United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) says it has found no substantial evidence that 20 dead headless bodies were found at Juba Teaching Hospital, as claimed earlier this month.
Medical and police officials in Juba likewise have dismissed the rumors of the discovery of beheaded civilians in the South Sudanese capital.
This website South Sudan News Agency had stated that the victims were found in Mia Saba residential area, implying also they were displaced Nuers who had recently left UN-protected camp sites and returned home to the Juba neighborhood.
Jeffrey Buenger, UNMISS Protection Advisor, told reporters on Thursday that the peacekeepers found the report of the beheadings to be untrue.
As quoted by the Catholic Radio Network, Buenger said he suspected that it was a fabrication to stir up fears among the displaced people intending to return home, adding that the Mission was glad to find no truth in the story.
At the same news conference the UNMISS peacebuilding team leader Derk Segaar pointed that the peacekeepers allow free movement of displaced in and out of the UN compounds to allow them to go out to assess the security situation outside for themselves.
He added that they want the people to return home voluntarily as quickly as possible, depending on their personal safety.
Segaar pointed out that displaced move in and out of the base freely every day to go to the market or to go to work, coming back only at nighttime for fear of insecurity.
File photo
Related:
Juba officials dismiss rumors of beheadings (5 June)
UN human rights report: Central Equatoria (13 May)