition States provide voluntary assistance for physical damages to the warehouse” and “[t]aking legal procedures against 677 See https://www.yemendataproject.org/. Confidential Sources on File. 679 JIAT statement, 17 January 2019, available at http://www.alriyadhdaily.com/article/812807e44f9a47ddbfe1bbd99be1cd0c (see also https://www.msf.org/report-bombing-msf-facility-unacceptable-and-contradictory-abs-yemen). 680 Confidential Sources on File. 681 Confidential Sources on File. 682 Médecins Sans Frontières, “Yemen: Airstrike hits MSF cholera treatment centre in Abs”, 12 June 2018, available at https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/story/yemenairstrike-hits-msf-cholera-treatment-center-abs. 683 www.spa.gov.sa/1875235. 678 106