NCJ Number
208563
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 50 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2005 Pages: 23-30
Date Published
January 2005
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Given the need for the objective collection and evaluation of physical evidence by forensic scientists in the prosecution of individuals for atrocities in armed conflicts throughout the world, this study examined the extent of forensic anthropological and archaeological evidence collection and analysis in such human rights projects in the 1990's.
Abstract
The focus of this study was on three nongovernmental organizations: the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG), and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). These organizations were the most likely to be involved in the larger projects, and they fielded the greatest number of anthropologists between 1990 and 1999. This study profiled the anthropologists and archaeologists who participated in human rights work, the tasks they performed in the projects, the number of countries to which they were deployed, and the scope of their work product (e.g., the graves exhumed). After describing the nature and mission of each of the three organizations, the authors document the materials and methods used to achieve the study's goals. The findings indicate that 134 anthropologists from 22 countries participated in human rights investigations conducted in 33 countries between 1990 and 1999, with most investigations involving alleged mass civilian casualties. The anthropologists from the United States and the United Kingdom were more likely to have advanced degrees; however, Latin American anthropologists often had vastly more field experience with exhumations, particularly mass graves. Tasks performed were traditional forensic anthropological procedures of excavation and skeletal analysis; however, because anthropologists are increasingly assuming a leadership position on multidisciplinary human rights teams, they also are involved in logistics, assessment, and historical research. Full-time service in the organizations surveyed was rare. 4 figures, 2 tables, and 63 references