A/HRC/42/CRP.1 184. Cultural property is specifically protected in times of armed conflict. According to international humanitarian law, parties to a conflict must respect cultural property and must take special care to avoid damage to such property in military operations. 223 Cultural property may however be attacked in case of imperative military necessity, although the 1954 Hague Convention and its Second Protocol provides additional safeguards in this regard (see analysis dedicated to cultural property). In the cases described above, there are reasonable grounds to believe that Houthi fighters and Resistance forces have violated international humanitarian law in using cultural property for military purposes, hence triggering their total or partial destruction by other parties to the conflict. 185. With regard to schools and other education facilities, the Group of Experts has reasonable grounds to believe that the parties to the conflict have violated the principle of precautions against the effects of attack in using schools for military operations. They may also have violated the principle of distinction, in blurring the distinction between civilian and military objects in using schools for military operations. In using schools for military purposes, including in occupying them, parties to the conflict may have further prevented the realisation of the right to education, as guaranteed by both international humanitarian law and human rights law.224 (f) Coalition airstrikes impacting civilian objects and a cultural site 186. The Group of Experts documented four examples of coalition forces airstrikes carried out during the 2015 Houthi-Saleh offensive against southern provinces, which hit civilian objects and caused large-scale destruction and damage to civilian and protected objects. These airstrikes hit a residential building in the Craiter district of Aden, a mosque, also in Craiter, a cattle market in al-Fyoush village in Lahij province, and a school in Tahrour village, also in Lahij province. No military presence could be identified within the areas hit at the moment of the airstrike. “I could hear my friend screaming under the rubble, he was choking to death, we couldn’t get to him in time and he died choking.”225 Adam, airstrike witness Al-Fyoush cattle market, 6 July 2015 187. On 6 July 2015, at around 0600 hrs, coalition airstrikes hit a cattle market in alFyoush village in Lahij province, resulting in the killing of over 40 civilians and injury of over 20 others.226 The victims were mainly men.227 The rockets left large craters at the impact site.228 Cattle were also killed in the airstrike. Many of the victims were blown apart due to the magnitude of the blast and could not be identified in the aftermath of the strike. 229 Due to the intense fighting in Aden, the numerous checkpoints at the entrance of Aden, and the restrictions on access to various areas of the city during the 2015 military offensive, the qat market of al-Fyoush had expanded to a wider market for cattle and other goods. Large numbers of civilians used to visit the market. 230. Contrary to the information gathered by the Group of Experts, a JIAT statement dated 6 December 2016 indicated that “the cattle market was not bombed by coalition forces, and was not affected by accidental bombing.” The Group of Experts noted that Houthi-Saleh fighters had a checkpoint at a petrol station 223 See ICRC Study on customary IHL, rules 38-40. See Art. 4(3)(a) Additional Protocol II; See Article 13 ICESCR. 225 Confidential Sources on File. 226 Amnesty International, Public Statement, 16 January 2017. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE3154942017ENGLISH.pdf; see also: OCHA et Action on Armed Violence: State of crisis: explosive weapons in Yemen, 2015. Available at: https://www.unocha.org/sites/dms/Documents/Yemen%20EWIPA%20report.pdf. 227 Confidential Sources on File. 228 Confidential Sources on File. 229 Confidential Sources on File. 230 Confidential Sources on File. 224 44