A/HRC/40/CRP.1 under attack four times between 29 May and 3 July 2018.1148 A 40 year old man who was in Gandor at the time described one of these attacks on Gandor: Some of the women and children who had been hiding in the bushes decided to come out when the soldiers started aiming at the bushes. They came out waving their arms in the air. However, the soldiers aimed and killed some of them. They also raped some of the women and abducted some of the girls to be their ‘wives’. The men who were able to flee ran deep into the bush. The old men who had remained behind were rounded up and bundled into a Tukul. The soldiers closed the door of the Tukul and set it alight, burning them alive. I do not know the ages of these men, but all of them were old enough to be my father or even my grandfather.1149 The witness stated that at least 20 women and young girls were raped and gang raped during this particular attack, and that 15 women were burned in their tukuls while a further five women were shot and killed.1150 As they moved through villages, Government soldiers and affiliated militia targeted civilians with astonishing brutality. Witnesses recalled Government soldiers and affiliated militia killing everyone including women, children, and old men.1151 They described old men being hung from trees, and people burned in their tukuls where they hid, unable to run.1152 One witness recalled seeing four children, aged two, four, eight, and 15 years old being run over by a tank in Rukoy.1153 This same witness also saw a soldier hitting a one year old child against a tree until the child died.1154 As people fled into the swamp areas to hide, they were pursued by government amphibious tanks and shot at.1155 One witness recalled seeing a child shot in the back by an amphibious tank in Dablual in April.1156 While many died of gunshot wounds, others drowned.1157 A 32-year-old woman described fleeing from Mirmir to Pap where they hid in the swamp: We were trying to hide in the floating grass. But many people died of drowning. Those who managed to swim went to Thonyor. Then we continued in the swamps. Then we reached a place called Kar, also in the highlands and then we went to Kuydok. We had water up to the neck. All those days we were living in the water. We spent more than one month in the water with no food. We had to eat the water lilies to survive. Many children were lost. 1158 Most witnesses described rampant and brutal rape and sexual violence perpetrated against women and girls by soldiers and the militia.1159 One witness recalled that “they even raped one woman who had just delivered a baby. I understand that her baby was 1 to 2 months old. They even raped girls aged between 7 to 10 years old. The soldiers rammed a piece of wood into the vagina of one woman after they had raped her. They hung dead bodies from trees – both men and women.”1160 Some women died as a result of being raped, while one 1148 CTSAMM, Report 2018/30, Violations Against Civilians in the Gandor Area, Unity State, 17 August 2018; Witness 828, ERN 101804-101810, para. 17. 1149 Witness 828, ERN 101804-101810, para. 11. 1150 Witness 828, ERN 101804-101810, para. 12. 1151 Witness 827, ERN 101811-101816; Witness 828, ERN 101804-101810; Witness 826, ERN 101856-101863; Witness 842, ERN 101619-101622; Witness 792, ERN 101503-101507, para. 7; Witness 793, ERN 101499-101205, para. 5; Witness 789, ERN 101508-101511, para. 6. 1152 Witness 838, ERN 101632-101637, para. 13; Witness 825, ERN 101848-101855; Witness 827, ERN 101811-101816, para. 9; Witness 792, ERN 101503-101507, para. 6; Witness 873, ERN 101648-101652; Witness 823, ERN 101653-101658; Witness 828, ERN 101804-101810. 1153 Witness 793, ERN 101499-101205, para. 8. 1154 Witness 793, ERN 101499-101205, para. 8. 1155 Witness 839, ERN 101626-101631, para. 8; Witness 823, ERN 101653-101658; Witness 842, ERN 101619-101622. 1156 Witness 839, ERN 101626-101631, para. 9. 1157 Witness 826, ERN 101856-101863, para. 25; Witness 792, ERN 101503-101507, para. 9; Witness 793, ERN 101499-101205, para. 6. 1158 Witness 793, ERN 101499-101205, para. 6. 1159 Witness 792, ERN 101503-101507; Witness 789, ERN 101508-101511; Witness 827, ERN 101811-101816; Witness 828, ERN 101804-101810; Witness 826, ERN 101856-101863; Witness 841, ERN 101623-101625; Witness 837, ERN 101638-101642; Witness 823, ERN 101653-101658; Witness 838, ERN 101632-101637; Witness 837, ERN 101638-101642; Witness 872, ERN 101603-101608; Witness 873, ERN 101648-101652; Witness 789, ERN 101508-101511, para. 8. 1160 Witness 825, ERN 101848-101855, para. 18. 145