A/HRC/27/44 I. Introduction 1. The present report is the fifth periodic report on the human rights situation in Yemen submitted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) pursuant to Human Rights Council resolutions 18/19, 21/22 and 24/32. It provides an updated assessment of the overall human rights situation in Yemen from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014, particularly against the backdrop of the recommendations contained in previous High Commissioner’s reports and Council resolutions 18/19 and 21/22. The information contained in this report is based primarily on human rights monitoring carried out by the OHCHR office in Yemen (OHCHR–Yemen). II. Background A. International legal framework 2. Yemen is party to eight of the nine core international human rights treaties, as well as to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure. On 11 June 2013, the Cabinet approved the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and endorsed the accession of Yemen to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. However, the Parliament has yet to approve the ratification of those conventions as well as the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In April 2014, the Cabinet approved the ratification of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. 3. Yemen is party to all four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, as well as to Additional Protocols I and II to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, and it is also bound by the customary rules of international humanitarian law. 4. As a State party to the above-mentioned treaties, Yemen is legally bound to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of those within its jurisdiction. During the reporting period, in reviewing the implementation by Yemen of its treaty obligations, the relevant human rights treaty bodies have noted that violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights persist on a considerable scale. B. Political developments 5. The Gulf Cooperation Council and the Agreement on the implementation mechanism for the transition period in accordance with the initiative of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Transition Agreement) signed on 23 November 2011, brought an end to the 2011 popular uprising and brokered a political settlement in Yemen. The Transition Agreement envisaged a two-phase transition. The first phase included early presidential elections, which took place on 21 February 2012 and saw the election of President Abd Rabu Mansur Hadi. The second phase commenced with the broad National Dialogue Conference, which concluded on 25 January 2014. The remaining key milestones expected to bring the transition period to its closure include the constitutional drafting process, a constitutional referendum, parliamentary and local council elections, as well as presidential elections. 3