Forensic investigation of Barzanian mass grave skeletal remains at Busaya desert in Samawa, Iraq

Background and objective: Human identification and anthropological evaluation of mass graves are the key step towards scientific documentation and achieving justice. This study aimed to investigate the exhumation, anthropological evaluation, and individual victim identification of a mass grave in Busaya in Samawa governorate. Methods: The investigation included excavation of the graves and identification of the victims. The field study was started after taking testimonies and witnesses for locating the site of graves. The sites were determined, which were excavated according to the scientific standard procedures. Gender determination and age and stature estimation were performed on the remnant skeletons in the laboratory of the medico-legal institute in Erbil. Results: The grave included 93 bodies, 66 (71%) were males, 24 (26%) were possibly males, while the others were not identified because of degradations of the bones. The results of age estimation reported that the number of young bodies under 20 years old were five cases (5.4%), while 53 cases (57%) were young bodies between 20-29 years. The rest were more than 30 years old, except for eight cases that could not be identified. The results of stature revealed that more than half of cases had stature more than 166 cm, while only six cases were less than 155 cm. All the remained bones were recorded in detail for more documentation. Conclusion: These findings described the anthropological evaluation of a large Barzanian mass graves in Busaya desert in the south region in Iraq. The majority (or all) of the victims were males and young people. Keywords: Mass grave; Barzanian victims; Busaya; Exhumation; Identification.

Download Full-text

Forensic Investigation of Two Christian and Muslim Mass Graves Skeletal Remains in Sorya-Duhok governorate- Iraqi Kurdistan

10.15218/hmu.04.05 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Yasin Amin ◽

◽

Goran Othman

Keyword(s):

Skeletal Remains ◽

Forensic Investigation ◽

Mass Graves ◽

Iraqi Kurdistan

Download Full-text

Forensic Investigation of Barzanian Mass Grave Skeletal Remains at Busaya Desert in Samawa, Iraq

10.15218/hmu.04.01 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Yasin Amin

Keyword(s):

Skeletal Remains ◽

Forensic Investigation ◽

Mass Grave

Download Full-text

Forensic investigation of two Christian and Muslim mass graves skeletal remains in Sorya, Duhok governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan

Zanco Journal of Medical Sciences ◽

10.15218/zjms.2020.019 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 160-165

Author(s):

Yasin Amin ◽

Goran Othman

Keyword(s):

Skeletal Remains ◽

Forensic Investigation ◽

Mass Graves ◽

Iraqi Kurdistan

Download Full-text

Premortal data in the process of skeletal remains identification

Vojnosanitetski pregled ◽

10.2298/vsp1206475m ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 69 (6) ◽

pp. 475-480

Author(s):

Nadica Marinkovic ◽

Marija Djuric

Keyword(s):

Detailed Examination ◽

Skeletal Remains ◽

Mass Grave ◽

Mass Graves ◽

Identification Process ◽

Basic Task ◽

The Difference ◽

The Moment ◽

The Right ◽

Number Of Individuals

Background/Aim. The basic task of a forensic examiner during the exhumation of mass graves or in mass accidents is to establish identity of a person. The results obtained through these procedures depend on the level of perceptibility of post mortal changes and they are compared with premortal data obtained from family members of those missing or killed. Experience with exhumations has shown significant differences between the results obtained through exhumation and the premortal data. The aim of the study was to suggest the existance of the difference between premortal data and the results obtained by exhumation regarding the some parameters, as well as to direct premortal data colection to the specific skeletal forms. Methods. We performed comparative analysis of the results of exhumation of skeletal remains in a mass grave and the premortal data concerning the identified persons. The least number of individuals in this mass grave was calculated according to the upper parts of the right femur and it helped in calculating the smallest number of individuals in mass graves to be 48. A total of 27 persons were identified. Sex was determined by metrics and morphology of the pelvis. Personal age in the moment of death was determined by morphology features of groin symphisis and morphology of sternal edge of ribs and other parts of scelets observations. The hight was calculated as average results of length of long bones and Rollet coefficients. Results. There was a complete match in terms of sex and age matched within an interval that could be established based on the skeletal remains. All the other parameters were different, however, which made identification significantly more difficult. Conclusion. The premortal data is an important element of identification process and it should be obtained by the forensic doctor and directed towards more detailed examination of the skeletal system.

Download Full-text

Towards mass-grave protection guidelines

Human Remains and Violence An Interdisciplinary Journal ◽

10.7227/hrv.3.1.5 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 52-70 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Melanie Klinkner

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

International Law ◽

Armed Conflicts ◽

Human Rights Violations ◽

Right To Know ◽

Mass Grave ◽

Mass Graves ◽

Legal Obligations ◽

Legal Guidelines ◽

Practical Agenda

In the aftermath of conflict and gross human rights violations, victims have a right to know what happened to their loved ones. Such a right is compromised if mass graves are not adequately protected to preserve evidence, facilitate identification and repatriation of the dead and enable a full and effective investigation to be conducted. Despite guidelines for investigations of the missing, and legal obligations under international law, it is not expressly clear how these mass graves are best legally protected and by whom. This article asks why, to date, there are no unified mass-grave protection guidelines that could serve as a model for states, authorities or international bodies when faced with gross human rights violations or armed conflicts resulting in mass graves. The paper suggests a practical agenda for working towards a more comprehensive set of legal guidelines to protect mass graves.

Download Full-text

Biological Age Estimation of Non-adult Human Skeletal Remains:

Trends in Biological Anthropology. Volume 2 ◽

10.2307/j.ctvh1dmwc.14 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 94-104

Author(s):

Carla L. Burrell ◽

Carole A. L. Davenport ◽

Raymond J. Carpenter ◽

James C. Ohman

Keyword(s):

Age Estimation ◽

Skeletal Remains ◽

Biological Age ◽

Human Skeletal Remains ◽

Adult Human

Download Full-text

Application of Trace Elemental Profile of Known Teeth for Sex and Age Estimation of Ajnala Skeletal Remains: a Forensic Anthropological Cross-Validation Study

Biological Trace Element Research ◽

10.1007/s12011-019-01712-8 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 193 (2) ◽

pp. 295-310 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J.S. Sehrawat ◽

Monika Singh

Keyword(s):

Validation Study ◽

Age Estimation ◽

Cross Validation ◽

Skeletal Remains ◽

Elemental Profile ◽

Trace Elemental

Download Full-text

Ned Kelly

10.1071/9781486301775 ◽

2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Keyword(s):

Forensic Investigation ◽

Handwriting Analysis ◽

Scientific Process ◽

Mass Graves ◽

Community History ◽

Exact Location ◽

Historical Images ◽

Collaborative Community ◽

Metallurgical Analysis ◽

Medical Analysis

Ned Kelly was hanged at the Old Melbourne Gaol on 11 November 1880, and his body buried in the graveyard there. Many stories emerged about his skull being separated and used as a paperweight or trophy, and it was finally put on display at the museum of the Old Melbourne Gaol — until it was stolen in 1978. It wasn’t only Ned Kelly’s skull that went missing. After the closure of the Old Melbourne Gaol in 1929, the remains of deceased prisoners were exhumed and reinterred in mass graves at Pentridge Prison. The exact location of these graves was unknown until 2002, when the bones of prisoners were uncovered at the Pentridge site during redevelopment. This triggered a larger excavation that in 2009 uncovered many more coffins, and led to the return of the skull and a long scientific process to try to identify and reunite Ned Kelly’s remains. But how do you go about analysing and accurately identifying a skeleton and skull that are more than 130 years old? Ned Kelly: Under the Microscope details what was involved in the 20-month scientific process of identifying the remains of Ned Kelly, with chapters on anthropology, odontology, DNA studies, metallurgical analysis of the gang's armour, and archaeological digs at Pentridge Prison and Glenrowan. It also includes medical analysis of Ned's wounds and a chapter on handwriting analysis — that all lead to the final challenging conclusions. Illustrated throughout with photographs taken during the forensic investigation, as well as historical images, the book is supplemented with breakout boxes of detailed but little-known facts about Ned Kelly and the gang to make this riveting story a widely appealing read. Winner of the Collaborative Community Award at the 2015 Victorian Community History Awards.

Download Full-text

Unrecovered objects: Narratives of dispossession, slow violence and survival in the investigation of mass graves from the Spanish Civil War

Journal of Material Culture ◽

10.1177/1359183520954499 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 428-446

Author(s):

Layla Renshaw

Keyword(s):

Civil War ◽

Spanish Civil War ◽

Historical Memory ◽

Popular Front ◽

Mass Grave ◽

Mass Graves ◽

Pressure Groups ◽

Slow Violence ◽

Post War ◽

The Impact

The Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) was triggered by a military uprising against the democratically elected Popular Front government. Away from the battlefield, this war was characterized by the politically-motivated murder of thousands of civilians, many of whom were buried in clandestine graves throughout Spain. Following Franco’s victory and subsequent dictatorship, there were strong prohibitions on commemorating the Republican dead. A radical rupture in Spain’s memory politics occurred from 2000 onwards with the founding of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory and other similar pressure groups that have organized the exhumation and reburial of the Republican dead. This article is based on fieldwork conducted in communities in Castile and León, and Extremadura as they underwent mass grave investigations. It examines the experience of theft and dispossession that occurred as part of the Francoist repression of Republicans. Accounts of these episodes focus on stolen and looted objects robbed from the dead during the killings, from the graves’ post-mortem, or from surviving relatives as part of the systematic dispossession of Republican households that occurred during the war and immediate post-war period. These narratives surface with frequency during the investigation and exhumation of mass graves. Despite the fact that many are lost forever, these stolen possessions can function as powerful mnemonic objects with a strong affective and imaginative hold. The narratives of dispossession explore themes of survival, the experiences of women and children, and the impact of slow violence. By invoking theft and stolen objects, these stories highlight forms of trauma and forms of memory that may not be represented fully by the dominant investigative paradigm of the mass grave exhumation with its inherent focus on death, cataclysmic violence and the tangible, physical traces of the past.

Download Full-text