Patrol to Ikotos

Last week I went on a Long Range Patrol to Ikotos. Ikotos is approximately 90 kilometres from Torit and about a three and a half hour drive. We were stopped at an SPLA checkpoint in a place called Kyala. This is always an unpredictable situation. The UNMOS have previously been stopped and detained there at the SPLA camp. I was in the lead vehicle and an SPLA soldier came to my door with his AK47 in hand. He was obviuosly drunk. A happy drunk though. I explained where we were going and what we were doing in the area and my language assistant translated. No problem. I shook hands with him and we went on our way. The patrol went well and we only suffered two flat tires which was good because we were quickly running out of spares. A local helped me out with our 2nd flat tire. I gave him my tilley hat for his help which he was quite happy with. Then he wanted my "Canadian" lanyard. We made a trade.

In Ikotos, as in other counties in our AOR (area of responsibility), we have a responsibility to support the UNPOL mandate by monitoring, mentoring, and training the SSPS as we do in Torit on a daily basis. Our area of responsibility is quite large. It is impossible to effectively fulfill our mandate and it is a constant battle that I face with both our Sector Headquarters and Main Headquarters. This is due to manpower shortages, lack of effecient vehicles, and the rainy season when many of these places are not accessible by road.

The Human Rights Section from Juba also joined our patrol as they had an investigation to conduct from an incident that occured in November of 2008. The County Commissioner had used the SPLA to investgate the murder of a Ugandan man in the area. Their investigation resulted in two 4 suspects being arrested which included an SSPS offcer, a prison warden, and two SPLA recruits. The SSPS officer and prison warden had hired the two SPLA recruits to kill a man. They were given 100 pounds ($50 dollars) to kill the man and they killed the wrong one. The SPLA ended up hanging these men upside down for 5 days beating and torturing a confession out of them. The end result was that one of them died. The cause of death was that the man bled to death from the wounds to his wrists caused by rope being tied too tight. Human Rights was investigating the death of this prisoner while in custody of the SPLA and the use of SPLA to investigate a murder instead of the SSPS. I guess that is what happens when you get a soldier to do the work of a police officer.

Upon arrival to Ikotos we visited the County Commissioner as a courtesy to announce our arrival. We were well received, but obviously there were some suspicions as to what the Human Rights Section was doing there. As UNPOLS we had to make sure that the local officials understood that Human Rights was a separate entity and that they would be acting on their own and that we were not involved at all in their investigation.

We then went to find a place to stay. We found some people that would rent us tukuls. It was great. I had wanted to sleep in a tukul and finally got the chance to do it. For $20.00 (which is actually pretty expensive) we all had our on tukul which included traditional Southern Sudanese cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The bathroom, as always, took a little getting used to.

We met with the SSPS Police Station Commander and were briefed on the security situation of the area. The usual problems exist regarding cattle raiding and violent clashes between different tribes over grazing rights. It is not rare to see a 12 year old boy carrying an AK-47 in these parts. They are not child soldiers as some might think, they carry weapons handed down from their fathers who had fought in the war to protect their families cattle from cattle raiders.

We spent two days conducting some on the job training with some of the local SSPS officers and also visted the SSPS detention cells. There were 9 people in custody, 4 men and 5 women. 8 people were being held for adultery and 1 woman for murdering her husband. The cell was filthy. I walked in and could barely breathe. The odour of urine and human feces filled the place which was one room in small rock building. The woman we were told slept outside at night.

We also visited the local prison and met with the Prison Commander. Under the guidance of my Corrections Officer we were able to do some basic training their as well. We were very well received by the prison officers, most of which had just graduated from basic training held in Torit. We were given a tour of the prison cells. One of the prison cells at the prison was simply a pit surrounded in thorn bushes. I prefer to go to jail in Canada...if that is what has to happen one day.

After 3 days we packed up and left the drive back to Torit went well and there were no problems. While driving back we drove by a boy who could not have been older than 12 years with an AK47 over his shoulder walking behind about 50 cows. That is the life in some of these parts. People kill each other for cattle. It is all about survival.

Well not too much longer and I'll be heading home. One week to be exact and I will start my check out process. It is beginning to feel a little awkward. This feels like home, but I am excited to go back to my other home to see my other friends and my family. I am sure it will not be a problem.

Oh yes. One more thing. We were able to successfully have Little Bashir released from the prison last week. When asked about his time in jail how he felt about finally being released, he just smiled. Hey, he is only 2 years old.

Cheers,

Rory

(Photos from top to bottom: 1) En-route to Ikotos, 2) Ant Noll, 3) Spoils of war could be found everywhere on the way, 4) Timone gave us a hand on the way, 5 & 6) My tukul, 7) My toilet, 8)After meeting and training at the local SSPS police station, 9) Prison Commander Major Bol REATH, 10) Armoured vehicle left over from the war, 11) Holding cell at the prison, 12) Lecturing the prison officers, 13) Group photo with the prison officers)

Little Bashir

Well, Christmas and New Years in Amsterdam were a nice and well needed break. It felt like Christmas mostly because of the cold and all of the “Red Lights”. It was a little harder to go home this time and if it was not for the cold I might have gone AWOL.

I returned to Torit from my Christmas vacation to find that nothing had been done regarding the 2 year old boy stuck in the Torit Prison. It has now been a month and a half since his mother escaped the prison. Her crime…adultery.

Bashir is his name and he had to spend Christmas alone without family in the Torit Prison which I must say is nothing like the correction facilities we have at home. There are no beds, nothing we would call a washroom, and only one meal a day. Makes me feel a little guilty for complaining about having to come back to Torit after my own Christmas vacation.

The goal is to find little Bashir a home. I have been working on the issue of little Bashir with Human Rights, Child Protection, and the Torit Child Welfare Office to try to find a solution. So far the best that can be done is that someone from the Torit Child Welfare Office will visit little Bashir at the prison once a week to check on his welfare and they have another female prisoner watching over him during the week. I visited the prison yesterday on this matter as well as others. I found little Bashir wandering around on his own wearing only a green tank top. No one was taking care of him. His belly distended likely
from malnutrition. Hopefully we can get him out
of here soon.

The conditions of the prison are abhorred. The toilet is a whole in the ground and the kitchen is definitely lacking the essentials. There are 19 children living in the prison right now with their mothers. 10 of them are below the age of 8 months. Many of the female prisoners end up giving birth to their children while in prison. Several of the prisoners are also sick and require medical attention. Some have been waiting for over a month.

It is busy here in Torit these days. The level of serious crimes seems to be increasing the closer we get to elections. Cattle raiding related deaths are occurring on almost a daily basis now and several people have been killed or injured. The most serious case involved a group of villages from Lopa County whereby they coordinated an attack on another group of villagers from stealing 259 cattle. The local government sent a group of both SSPS police officers and SPLA soldiers to investigate and establish security in the area. The victims of the attack received information that the people responsible for the attack were traveling in a group en route to their locality and ambushed the vehicles carrying the SSPS, SPLA, and some government officials killing 10 people. Tensions are now quite high in this area.

Yesterday one of my fellow Canadian RCMP contingent members, Constable Charles OBENG, was driving a UN marked vehicle on his way to conduct training in Wau. He was with two other UNPOL officers and a Language Assistant when he noticed that they were being followed by an SPLA vehicle armed with a machine gun. The SPLA vehicle passed them and cut them off. They got out and forced Constable Charles and his colleagues out of their vehicle at gun point yelling in Arabic or some other Southern Sudanese dialect. One of the SPLA soldiers went to strike Charles in the head with his AK47. Charles moved at the last second and was struck in the shoulder. The SPLA soldiers then got back into their vehicle and left. The reason for their actions is still unknown. In any case it is an unfriendly reminder that this place is very unpredictable and we have to remember to be constantly aware of our surroundings, watch our backs, and keep our heads down. We are all happy that Charles is okay.

The dry season is taking its toll on the community here and us. We are running out of water to shower with. Some days there is none. The have allocated 4.5 litres of water for us to use as drinking water which is not enough. I have taken to boiling the water now before drinking it. I can not handle the colour though so now I throw in a tea bag after boiling it to give it some flavour. I have about 4 weeks left here at my post and have been pretty busy. Between little Bashir, the almost daily killings due to cattle raidings, and the planning and coordinating of a few final Long Range Patrols before I leave I do not have a lot of free time, which is a good thing. I will be heading out on my last Long Range Patrol next week for 3 days and then it is all downhill from there.

Cheers,

Rory

(Photos from top to bottom: 1) The Torit Prison, 2) Little Bashir, 3)Female prisoners with their children. Many give birth while in prison and are nursing their newborns, 3) Mother with newborn, 4) Kitchen/cooking area, 5) Washroom, 6 & 7) Male prisoners who are very ill and have been waiting a month for medical attention, 8) Cpt. Mark ERKULANO (Deputy Prison Commander), Brig. Zacharia KUOL (OIC of Production), Col. Brown WUAK (Prison Commander), and Cpt. Anthony OHURO (Prison Adminstrator), 9) Little Bashir and I)