A/HRC/43/56 periods of flooding and draught, provoked conflicts from December 2018 to November 2019 between pastoralists and farmers over access to water and grazing crop fields. Competition over such resources was strained not only by climate-induced factors but also by struggles for dominance and allegiances along ethnic, tribal and subclan lines. 60. Localized conflicts countrywide have largely been characterized by the absence of the State and of the rule of law, the proliferation of light and heavy weaponry and the State’s failure to establish and encourage a shared national identity. For some communities, their ongoing experiences with ethnic and intercommunal violence is so intense and localized that the independence of South Sudan may have little meaning for them in terms of their daytoday security. Many communities say that independence has only ended a certain kind of war. 61. The Commission notes with deep concern that, during the period under review, parties to the conflict exploited local rivalries, manipulating historical divisions between communities and instrumentalizing ethnic identities in order to marginalize and drive the displacement of populations presumed dissident to one party or another. For example, it received credible information that members of government forces armed militias with light and heavy weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles (Kalashnikovs), rocket-propelled grenades and PK machine guns, to carry out brutal attacks against neighbouring communities, often during periods of cattle migration. The intentional failure of the State to provide security or to hold perpetrators accountable for these acts reportedly forced civilians to organize their own self-defence mechanisms and to join or align with armed actors for protection. As armed conflict at the national level mostly transformed into localized conflicts at the beginning of December 2018, the Commission documented several incidents emblematic of this prevailing violence (see annex II, paras. 13–36). Between late February and May 2019 alone, UNMISS recorded 152 incidents of localized violence resulting in some 531 deaths and 317 injuries, a 192 per cent increase in casualties compared with the same period in 2018 (S/2019/491, para. 27). 62. Attacks across the Jur River area in Western Bahr el-Ghazal were characterized by killings, rape and sexual violence, abduction and the looting and destruction of property (see annex II, paras. 13–36). The Commission was informed in a confidential meeting on 12 October 2019 that, similarly, conflict between the Apuk and Aguok communities in Gogrial (Warrap) reportedly resulted in more than 300 civilians being killed, abductions of women and children, the burning of homes and the destruction of civilian property and medical facilities. 63. Between December 2018 and May 2019, the border area between Unity and Warrap States was marked by numerous attacks and counter-attacks between the Bul Nuer from Mayom (Unity) on one side, and the Dinka from Tonj and Twic (Warrap) on the other. 63 These attacks resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties and thousands of cattle looted by both sides.64 Lou Nuer, Dinka and Murle pastoralist communities similarly clashed in Jonglei (see annex II, paras. 13–36). 64. As groups of cattle keepers continued to be mobilized by military and civil authorities, the Commission examined the extent to which such groups fell under a formal organizational structure and found that numerous cattle camps had established a formal hierarchy, including to carry out attacks in Kuajena, Rocrocdong, Udici and Alur in Wau (Western Bahr el Ghazal). As one witness told the Commission, “the cattle keepers started organizing themselves in groups, and every two to three days, we would hear about another incident.” 65 The Commission found that, in instances where cattle keepers fell under a formal hierarchy and were provided with heavy or light weapons by parties to the conflict, such groups of civilians operated as organized militias under the command and control of parties to the conflict. 63 64 65 ERN 103303 – 103309; ERN 102974 – 102977; ERN 102978 – 102981; ERN 102982 – 102985. Information also sourced from a confidential field mission report. ERN 103303 – 103309. ERN 103249 – 103254. 15