Today we walked the 2 kilometres (although the walk felt longer) to the International Commission on Missing Persons site in Sanski Most where the Krajina Identification Project is run by Senior Forensic Anthropologist Senem Skulj and one osterologist. After entering the building, the long, hot walk didn't seem so bad. The purpose of the Krajina Identification Project for the last ten years has been to re-associate and identify the remains of victims exgavated from mass graves around Bosnia.
The process is neither easy nor short. It begins with excavation. Excavation is done by a team of investigators who look for mass graves through interviews, hearsay, and local sightings of bones. In many cases, perpetrators report the location of a mass grave. Whether the confession is out of guilt or responsibility, nobody knows. In other cases the investigation team must bribe or pay to get the location of mass graves because they are "hidden crimes" Senem said, serious crimes against civilians that perpetrators never want any one to see. The perpetrators went to great lengths in some cases to ensure that the graves were not discovered. For instance, there may have been witnesses to the first mass grave, so the perpetrators would excavate the bodies and move then to a second grave, and maybe even to a third so the remains are not only hidden but also scattered accross the country. Once excavation begins, the investigators bring the remains in bags to the Centar. From there, Senem's work begins.
First, the bones are washed and separated out, along with any belongings that accompied the remains. The bones are then organized into groups by age, sex and bone type. According to Senem, the bones of one body in many cases come from multiple mass graves, making the process of associating the bones into a skeleton extensive. Of course, the construction of an entire skeleton is unlikely.
From the bones, the staff can construct a biological profile including any trauma that is evident from the features on the bones, including possible past injuries or potential causes of death. "Associating" the bones is a process of trial and error in some cases, but relies heavily on DNA sampling and testing. The most basic of assocations could be the simple comparisons of pairs of bones like the femur of the legs. However, DNA sampling is the most reliable form of testing the bones for association to complete a skeleton, identify the remains and connect the remains to surviving family.
DNA samples are extrapolated from the bones and sent to the DNA labs in Sarajevo for analysis and to cross analyze with any DNA samples taken from surviving family members (antemortum and postmortum comparisons). The data gathered from the samples and the families that report missing persons and give DNA are stored in a centralized database that networks the information in Sanski Most to the center for missing persons in Tuzla as well as all of the Former Yugoslavia. With this database the DNA samples from each bone can be connected with other samples that match it and finally re-associate bones.
A mass grave is any site that has more than two persons, according to the anthropologists. So far, the Krajina Identification project has identified 3,000 persons and 70% have been in mass graves. There are many families who have yet to give DNA samples for identification or even accept that their loved one may be dead. Some believe that their relative is still being held in a Serbian concentration camp or they do not want to assocate themselves with the identified because the remains were found with a Serbian Army uniform. Senem said there are even instances where the Center has identified Serbian soldiers and the family denies that the "other side" or Muslims could find their son or identify him. They think it is a trick, a lure to trap them in Bosnia or to give the family the wrong body. Skepticism is present on both sides as many mothers refuse to face the death of their son.
The Center for Missing Persons is UN-funded, and has been for ten years. These projects are implemented to find and identify missing persons, but also to become projects that the local community can sustain and operate, rather than the international community. As economic forces come to play, the international presence in Bosnia continues to dwindle, and Senem loses fellow osterologists and case workers to other projects or to the tight pockets of the local community. Senem is not sure what she will do next: whether her continuing career as a forensic anthropologist leads her to other projects with the UN or otherwise, she most likely would not stay in Bosnia. Even if she wants to see the project through, her profession is not recognized in Bosnia-Herzegovina and keeps her from a legitimate career outside of UN employment in Bosnia. Hopefully excavation and identification will be complete before funds run out.
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