Professional Documents
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Forensic Archeology
Forensic Archeology
Much material obtained from a webpage written by Dr. Stefan Schmitt, a forensic anthropologist
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.
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 Rosalo Chingo, although he couldnt be positively identified.
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 wasnt possible to recover all of the remains. Some bones, such as the ulna (underarm bone) was located approximately 50 yards downstream.
The Skull
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.
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.
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.
Finally, the right tibias articulate surface was fractured where the shin bone meets the foot.
Massacre at Ro Negro
Background
Ro Negro is a small Ach 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 Ro Negro, but these were later destroyed.
Antemortem Phase
According to testimony, in the early part of 1982 over 70 men, accused of guerilla activities, from Ro 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.
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.
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.
Skeletal remains of one of the infants. Infant skeletons are very prone to rapid decay. The bones havent completely calcified or fused. The cartilage is more easily degraded in the soil than fully calcified bones.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
F" stands for female, "M" for male and "C" for children of undetermined sex.
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%.
Left Hand
Right Hand
At some point he gave up and turned face down. He received several wounds to his back, one of which severed his right shoulder blade in two places.
The blow to his skull was determined as the one that eventually led to his death. A blow with a machete to the back of his head, fractured his skull. The red arrow to the right of it points to an area where the machete glanced of his head, shaving a piece of bone off.
Clothing Preservation
Preparing sketches