A/HRC/42/CRP.1 forces and taken to Ma’rib. At the time of writing, Government authorities were reportedly trying to reach the child’s parents.1072 687. Witnesses provided additional information into the methods of recruitment by the Houthis as well as the indoctrination methods being carried out at schools. 1073 While on certain occasions, children were abducted and forced to join the fighting as Houthi fighters,1074 in other instances the Group of Experts observed that children have either followed members of their family or individuals associated with the forces after ideological training programmes. On other occasions, children have joined the Houthis to support their families financially.1075 Witnesses also reported that in every neighbourhood, there are people attracting and luring children to join the armed group. In Sana’a, these recruiters are or claim to be members of the Popular Committees, which the de facto authorities have reported to be formally part of the Houthi armed group.1076 688. Another method used for the recruitment of children is ‘indoctrination’. In public and private schools, officers regularly lecture children on the ‘Malazem’.1077 A mother told the Group she has nightmares about her son’s future. He, along with other children in his class in Sana’a, were shown pictures of dead children, dismembered, used to encourage them to fight. The Group of Experts received a first-hand account of a former teacher who was arrested because he refused to mobilize the youth and cooperate in a recruitment of children campaign in Amran. According to the witness, the Houthi armed group has a policy in place to recruit children, which is carried out in an organized and systematic manner.1078 689. The Group of Experts has reasonable grounds to believe that the Houthi armed group conscripted children under the age of 15 and in some cases, used them to participate in hostilities. Considered as serious violations of international humanitarian law, these actions may lead to individual criminal responsibility for war crimes. Additionally, the Houthis have violated national law and international human rights law prohibiting the recruitment of children under 18. Obligations of the parties under Article 6 (3) Optional Protocol to the CRC 690. To date, the Group of Experts has received little information of any action taken directly by the Government of Yemen and affiliated forces and armed groups to ensure demobilization,1079 disarmament, rehabilitation, and reintegration of children into society.1080 The Group is not aware of any actions taken by the parties to the conflict to release children. The only measure the Group is aware of is that on some occasions, following the capture of a child taking part in the hostilities, and reportedly with the prior authorization of their parents, the Yemeni armed forces have sent these children to a centre established by a non-governmental organization for the ‘rehabilitation’ of child soldiers in Ma’rib city.1081 1072 Confidential Sources on File. Confidential Sources on File. 1074 Confidential Sources on File. 1075 Confidential Sources on File. 1076 As per the Houthi response to the Group of Experts’ list of issues, this has been confirmed directly by the Houthis. See 31 May 2019 Letter from Houthis to Group of Experts. 1077 Lectures from the Houthi movement’s founder, Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi, transcribed into booklets known as ‘Malazem’. 1078 Confidential Sources on File. 1079 Note that the ‘disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration’ (DDR) programmes are different for children. According to the UN DDR Resource Centre, “children cannot be legally recruited, …[and] measures that aim to prevent their recruitment, or that attempt to reintegrate them into their communities, should not be viewed as a routine component of DDR, but as an attempt to prevent or redress a violation of children’s human rights” (UN DDR Resource Centre, n.d.). Available at http://www.unddr.org/. 1080 Optional Protocol II, Art. 6. 1081 Confidential Sources on File. 1073 165