A/HRC/42/61 25. Since the signing of the Peace Agreement on 6 February 2019, the fiercest clashes are reported to have become somewhat less frequent, but the weapons have not been silenced. The rainy season has apparently also helped moderate the fighting. The events of May 2019 in the Paoua area, with coordinated attacks by Retour, réclamation et réhabilitation, are the only major attack recorded since then. 26. The daily violence against the population has eased very little, especially in the provinces. Many of those interviewed drew the Independent Expert’s attention to the extortion – often extortion with violence – they experience at roadblocks, which have not yet been dismantled. There were reports of women and young people being subjected to harassment of all kinds, based on assumptions about which community they belong to, and of a sharp rise in petty crime during this period, particularly in Bangui. 27. Livestock migration continues to be a frequent cause of conflict in rural areas where the State still holds little sway. This applies chiefly to the north-west (Bouar, Bocaranga, Baboua), west (Berbérati, Gamboula, Amada-Gaza), west central (Bossembelé, Yaloké) and east central (Kouango, Bambari, Alindao, Kembé) regions, the north of Ouham prefecture and Nana-Grébizi prefecture. Relations between the transhumant herders and the farmers have worsened over the years owing to the disruption of transhumance routes, and this has led to cattle raiding followed by violent retaliation, which has had an increasing impact on people in these areas. The United Nations estimates that some 1.1 million people are in need in the areas affected.1 Over and above security measures, there is an increasingly urgent need to tackle the problem by devising preventive measures including community justice and policing. It is also necessary to regulate these movements, working together with the various stakeholders, including neighbouring countries. 28. Throughout her mandate, the Independent Expert has received reports of violations committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army. For example, in her 2017 report (A/HRC/36/64, para. 17), she showed how it continued to commit serious abuses against the civilian population, looting property and routinely abducting civilians, including children, and subjecting them to forced labour, forced recruitment and sexual violence. In view of the persistence, albeit on a smaller scale, of these attacks, the Independent Expert calls on the Central African authorities and MINUSCA to continue to keep a close eye on the problem and take all possible corrective measures. 29. The Independent Expert takes note of the continuing reform of the security sector, and of the disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation process, as well as the related challenges. 30. The Independent Expert also notes the efforts made to launch the special joint security units provided for in the Peace Agreement for an initial period of 24 months, with the main aim of securing the transhumance corridors. She understands that the provisions regarding the training of trainers and the logistics of the training courses were being implemented, and that funding had been secured. Some of those interviewed expressed concern at the inclusion in such units of members of armed groups who might have been responsible for past human rights violations, and that this might constitute a risk for the protection of civilians and a potential source of further violations. The Independent Expert was informed, by way of response, that recruits were required to undergo a prior vetting procedure conducted with the support of MINUSCA, and to go through the disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation process, and were then trained by Central African Armed Forces instructors supported by the European Union Military Training Mission in the Central African Republic, all of which should help allay these fears. To avoid any misunderstanding, the Independent Expert encourages the relevant authorities to clarify the chain of command in these units, and in particular the role of the military advisers to the Prime Minister, who are drawn from the armed groups. 31. The Independent Expert welcomes the continuing efforts aimed at the redeployment of the security forces and the public administration. For example, according to information 1 6 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Central African Republic, aperçu des besoins humanitaires (Overview of humanitarian needs) 2019 (October 2018). GE.19-13726