A/HRC/42/CRP.1 344. The Group of Experts has reasonable grounds to believe that the Houthis used antipersonnel and anti-vehicle landmines in Ta’izz in violation of international humanitarian law. Given the way the mines were placed in unmarked locations frequented by civilians, with little or no warning given, the Houthis violated their obligation under international humanitarian law to minimize the indiscriminate effects of landmines. The use of antipersonnel mines is prohibited by the Antipersonnel Mine Ban Convention, to which Yemen is a party, the application of which has been acknowledged by the de facto authorities. 5. The “siege” of Ta’izz “It was their last attempt to make the city fall”513 345. When Yemeni armed forces and affiliated armed groups pushed Houthi-Saleh fighters out of Ta’izz city to its surrounding areas in July 2015, the latter engaged in attempts to weaken the Resistance and regain control of the embattled city. The centre of Ta’izz nevertheless remained under the military control of the Resistance, which by then had significant popular support. During the early stages of the conflict in Ta’izz, armed confrontations were taking place in different parts of the city, with Houthi-Saleh fighters aiming to reach its centre, which had been regained by the Government-affiliated Resistance. These attempts to take over Ta’izz centre nevertheless failed. By August/September 2015, Houthi-Saleh fighters had positioned themselves along the city’s main entrances, laying a “siege” that specifically affected the districts of al-Mudhafer, alQahira and al-Saleh. According to various sources,514 this new form of warfare in Ta’izz had built up gradually. It was quickly choking the city and mainly impacting its civilian population: “It was their last attempt to make the city fall”, one source from Ta’izz told the Group of Experts. The restrictions aimed at controlling the entry of weapons to the centre of Ta’izz were also imposed on drug supplies, equipment to run hospitals inside the city, oxygen tanks that were much needed for emergency rooms, and gas cylinders.515 346. Restrictions continued to increase and soon affected access to food items, such as vegetables, flour, sugar and even drinking water. At checkpoints set-up by Houthi-Saleh fighters, merchants were not allowed to enter with food items and civilians were allowed to carry in only sufficient amounts for their households, “not more than one kilo of vegetables at a time”516 sometimes. According to sources,517 the city relied on wells in de facto authorities-controlled territories and the absence of wells inside Ta’izz rendered the situation even more precarious. People relied on firewood, cardboard and plastic products to replace gas for cooking, as gas cylinders could not reach the city. What has been dubbed “the siege of Ta’izz” stands at the core of the governorate’s enduring suffering, and continued to affect its civilian population even as this report was being finalized. During the Group of Expert’s inquiries on Ta’izz, activists and residents of Ta’izz described the humanitarian impact of the “siege” as its greatest tragedy518. 347. While the city was never completely sealed, as civilians were able to leave Ta’izz and as different weeks and months saw different measures being imposed, in their arbitrariness, the measures nevertheless significantly contributed to a dire humanitarian situation inside the city. The varying measures made essential goods as well as medical supplies unavailable, impacting people’s human rights including to healthcare and food. By October 2015, two thirds of the inhabitants of Ta’izz had already fled the city. 519 By that time, only 175,000 to 200,000 remained, an estimated one-third of its pre-war population. In October 2015, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen spoke of the 513 Statement from a confidential source, on file with the Group of Experts. Confidential Sources on File. 515 Confidential Sources on File. 516 Confidential Sources on File. 517 Confidential Sources on File. 518 Confidential Sources on File. 519 OCHA, “Statement of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Johannes Van Der Klauuw, on the dire situation in Taizz City”, 24 October 2015, available at https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/humantarian_coordinator_for_yemen_statement _on_situation_in_taizz_-_en_-_24._october_2015.pdf. 514 82