A/HRC/45/CRP.3 in Western Bahr el Ghazal State. Sustained attacks carried out against numerous towns and villages across Western Bahr el Ghazal State over the course of a number of years resulted in significant numbers of deaths, rapes, and the destruction, arson, and looting of properties. The resultant physical and food insecurity left civilians with no alternative and compelled them to flee to safety elsewhere. 94. As such, these crimes may also amount to the crime against humanity of deportation or forcible transfer under Article 3(d) of the Draft Statute of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan. Furthermore, the targeted nature of the attacks, along ethnic lines, due to perceived support for the opposition, may amount to the crime against humanity of persecution along political and/or ethnic grounds under Article 3(h) of the Draft Statute of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan. VI. 1. Jonglei State (2014-2020) Background to conflict and food insecurity 95. Fighting in Jonglei State erupted almost immediately after the armed conflict had broken out in Juba on 15 December 2013. Within days, on 18 December, opposition forces reportedly led by the SPLA 8th Division Commander attacked Panpandiar and Malual-Chaat military camps near the Jonglei State capital of Bor town.163 Days later, on 22 December at approximately 4.00 a.m., Government forces arrived in Bor. Civilians split along ethnic lines, with the Nuer fleeing to the protection of civilians site at the compound of the United Nations Missions in South Sudan (UNMISS) (Annex VII).164 Dinka residents fled to Goluar, while some Lou Nuer youth (“White Army”) descended upon Bor165 and began organising themselves to coordinate a counterattack.166 96. By approximatively 8.00 a.m. on 22 December 2013, the Lou Nuer youth defeated Government soldiers, forcing their retreat to Gut-Makur village,167 home to Dinka Bor cattle camps. The clashes displaced tens of thousands of civilians who consequently fled to the UNMISS protection of civilians site.168 By 22 December 2013, more than 20,000 civilians had been displaced from Jonglei State to neighbouring Lakes State, where most lacked access to adequate food, potable water, shelter, and medicine.169 At around the same time, SPLA soldiers reinforced by the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces defeated the Lou Nuer youth in Bor.170 97. The Commission received credible information that, on or about 21 February 2017, SPLA Division 1 forces led by the Lieutenant General launched an attack in northern Jonglei, including against Yuai town (Uror County).171 SPLA forces embarked on a brutal campaign in Yuai town, attacking the civilian population and destroying the town including through the pillage and destruction of civilian property. As recalled by one witness, “When the soldiers were raiding the town, they didn’t differentiate between the humanitarians, civilians, or soldiers”.172 SPLA Division 1 soldiers set fire to civilian 163 The Conflict in Jonglei State, HUMAN SECURITY BASELINE ASSESSMENT FOR SUDAN AND SOUTH SUDAN, 31 March 2014, available at http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/facts-figures/south-sudan/conflict-of-2013-14/the-conflict-in-jonglei.html. 164 ERN 102918 – 102924, para. 5. 165 ERN 102918 – 102924, para. 5. As a self-defence group, the Lou Nuer youth community mobilised to protect their land from attack. See, e.g., ERN 102918 – 102924, para. 12. Also known as the “White Army”, this group has its own command structure and operates without orders from the SPLA-IO. ERN 103701 – 103714, para. 9. 166 ERN 102918 – 102924, para. 6. 167 ERN 102918 – 102924, para. 6. 168 ERN 102918 – 102924, para. 6. 169 Lakes state hosts over 20,000 displaced from Jonglei, SUDAN TRIBUNE, 22 December 2013, available at https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article49293. 170 ERN 102918 – 102924, para. 7. 171 ERN 103353 – 103357, para. 7. 172 ERN 103353 – 103357, para. 8. 24