A/HRC/40/CRP.1
By September 2018, the SPLA was controlling Mboro with approximately 100
soldiers. They were occupying the school and dispensary.1314
Another major SPLA attack occurred on 3 October 2018 in Ngoko. The SPLA arrived
in military vehicles including four Urals (large military lorries) and two tanks mounted with
guns from the direction of Mboro rather than the direct road from Wau, taking residents by
surprise.1315 The attack started in the early morning with heavy shelling which lasted until
sundown and the whole attack lasted for three days.1316
Although Ngoko had been “under SPLA-IO control” for the past two years, there were
no SPLA-IO forces permanently based in the village and they would only come to Ngoko
from time to time.1317 Multiple witnesses told the Commission that there were no opposition
fighters in Ngoko at the time of the attack, only civilians.1318
At least 40 soldiers, perhaps as many as 100, were seen shooting into the village and
after civilians as they fled into the bush even as they could hear children crying.1319 One
woman described:
[…] I now saw many soldiers on foot walking around the village. I had my granddaughter in
my arms when I sneaked back to the village, and she started crying, probably because of the
gunshots. This attracted the attention of the soldiers, and they started shooting in my
direction. From another direction, I heard a woman screaming. I think she was hiding in the
bush. The soldiers started shooting in her direction as well. 1320
Multiple civilians were killed including, a woman, an elderly man, and five-year-old
boy who was shot as he was fleeing.1321
The market and houses in Ngoko were burned down in part by the bombardment and
in part by being set alight afterwards.1322 The smoke rising for the burning village was visible
to those who had fled into the bush five kilometres away. 1323 The residents of Ngoko had
been warned by people in Mboro and Wau of a possible attack following the attack on
Mboro.1324 As a result, many had hidden and buried their harvests in the bush so that they
would not be looted or destroyed. However, the SPLA set fire to the whole bush area.1325
The SPLA soldiers looted the town including sacks of grain, mattresses beds, and
chairs and loaded them onto their vehicles.1326 Witnesses explained that they had recently
harvested their crops and described seeing the looted items being brought back into Wau
town and sold in the market.1327
1314
Witness 914, ERN 101788-101793, para. 9; Confidential Document, ERN D113975-D113981.
Witness 967, ERN 101914-101919, para. 9; Witness 928, ERN 101842-101847, paras. 5, 13; Witness 930, ERN 101794-101798,
paras. 5, 7; Witness 876, ERN 101573-101576, paras. 5, 6; Confidential Document, ERN D113982-D113986; Confidential
Meeting, Wau, 4 December 2018.
1316 Witness 967, ERN 101914-101919, para. 5; Witness 928, ERN 101842-101847, paras. 5, 6; Witness 930, ERN 101794-101798,
para. 5; Confidential Meeting, Wau, 20 October 2018.
1317 Witness 967, ERN 101914-101919, para. 10.
1318 Witness 967, ERN 101914-101919, para. 10; Witness 930, ERN 101794-101798, para. 11; Witness 928, ERN 101842-101847,
para. 14; Witness 876, ERN 101573-101576, para. 5; Confidential Meeting, Wau, 20 October 2018.
1319 Witness 928, ERN 101842-101847, para. 7; Witness 930, ERN 101794-101798, paras. 6, 7; Confidential Meeting, Wau,
20 October 2018.
1320 Witness 930, ERN 101794-101798, para. 6.
1321 Witness 928, ERN 101842-101847, paras. 9, 10; Witness 914, ERN 101788-101793, para. 11; Witness 930, ERN 101794101798, para. 8; Witness 876, ERN 101573-101576, para. 8; Confidential Meeting, Wau, 20 October 2018.
1322 Confidential Meeting, Wau, 20 October 2018; Confidential Document, ERN D113982-D113986; Witness 967, ERN 101914101919, para. 14; Witness 930, ERN 101794-101798, para. 8.
1323 Witness 928, ERN 101842-101847, paras. 6, 7.
1324 Witness 928, ERN 101842-101847, para. 5; Witness 876, ERN 101573-101576, para. 5.
1325 Witness 928, ERN 101842-101847, para. 11; Witness 970, ERN 101925-101929, paras. 8, 9.
1326 Witness 967, ERN 101914-101919, para. 8; Witness 930, ERN 101794-101798, para. 9; Witness 876, ERN 101573-101576,
para. 12.
1327 Witness 878, ERN 101587-101592; Witness 953, ERN 101930–101935; Witness 881, ERN 101582-101586, para. 12; Witness
955, ERN 101870-101875, para. 11; Witness 954, ERN 101864-101869, para. 13.
1315
165
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