The Contribution by (Forensic) Archaeologists to Human Rights Investigations of Mass Graves
Year: 2005
Type: report
Abstract: Since the German “Nacht und Nebel” policy of World War II and their industrialised killing\nof Jews and Gypsies in the Holocaust, state institutionalised, deliberate and systematic\npractices of making people disappear – whether for political, religious, ethnic, cultural or\nother motives – has been known as an efficient tool of war and repression. The systematic\npractice of making people disappear is now known as enforced disappearance, and has lately\nbeen recognized as a crime against humanity. Both genocide and crimes against humanity is\noften associated with the use of mass graves in order to conceal the crime and also prevent\nindividual identification.\nOver the past twenty years forensic experts, and among these archaeologists, have been\ncontracted or subcontracted to investigate such mass graves by truth commissions, local\ncourts and international tribunals, local and international human rights and family\nassociations in together more than forty countries all over the world.\nThe present study explores how excavating such mass graves may serve different purposes\nrelated to the societal rebuilding processes in the aftermath of violent conflicts whether\ninternal or international, and thus contribute to societal security and safety. The focus is on\nthe role and contribution of archaeologists in this process. For this purpose a conceptual\ndistinction is made between excavating mass graves (focusing on the mass grave as an\narchaeological feature) and exhuming human remains (focusing predominantly on retrieving\nthe human remains).\nThe history, principles and mechanics of scientific mass grave excavations are discussed and\nillustrated with examples from Latin America, former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and most\nrecently Iraq, focusing on the role of archaeology as an integrated part of a multidisciplinary\nforensic team work. It is demonstrated how evidence from mass grave excavations has been\nimportant to truth commissions in Latin America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru), and to\ncases brought before human rights courts. For example the Dos Erres case where the\nGuatemalan governments was sentenced to pay reparation and provide physical and\npsychological treatment to survivors and relatives, and to build a memorial. It is further\ndemonstrated that the evidence from excavations of mass graves is an important factor in\ngetting war criminals convicted, as for example in the case against Krstic, who was\nsentenced to 35 years in prison based on evidence from 21 mass graves related to the\nSrebrenica Massacre.\nIt is argued that historically two investigation strategies have been employed. In Latin\nAmerica one has integrated the excavation and exhumation concept into one investigation\nconcept. In former Yugoslavia one has distinguished between the excavation and exhumation\nconcepts, but achieved a holistic strategy through complementary institutions conducting the\ninvestigations – the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY)\nand the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP)/the national CMPs. The\nrecent development of mass grave investigations in Iraq seems to introduce a third concept\nand overall strategy.\nIt is concluded that human rights mass grave investigations have contributed significantly to\nthe success of national as well as international truth commissions, human rights courts,\ncriminal courts and tribunals throughout the world – and thus consequently to both truth and\njustice. The contribution has been most evident in Latin America and former Yugoslavia.\nHowever, the field is rapidly growing and forensic anthropology and archaeology is\n3\nincreasingly incorporated into international crisis and conflict management strategies –\nnotably by the United Nations.\nHuman rights mass grave investigation teams have in general pursued three major purposes:\nhumanitarian, legal and historical purposes. Establishing a historical record – the factual\ntruth of what happened and in which sequence at a specific location at a specific point in\ntime – is paramount to pursuing the legal and historical purposes and important also to\nreaching the humanitarian purpose of identifying victims. It is concluded that the\nsignificance of the contribution by archaeologists to human rights mass grave investigations\nlies with their unique ability to provide this historical record.
Author: Kirsten Juhl
Language: English
Topic: War, Law, and Justice
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2160610473