A/HRC/42/CRP.1 faith. In a separate letter1322, the de facto authorities stated that freedom of religion and belief were guaranteed by the Yemeni Constitution, noting nevertheless there were “no racial, linguistic or religious minorities in Yemen, apart from the Jewish community”. Findings 821. International human rights law guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and religion.1323 Similar to other fundamental freedoms, the freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs may be restricted, but only as provided by law and as necessary for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others, as well as for the protection of national security, public safety, order, health or morals. In addition, non-discrimination is enshrined in international human rights law and duty-bearers have to respect and ensure the rights of individuals subject to their jurisdiction without distinction of any kind, including those based on religion.1324 822. International human rights law guarantees the right to liberty and security of person and provides that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. 1325 Arbitrary detention is also prohibited under international humanitarian law.1326 Considered as arbitrary are deprivations of liberty that result from the exercise of fundamental freedoms, as well as detention based on discriminatory grounds. 1327 In the cases described above, there are reasonable grounds to believe that members of the Baha’i faith have been detained on the basis of their belief. Accordingly, the Group of Experts has reasonable grounds to believe that the de facto authorities have arbitrarily detained members of the Baha’i faith. 2. The marginalized “Muhamasheen” community “When the war came, it was a death sentence for us…we left our homes forcibly and we reached places that are not our places, where some people could not accept us, or rather refused for us to live in their lands temporarily until the war ended and we returned to our homes… This was the tragedy, when we felt we were living in exile inside of our exile, while being in our own country…”1328 Displaced member of the “Muhamasheen” community, Ta’izz 823. The “Muhamasheen”, meaning the “marginalized ones”, is a denomination given to a social minority in Yemen that suffers from ancestry-based discrimination. The “Muhamasheen” are sometimes referred to by the derogatory name “al-Akhdam”, meaning “the servants.” Their numbers are estimated between 500,000 and 3.5 million individuals.1329 While Yemeni laws do not discriminate against the “Muhamasheen”, the entrenchment of social stigma and myths surrounding them have led to their sustained isolation from the remainder of Yemeni society. Although social caste systems were formally abolished with the advent of the Republic of Yemen in 1990, the “Muhamasheen" remained confined to slums in most cities, and could not easily inter-marry with other Yemenis. Most worked in various cleaning roles including public cleaning jobs such as garbage collection and street sweeping1330. 824. The “Muhamasheen” were among those who took to the streets in the 2011 Arab Spring protests and were represented in the National Dialogue Conference. However while laws affording them protection were proposed, they have not been adopted due to the conflict, which represented a significant step backwards and had a negative impact on “Muhamasheen” communities throughout Yemen. As the conflict unfolded, in Ta’izz for 1322 Letter dated 30 May 2019. Article 18 ICCPR. 1324 Article 2 ICCPR. 1325 See Article 9 ICCPR; See also Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 9. 1326 See ICRC Study on customary IHL, rule 99. 1327 See Methods of work of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, A/HRC/36/38). 1328 Confidential Sources on File. 1329 See Report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, A/HRC/31/56 – para 37 1330 Ibid. 1323 197