A/HRC/45/6 33. For example, on 5 April 2020, several mortar rounds, fired by the Houthis, hit the Central Prison in the north-west of Ta’izz city. One round killed six women (five inmates, one guard) and two girls, and injured six women, in the women’s section of the prison. The prison is located in the middle of a residential area, adjacent to what is commonly known as the “social welfare compound”. The 17th Brigade of the Ta’izz Axis Command of the Yemeni armed forces had been using this social welfare compound as an administrative headquarters. Analysis of the impact crater and blast radius indicate the mortars were fired from a northerly direction, reportedly controlled by the Houthis. 34. In another series of incidents, the “Al-Raqw” market in the Munabbih District of Sa’ada Governorate was hit by three mortar shell attacks. The Group of Eminent Experts verified that the latest such incident occurred on 24 December 2019, when at least two mortar shells landed on the market. The Group established that at least two shells fell on the market on 20 November 2019 and it is still investigating a reported third attack on 27 November, as well as the number of victims of each attack. The market is understood to be an informal hub and transit centre for Yemenis, Ethiopians and Somalis, and a key location for cross-border smuggling activities into Saudi Arabia. According to the Office of the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, at least 89 civilian casualties, including migrants, resulted from this series of attacks. The Joint Incident Assessment Team acknowledged only the December incident, claiming that coalition land forces were responding to armed elements firing at them from a location 90 m from the market. The Assessment Team added it was likely that one of the mortar shells had landed on the market due to a technical failure or changing weather conditions. The Group received evidence contradicting this explanation. 35. The Group of Eminent Experts found reasonable grounds to believe that such incidents amount to indiscriminate attacks prohibited under international humanitarian law, being either attacks not directed at a specific military objective, and/or attacks involving a means of warfare not capable of being directed at a specific military objective. Indiscriminate attacks constitute a war crime under customary international law. Such incidents also reflect a failure to take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian casualties under international humanitarian law. 3. Attacks affecting hospitals 36. Among the civilian objects damaged by indiscriminate rocket shelling have been hospitals and medical facilities. Damage to such critical infrastructure has the effect of exacerbating the already grave humanitarian crisis by further reducing access to health care. 37. For instance, the Group of Eminent Experts investigated damage inflicted on Jafrah hospital and the Al-Saudi field hospital in Majzar District, Ma’rib Governorate, by rocket shelling, allegedly by the Houthis. On 7 February 2020, a Katyusha rocket exploded in the yard of Jafrah hospital, resulting in extensive damage to the building and the wounding of one male paramedic. Most medical services were interrupted and hundreds of patients were transferred to Ma’rib hospital. At dawn the next day, two Katyusha rockets hit the Al-Saudi field hospital, a mobile clinic adjacent to Jafrah hospital, damaging the facility. The facilities were located in an area controlled at the time by the Yemeni armed forces, although eyewitnesses recounted that there was no military presence inside or around either hospital. Since 15 June, Houthi forces have occupied both facilities and converted them into military barracks. This increases the risk they may be attacked in the future and deprives Ma’rib’s population, mainly comprised of internally displaced persons, of access to health care at these facilities. 38. The Group of Eminent Experts does not have sufficient information to conclude that these attacks were directed at the hospitals. The Group found reasonable grounds to believe, however, that these attacks were, at a minimum, prohibited indiscriminate attacks owing to the imprecise nature or deployment of the weapons used. Further investigations are required to confirm the party responsible for these attacks. 7