A/HRC/42/CRP.1 beings and cut their hair short. At least one of the women was subjected to forced nudity. The same woman described to the Group how she was subjected to vaginal and anal rape on multiple occasions by different Houthi men. During the rapes the men used humiliating verbal abuse and told her she had been Saleh’s property but was now a Houthi spoil-of-war. She described interrogations afterwards during which she was accused of prostitution and other false accusations, and ordered to make false confessions on video. When she refused, she was tortured with electrocutions, and beatings.783 The Group of Experts had not completed its investigations into this case at the time of finalization of the report. 489. In the demonstration on 21 March 2018, on mother’s day, the demonstrators sought to lay flowers near the house of the former president, but were prevented by the Houthis who attacked them.784 After the attack at least 60 women were detained and taken to detention facilities in Sana’a, including police station buildings.785 While there, “Zeinabiyyat” women guards serving as agents of the de facto authorities tortured and illtreated them, including sexually assaulting three women by purposefully striking their vulvas through their clothing with electric batons. 786 They only released the women after mediation, into the custody of male family members. 787 The Houthis sought to keep some of the women for longer for unknown reasons. There are reports that 11 women and girls detained on that day were not released and remain disappeared. Investigations into this by the Group of Experts are ongoing.788 The public violations against GPC women demonstrators have had a significant chilling effect on women’s political participation in Sana’a.789 (e) Detention of GPC Members 490. Since 2 December 2017, a number of GPC members and their relatives have reportedly been arbitrarily detained and have disappeared, sometimes for months at a time. This includes the detention of members of the GPC senior leadership, relatives of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and multiple staff members of the media station Yemen alYoum.790 491. The Group verified four such cases of detention of GPC affiliates between December 2017 and December 2018 of between three weeks and nine months duration. 791 In one case, a detainee was forcibly disappeared at Ibb Political Security prison where he was subjected to torture, including sexual assault by being beaten on his testicles. 792 In another case, a GPC member was detained for three weeks along with her relatives including her two young children at Dhamar Political Security Prison. 793 492. In another case, a GPC member who worked for the de facto authorities, and members of his family, were detained after the GPC member refused to enact Houthi policies and orders that he did not agree with. 794 In another case, a GPC supporter publicly criticised the Houthis, and was forcibly disappeared by the Houthis for over nine months. The Houthis used false charges of prostitution to ‘legitimise’ her detention, and further prevent the family from pursuing the case given the severe stigma and consequences attached to such accusations.795 783 Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File. 785 Confidential Sources on File. 786 Confidential Sources on File. 787 Confidential Sources on File. 788 Confidential Sources on File. 789 Confidential Sources on File. For further details on the Group’s findings, see above section in this chapter on Restrictions on fundamental freedoms, including resulting arbitrary detention. 790 Confidential Sources on File. 791 Confidential Sources on File. 792 Confidential Sources on File. 793 Confidential Sources on File. 794 Confidential Sources on File. 795 Confidential Sources on File. 784 121