A/HRC/45/CRP.7 162. Unofficial detention facilities in Ta‘izz, including those located in public buildings, are believed to have been used to detain persons during their disappearance. These include Al-Nahda school, the Public Funds Office, the Oversight and Accounting Bureau, and the National Institute.223 Those disappeared are from a range of different backgrounds, but include people perceived to have criticised the military and Islah party. 163. Members of the public in Ta‘izz have regularly protested against enforced disappearances and there has been considerable local media coverage of individual cases. Ayoub Salihi and Akram Hameed are two well-known cases of individuals who have both been forcibly disappeared for over four years.224 Ayoub was a teacher and affiliated with the Nasserist Party. He was abducted on 12 June 2016 while driving his vehicle on Jamal street.225 His vehicle was subsequently sighted being driven by other people, including entering Al-Nahda school. It was suspected that he was being held in the school, which was used as an unofficial detention facility until late 2017 when it resumed its original function. Akram was a soldier in the 22nd Mechanised Brigade and reportedly active on social media highlighting looting by members of the military. He was last seen on 3 June 2016. Both Ayoub and Akram are still forcibly disappeared and, despite multiple requests for information including from the Committee for the Follow-up on the Forcibly Disappeared and Yemen’s Public Prosecutor,226 no information on their fate or whereabouts has been disclosed by any of the military, security or political actors in Ta‘izz. 164. The National Commission of Inquiry, the Ministry of Human Rights, and the Office of the Public Prosecutor have all called for information on the fate and whereabouts of individuals disappeared in Ta‘izz. In January 2019, Yemen’s Attorney-General, Ali AlAwash sent a letter with a list of 34 names of those forcibly disappeared227 to the Prosecutor General of the Court of Appeal in Ta‘izz to request details of their fate and to insist they be referred to the public prosecution if they were detained on criminal charges, or released immediately in accordance with the law. Correspondence seen by the Group between the Prosecutor General of the Court of Appeal in Ta‘izz and the military and security apparatus there centred on requests for information on the fate and whereabouts of certain individuals. Such calls and correspondence demonstrate high level knowledge of allegations of enforced disappearance. The Group understands that five cases of individuals forcibly disappeared were referred to the competent authorities in October 2019 and those individuals were released. In general, however, there has been a lack of proper investigation into cases of enforced disappearance. According to the Committee for the Follow-up on the Forcibly Disappeared, at least 50 individuals in Ta‘izz remain forcibly disappeared.228 165. There is a climate of fear in Ta‘izz for people seeking information on the fate and whereabouts of those disappeared. Families have been afraid to pursue cases, and the criminal justice responses to allegations of enforced disappearance remain limited. As discussed in para. 357, judges in Ta‘izz have faced a number of violent attacks and intimidation. The groups alleged to be responsible for enforced disappearance are mainly military actors, such as the 22nd Mechanised Brigade,229 military intelligence,230 which are affiliated to the AlIslah party, and the Resistance,231 which during military operations into villages would arrest 223 Confidential sources on file. Confidential source on file. 225 Confidential sources on file. 226 Confidential source on file. 227 Confidential source on file. 228 Confidential source on file. 229 Confidential source on file. 230 Confidential source on file. 231 There were several armed groups which formed the main Resistance in Ta‘izz , which emerged as the Houthis took over the city in April 2015. The government-aligned Popular Resistance Council was formed in April 2015 under the leadership of Hamoud Al-Mekhlafi. The Resistance joined forces with citizens from Ta‘izz and military brigades that remained loyal to President Hadi (battalions from the 22nd and 35th Ta‘izz brigades after the brigades split between the two parties). In early 2017, the resistance groups were incorporated into the national army and came under the control of the Ta‘izz Axis Command. 224 46