A/HRC/42/CRP.1 265. The cessation in assassination of religious leaders on 23 October 2018 and the marked decrease in assassinations in Aden from then until May 2019 coincides with the United Arab Emirates, Southern Transitional Council and Security Belt achieving increasing control in the South. However, between 1 and 28 May 2019 three Southern Movement members who opposed the Southern Transitional Council were reportedly killed in three separate assassinations in Aden. Southern Movement members have also received threats and been detained at least until June 2019 for expressing anti-Southern Transitional Council or anti-United Arab Emirates sentiments.367 266. In a televised broadcast on September 2018 and public statements in November 2018, Hani Bin Breik stated that members of al-Islah who had been assassinated were killed by other al-Islah members after they began supporting southern secessionism. 368 In December 2018, Hani Bin Breik stated during an interview with a journalist that the United Arab Emirates were supporting a ‘fight’ against al-Islah.369 267. On 4 December 2018, around the height of the assassinations, an open source video was published naming 10 perpetrators who were part of an assassination cell within the Security Belt, in particular the Anti-Terrorism Unit. The author of this video was reportedly killed. In 2019, government authorities arrested three of these individuals on suspicion of a series of assassinations including at least one of the cases investigated by the Group. The officials investigating and prosecuting these cases were subjected to intimidation and threats from United Arab Emirates and Security Belt forces. In February 2019 these three individuals were formally charged pending trial.370 268. On 17 July 2019, coinciding with the announcement by the United Arab Emirates of the withdrawal of some of its forces from Yemen, the Public Prosecutor reportedly released unverified documents detailing the charges against the three accused. These documents stated that Hani Bin Breik had ordered and aided these three to kill up to 26 religious leaders since 2016, with the suspected involvement of a UAE commander.371 269. The following are four emblematic cases of assassinations or assassination attempts investigated by the Group. The details of the additional six investigated cases are not published due to protection concerns. The Group’s conclusions in these cases are based on the totality of the evidence in all of these cases taken together with the above evidence and observations. Example Case 1: Attempted Assassination of MP Ansaf Ali Mayo 270. On 29 October 2015 at 22:00 hrs at the Aden al-Islah office, Craiter, United Arab Emirates forces, including foreign mercenaries attempted to kill al-Islah Member of Parliament Ansaf Ali Mayo by detonating explosives at the front of the building. Ansaf was not present at the time. Twenty-five civilians, including 10 journalists working for international media, and al-Islah staff, some of whom were residing at the property, were present. Though there is no evidence that the blast caused any civilian casualties, a number of civilians were also shot and injured during this attack.372 271. Ansaf is the Member of Parliament for Craiter district, the head of the al-Islah parliamentary party and a prominent figure in the Arab Parliament. The location was previously the headquarters of al-Islah’s media department and became the Aden al-Islah headquarters, as well as a safe haven for independent journalists, including those fleeing the Houthis. The site was purely a civilian office, and publicly known as such, and the lone civilian security guard was deliberately and routinely unarmed.373 Following Ja’afar Sa’ad’s 367 Confidential Sources on File. Comprehensive Report on File. 369 Comprehensive Report on File. 370 Confidential Sources on File. 371https://twitter.com/saleh_binali/status/1150776072499290113/photo/1; https://almasdaronline.com/articles/169695. 372 Confidential Sources on File. 373 Confidential Sources on File. 368 63