A/HRC/42/CRP.1
in the immediate vicinity of the market, where there usually were large gatherings of
Houthi-Saleh fighters and where they parked their vehicles. 231
Musa’ab Bin Omer School
188. On 9 July 2015, at 13:00 hrs, a coalition airstrike hit Musa’ab Bin Omer School in
Tahrour district of Lahij province, killing 11 civilians and injuring 19 others. The injured
included three women and seven children, including a five-month-old baby. The strike fell
in the middle of the eastern side of the building, severely damaging the school, with seven
classrooms destroyed and the remaining classrooms considerably damaged.232 Sources
indicated that the airstrike may have targeted an alleged Houthi-Saleh fighters’ position
within the school. At the time of the airstrike, the school was providing shelter to 12
displaced families who had fled from fighting in neighbouring al-Hawtah.233 The school
building was still in ruins after the fighting subsided, so when classes resumed they were
held in tents.234
189. On 7 June 2018, the JIAT stated that on that morning, the coalition air forces had
carried out two airstrikes against two buildings in which armed Houthi fighters were
located, situated kilometres away from the school.235 On 1 January 2019, the JIAT and the
National Commission of Inquiry visited the site of the school and spoke with the personnel
of the school and with the families of the victims. 236 The Group of Experts is not aware of
any further outcomes from the visit or investigations into the incident.
Al-Husseini mosque
190. On 16 July 2015, around 12:00 hrs, a coalition airstrike hit the al-Husseini mosque,
in the Craiter district of Aden. The strike destroyed the mosque entirely, and only two
external minarets on the courtyard of the mosque remained.237 The al-Husseini mosque was
Aden’s renowned Shi’a mosque, built at the end of the 19th century. The mosque was also
part of the larger, Husseini complex, alongside a recently renovated building in the same
courtyard. The mosque had a particular religious, historical, and cultural importance for
Aden’s minority Shi’a community, many members of which had left the city before the
2015 offensive, out of fear of persecution. The al-Husseini mosque was not operational
during the 2015 fighting.238 According to two residents of Craiter, the mosque was closed
throughout the war and no fighters had entered or occupied its premises. 239
191. After examining a satellite image dated 15 July 2015, the JIAT concluded that there
had been no damage to the mosque. However, this analysis appears to be based on analysis
of an image from a day before the incident.240
192. After the withdrawal of the Houthi-Saleh fighters from Aden, the Resistance
removed the remaining rubble and turned what remained of the al-Husseini mosque into a
Sunni mosque, which they renamed as the Mosque of the Sunni Martyrs. 241
Violations
231
Confidential Sources on File.
Confidential Sources on File.
233 Confidential Sources on File.
234 Confidential Sources on File.
235https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewstory.php?lang=ch&newsid=1774060.
236 Confidential Sources on File. Aden Times, JIAT and National Commission of Inquiry visit victims
in Lahij, 1 January 2019, http://aden-tm.net/NDetails.aspx?contid=67875.
237 Confidential Sources on File. See also: Mwatana for Human Rights, The Degradation of History,
Violations Committed by the Warring Parties against Yemen’s Cultural Property, November 2018;
A/HRC/33/38, Situation of human rights in Yemen, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights.
238 Confidential Sources on File.
239 Confidential Sources on File.
240 https://www.spa.gov.sa/viewfullstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1785164.
241 Confidential Sources on File.
232
45
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