The UN Mission in South Sudan last night denied reports of mass graves in Unity State, saying it was unable to confirm this and suggesting that media reports may have exaggerated the number of bodies seen.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva put the initial number of discovered bodies at 75 but later revised this number downward to 34, clarifying that 75 were feared missing and presumed dead. Four local sources told Radio Tamazuj that the UN was not present at the burials.
“Latest reports suggest that this is an inflation of a skirmish resulting in about 15 fatalities, with details to be confirmed,” UNMISS stated, in a press release headed UNMISS denies report of mass grave in Unity State.”
According to various local sources, the graves the UN claims to have discovered are part of a collective burial authorized by the military authorities who have taken control over the town, Radio Tamazuj reported last night. The South Sudan Red Cross itself did not participate in the burials or document them, but volunteers were involved.
UNMISS said that it is not in a position to verify the existence of such a mass grave in Unity State thus far. At the same time, the peacekeeprs said they are “deeply concerned over reports of extra-judicial killings in Juba and other locations in South Sudan and is investigating reports of such atrocities.”
File photo: Volunteers carry a dead body after an incident near Bentiu in 2011