A/HRC/4/41 page 99 Discontinued cases 481. The Working Group decided, in accordance with paragraph 21 of its methods of work, exceptionally to discontinue consideration of 14 cases. The original source for these cases was no longer able to follow up and steps taken by the Working Group to establish communication with other sources were unsuccessful. The Working Group believes that it no longer has a useful role to play in trying to elucidate the whereabouts of the persons involved, as no follow-up can be given to the cases. The cases can be reopened at any time if they are presented again to the Working Group. Summary of the situation prior to the period under review 482. The majority of the reported cases occurred in 1986 in the context of the fighting that took place in the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen. Other cases occurred during the 1994 civil war. 483. Following its field mission to Yemen in 1998, the Working Group recommended that the Government consider establishing a special task force of the Supreme National Committee on Human Rights. The Working Group also recommended that the task force further develop procedures in order to take the necessary legal steps for the clarification of all cases (see E/CN.4/1999/62/Add.1 and Corr.1). Total cases transmitted, clarified and outstanding 484. In the past and during the period under review, the Working Group has transmitted 150 cases to the Government; of those, 1 case has been clarified on the basis of information provided by the source, 62 cases have been clarified on the basis of information provided by the Government, 14 cases have been discontinued, and 73 cases remain outstanding and under the sixth-month rule. Observations 485. The Working Group thanks the Government of Yemen for its efforts to clarify the outstanding cases, which could be an example for other countries. Zimbabwe Number of outstanding cases at the beginning of the period under review 3 Cases transmitted to the Government during the period under review Cases sent under Cases sent under the standard the urgent action procedure procedure 0 Number of cases on which the Government has replied 3 0 Cases clarified during the period under review by: Government Non-governmental sources 0 Multiple replies on some cases N/A 0 Number of outstanding cases at the end of the year under review 3 Number of cases of possible clarification by Government (6-month rule) N/A