Forensic Archeology from Mass Graves

1. Forensic Archeology from Mass Graves Much material obtained from a webpage written by Dr. Stefan Schmitt, a forensic anthropologist

3. The Antemortem Phase • The recollection of antemortem data, in which the survivors are interviewed in order to proportion information that can aid in the identification of the skeletal remains. • This is especially important in countries like Guatemala with no medical records available in these poor populations. • The antemortem phase is usually carried out prior or during the second phase, the archaeological phase.

4. The Archeological Phase • The archeological phase is comprised the complete photographic and sketched documentation of the exhumation process itself. • All methods and techniques such as used in the excavation of historical sites are employed to document the point in time when these graves were made.

5. The Laboratory Phase • After the remains have been exhumed they are cleaned and numbered and analyzed with methods employed in physical and forensic anthropology. • This is done to determine cause and manner of death and identity of the individual remains.

6. Special Issues for Mass Graves • Co-mingled skeletal remains can be confusing. • Which bones go with which skeleton? • What is the minimum number of individuals found?

7. MASSACRE AT TUNAJA, GUATEMALA http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~dbertuca/Massacres.html

8. The Incident • Tunaja is a small village in the Highlands of Guatemala with a population of not more than 200. It suffered under the military's counterinsurgency campaign begun during the latter part of the 1970's and the beginning of the 1980's. • In November of 1992, the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Team was asked by one of the Indigenous Human Rights Groups of Guatemala to exhume the remains of several people, who had been selected out and assassinated by the military and its Civil Patrol Unit.

9. A total of eight human skeletons were exhumed, four of which were located in a mass grave. • Using forensic archeology, the team was able to piece together the last moments of one man's life. • His name, according to witnesses, was Rosalío Chingo, although he couldn’t be positively identified.

10. His skeletal remains were found partially buried in the bed of a creek at the bottom of a deep ravine. From the tool marks in the wall beside where he was found, it was suggested that it had been caved in, in order to cover up his body. • Some of this material had been washed away and it wasn’t possible to recover all of the remains. Some bones, such as the ulna (underarm bone) was located approximately 50 yards downstream.

11. What Was Learned and Why? • How do we know he was a male? • How old was he? • What was the cause of death? • What was the mechanism of death?

12. The Skull

13. How do we know he was a male? • Skull Characteristics: (supraorbital ridge marked, forward projecting maxilla, fairly robust) • Possibly clothes or artifacts (buttons, jewelry, cigarette lighter) found with the body.

14. Skeletal Indications of Cause of Death

15. The skull showed sharp force trauma to the left cheek, a wound that would be consistent with a blow from a machete - a common agricultural tool and weapon in Guatemala. • This wound would probably not have caused his death.

16. Further trauma was found in the one of the occipital condyles (where the skull articulates with the vertebras of the neck). • A small fracture of this articulation suggested that this individual also had received trauma to the neck. • Unfortunately, they didn't recover the cervical vertebrae.

17. A bullet was lodged in the head of the left femur. • Judging by its size and characteristics, it was a high velocity bullet, such as used in assault rifles. • The trajectory of the bullet grazed his left innominate bone of his pelvis, suggesting that the victim was shot from behind, possibly while running.

20. Finally, the right tibia’s articulate surface was fractured where the shin bone meets the foot.

22. A reconstruction of what may have happened based on the injuries. • Rosalío was first attacked with a machete, upon which he may have decided to run down the hill towards the ravine. • At this point his assailants shot him in the back, lodging the bullet in his right femur. • He must have managed to jump down the ravine, where he landed on his feet, causing the fracture in the tibia and possibly breaking his neck. • Somebody then went down in the ravine and caved the wall in over his body.

23. Massacre at Río Negro

24. Background • Río Negro is a small Achí Indian village. It is located in the highlands, 250 kilometers north of Guatemala city in the County of Rabinal, Department of Baja Verapaz. • Due to the construction of the hydroelectric dam in Chixoy an entire fertile valley flooded. To compensate the inhabitants of this valley, a small colony, given the name of Pacux, was built for a small portion of the Chixoy valley population on the outskirts of Rabinal. • Help was provided to build new houses in Río Negro, but these were later destroyed.

26. Antemortem Phase • According to testimony, in the early part of 1982 over 70 men, accused of guerilla activities, from Río Negro were murdered. • They perished in the hands of the Civil Patrols (PAC - "Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil" - paramilitary organizations that are subordinate to the army) from the neighboring village of Xococ. • Due to this incident the rest of the men fled the village in fear that something similar would happen to them. • They left their women and children behind, assuming nothing would happen to them.

27. Antemortem Phase • On March 13, 1982 some 80 women and 100 children were led by the military and Civil Patroller to the top of the mountain, where they were brutally killed. • Their bodies were thrown into a ravine, which drains the rain water during the rainy season (from May to August). • The exhumation was initiated in October of 1993 and lasted up to December 1993.

28. The Mass Grave Excavation

29. Laboratory Phase • During the investigation conducted in the lab from December 1993 to April 1994, the lab analysis determined that the victims were exclusively women and children. • Most of the skeletal remains were found disarticulated due to years of erosion and scavenging. • Therefore, the calculation of the minimum number of individuals, which is 143, differs from the numbers obtained from testimony, which estimated over 180 people were executed. • It was particularly difficult to analyze the many child and infant remains.

30. Skeletal remains of one of the infants. • Infant skeletons are very prone to rapid decay. • The bones haven’t completely calcified or fused. The cartilage is more easily degraded in the soil than fully calcified bones.

31. Skeletal Evidence • The most frequent causes of death were: • Blows to the neck • Blows to the cranium • Gunshot wounds • Stab wounds from knives and machetes.

32. Additional Evidence • Hardly any of the remains showed evidence of the typical Indian 'Corte' - a long piece of elaborately woven fabric wrapped around the hips which is very valuable. Absence of this material indicates the possibility of rape. • Pregnancy was documented in three cases where fetal remains were found in the pelvic area.

34. Why Excavate These Graves? • A clandestine cemetery is not so much hidden as it is officially non-existent. • There is no possibility to perform the rituals associated with death, as it is done in any society. The mere existence of such mass clandestine graves without being able to acknowledge them in a known way, terrorizes and oppresses the communities who have to live with them.

35. Why Excavate These Graves? • The official exhumation of the victims is the first step towards peace for these communities. • It is then, that the survivors and victims of this mechanism of terror finally become activists for their rights. • The evidence of the crime can be used to bring the perpetrators to justice.

36. The Rwandan Genocide

37. Some Background • In 1994 the Rwandan Hutu government launched a systematic genocide of their minority Tutsi citizens. • In four months, government forces and militia likely murdered 750,000-1,000,000, Tutsi and Hutu reluctant to join in the slaughter.

39. A team of forensic scientists from Physicians for Human Rights was brought together to exhume and analyze the remains of victims that had been massacred in April of 1995 in the small town of Kibuye in Rwanda.

40. This project was carried out on the initiative of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in its investigation and in preparation for the trial of some of the perpetrators of this massacre. • This was carried out on the initiative of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in its investigation and in preparation for the trial of some of the perpetrators of this massacre.

42. The Site • Kibuye is a small town located on the eastern shore of Lake Kivu. • Rwanda is a hilly country, from which it gets its description as the country of the thousand hills. • The Catholic Church which was the site of the massacre was located on the top of one of the hills.

43. Antemortem Phase • When the excavations started behind the Kibuye Church, it was not clear how many individuals had been buried there. • Testimonies recollected varied anywhere between several hundred and 2,000. • Prior to moving the bodies to the mass grave, they had lain for several days in the open and in the church. • It was six months since the bodies had been buried, and bulldozers were used to move them in some cases. The workers did not know what the stage of decomposition would be.

44. The Archeological Phase • As the excavations progressed it became clear that most of the bodies were decomposed to the point that on lifting them out of the grave into a body bag, they would lose their articulation (i.e. limbs would come off) and many cases were partially skeletonized. • Children and especially infants were badly decomposed - to the point that it was difficult to recognize the bodies.

45. The Archeological Phase • From the way the grave appeared to have been prepared, it became apparent that a bulldozer had been used to fill the grave up and top it off with soil. • This also added to the mangling and disarticulation of the bodies.

46. The Laboratory Phase • For the purpose of establishing a minimum number of individuals which were recovered from the grave, the cranium was designated as a marker for the presence of an individual. • Altogether 460 skulls were counted in the mass grave behind the Kibuye Church, indicating that at least 460 individuals had been buried there.

47. F" stands for female, "M" for male and "C" for children of undetermined sex.

50. Conclusions • The largest group of the recovered bodies consisted of children under the age of 15 - 44%. • Since the remains of children and infants were difficult to identify as such due to disarticulation of the remains, the number of children under the age of 15 might have been even greater. • The great majority were beaten to death - Blunt Force Trauma: 65%.