A/HRC/45/6 within 24 hours as required under the Yemeni constitution. Many cases investigated by the Group involved persons being detained by militias affiliated with authorities in control of territory, and held without charge for prolonged periods, including in unofficial and secret detention sites. In many cases, political considerations have been key motivating factors, with persons being detained on the basis of perceived affiliation with an opposing party and some being held for the purpose of prisoner exchange deals. The Group was informed that in some cases the Houthis required payments from the families for the release of detainees. 63. Those in detention are frequently subjected to torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Group of Eminent Experts investigated cases in Sana’a of women and men, including journalists and human rights defenders, arbitrarily detained by the Houthis in prisons, such as Sana’a Central Prison, unofficial facilities such as the security and intelligence detention centre, and in secret detention facilities, including former residential buildings in and around Sana’a, as described in paragraph 70 below. Many of these individuals were tortured, including being subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, sexual violence, suspension for prolonged periods of time, electrocution, burning, beating and mock executions. 64. Similar cases of torture, including sexual violence, and other forms of ill-treatment, were verified at Al-Saleh Prison in Ta’izz, particularly in the national security section operated by the Houthis. The Group of Eminent Experts verified that 14 men and 1 boy had been subjected to torture, including sexual violence in eight cases, to extract written confessions or punish them while levelling accusations of affiliations to different political and military groups. Methods included repeated and severe beatings with sticks, electric cables or iron bars; electrocution; removal of fingernails; the electrocution and beating of the genitals with threats of sterilization; forced nudity; and solitary confinement. Those tortured included human rights activists, educators and legal professionals. Three former detainees described to the Group how they had been transferred from Al-Saleh Prison to the Dhamar Community College detention facility and the “Al-Ghabra’a” facility in the north of Dhamar Governorate, and subjected to torture during interrogations at the latter two facilities, including sexual violence by electrocution of the genitals in two of the cases. 65. In relation to the Government of Yemen, the Group of Eminent Experts verified the cases of five men and two boys who, while being detained by Yemeni armed forces in the Ma’rib political security prison, had been subjected to torture, including suspension in painful positions, crawling on broken glass and screws, beating and electrocution of genitals with threats of sterilization, and the burning of genitals. 66. The Group of Eminent Experts continued to investigate arbitrary detention and torture, including sexual violence against men and boys, perpetrated by United Arab Emirates forces prior to their withdrawal from Yemen in mid-2019, at the secret detention facility in Al-Buraiqeh coalition base in Aden. The Group verified two further cases from that period, in which members of the forces raped one man and subjected one boy to another form of sexual violence. 67. The Group of Eminent Experts found reasonable grounds to believe that parties to the conflict are continuing to engage in enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture, including sexual violence, in violation of international human rights law and, depending on the level of nexus with the conflict, international humanitarian law. Such acts may also amount to war crimes, including cruel treatment and torture, committing outrages upon personal dignity, and rape and other forms of sexual violence. E. Gender-based violence 68. Patriarchal gender norms and marginalization of women and girls, as well as persons with a non-conforming sexual orientation and/or gender identity, have continued to be entrenched by parties to the conflict. Women, girls, men and boys remain at serious risk of all forms of gender-based violence, including sexual violence. While this section is focused on violations committed by the Security Belt Forces backed by the United Arab Emirates, and the Houthis, it should be read in conjunction with findings on sexual violence 11