A/HRC/36/33 Medical facilities and personnel 50. The conflict has ravaged the health system. According to the World Health Organization, as of October 2016, at least 274 health facilities had been damaged or destroyed by fighting, and 13 health workers had been killed and 31 had been injured while performing their duties. Some of those incidents were reportedly the result of direct, targeted attacks, while others resulted from indiscriminate attacks or were incidental. As of June 2017, less than 45 per cent of health facilities in the country were fully functional. Furthermore, many health personnel had been forced to relocate owing to insecurity and the risks associated with carrying out their duties. Abs Hospital 51. OHCHR investigated a coalition airstrike that took place on 15 August 2016 against Abs Hospital, in Hajjah Governorate.37 Within minutes of a vehicle — whose occupants were reportedly unarmed and wearing civilian clothing — entering the hospital compound, an airstrike hit the grounds of the hospital complex, near the emergency ward, where the vehicle had stopped and where a large number of patients and caregivers were awaiting treatment. 38 OHCHR verified that 19 civilians, including 1 woman and 3 children were killed and 28 were injured, including 4 women and 4 children. 52. Reportedly, in a communication immediately following the airstrike, a General of the coalition forces stated that the airstrike had been intended to target the vehicle that had entered the hospital compound. JIAT found that coalition forces had targeted a gathering of Houthi armed leaders in the north of the city, and that a vehicle leaving the targeted site was pursued and struck39 when it was near an unmarked building. Allegedly, the building was only later determined to be Abs Hospital. JIAT concluded that the incident was an “unintentional error”. 53. Following the attack, the hospital was out of service for 11 days. Once it reopened, many patients chose not to return to seek care for fear of future airstrikes. One survivor, who lost her husband in the attack, told OHCHR that she would not go to any hospital no matter how much pain she felt. As a consequence of that airstrike, inter alia, Médecins sans frontières evacuated its teams from six hospitals in Sa’ada and Hajjah governorates.40 Education facilities and cultural sites 54. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than half of the schools in Yemen have been damaged in the conflict, with 28 attacks on schools documented in the past year by the country task force on monitoring and reporting. 41 In addition, parties to the conflict occupied and used schools as fighting positions, detention centres and arms depots. The following two incidents were verified by OHCHR in the past year. 55. On 13 August 2016, in Juma’a Bin Fadil village, Haydan district, Sa’ada Governorate, an airstrike hit a religious school, killing at least 7 children and injuring 19 others. The children, aged between 6 and 14 years, were studying at the time. According to local residents and witnesses, the school was used solely for religious instruction, and no 37 38 39 40 41 OHCHR findings corroborate the findings of the internal investigation conducted by Médecins sans frontières, which ran the hospital, see www.msf.org/sites/msf.org/files/yemen_abs_ investigation.pdf. See annex II, figure IV. See www.spa.gov.sa/viewstory.php?lang=en&newsid=1567351. See www.msf.org/en/article/yemen-indiscriminate-bombings-and-unreliable-reassurances-saudi-ledcoalition-force-msf. The task force, established in the context of the monitoring and reporting mechanism on grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict, comprises 15 United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organizations. 11