human rights forensic assistance project

PHYSICIANS for

HUMAN RIGHTS

FORENSIC ASSISTANCE PROJECT

Consultant Report 1999-027

Zivinice I

Republika Srpska Commission on Tracing Prisoners and Missing Persons 15 June 1999

Heather York, M.A. Forensic Consultant

Forensic Assistance Project Sarajevo, Bosna i Hercegovina

December 1999

Physicians for Human Rights 100 Boylston Street, Suite 702 Boston, MA 02116 USA Tel. (617)695-0041 Fax. (617)695-0307 Email: [email protected] http://www.phrusa.org

Physicians for Human Rights Hasana Kaimije br. 11

71000 Sarajevo Bosna i Hercegovina Tel: 387-71-232-941

Fax: 387-71-233-767

Financed with support of International Commission on Missing Persons

ICMP International Commission

on Missing Persons

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.phrusa.org

ZIVINICE I CONSULTANT REPORT

Summary of Events

On 15 June 1999, the Republika Srpska Commission on Tracing Prisoners and Missing Persons exhumed the remains of two individuals from two sites east of Zivinice.

The saponified remains of one individual were recovered from an unmarked grave near a large destroyed building, 1 km southwest of Jeginov Lug. The remains were beneath a blanket and wrapped in plastic and a curtain.

The skeletonized remains of a second individual were recovered from an unmarked grave near a damaged church in Pozarnica. The articulated remains were interred in a coffin. An identification card inside a wallet was found with these remains.

A Forensic Consultant from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) was present for the duration of exhumation work at these two sites. However, no PHR representative attended the postmortem examinations of the recovered remains. If an official summary of the findings is forwarded to PHR, it will be filed with this report.

Summary of Exhumation Results Site Grid Coordinate Minimum Number of Individuals

Jeginov Lug 34T CQ 226E 227E 1 Pozarnica 34T CQ 236E 334N 1

(Editor's note: In 1999, it was agreed that the "State Commission on Missing Persons (Bosniak Side)," and the "Federal Commission on Missing Persons - Croat Side" would eventually be referred to as the "Federation Commission on Missing Persons - Bosniak Side" and "Federation Commission on Missing Persons - Croat Side," respectively. For purposes of simplicity and clarity, any reference to either of these commissions in 1999 reports will use the "Federation" names.)

PHYSICIANS for HUMAN RIGHTS, December 1999 1


Participants and Observers (not necessarily inclusive)

Republika Srpska Commission on Tracing Prisoners and Missing Persons ADEMOVIC Cvijetin Prosecutor KRCMAR Goran Member, Banja Luka MAKIVIC Aleksandar Morgue Assistant MAKSEVIOVIC Maksim Crime Technician MARKOVIC Milan Crime Technician VESELINOVIC Slavisa Morgue Assistant ZORIC Milena Judge

Federation Commission on Missing Persons (Bosniak Side) HURTIC Murat Member Crime Technicians Local Police

Office of the High Representative (OHR) MAGIERA Matt Exhumations Officer, Sarajevo CELEBIC Amra Assistant Exhumations Coordinator

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) KURET Zeljko Field Assistant YORK Heather Forensic Consultant

Others TULEMIJI Brinko International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) WRIGHT Brent Organization for Security and Cooperation

in Europe (OSCE) Informants

Recovery Narrative

Jeginov Lug

On 15 June 1999, the RS Commission investigated a site 1 km southwest of Jeginov Lug and 9 km east of Zivinice. The location was 3 m south of a dirt road at grid coordinate 34T CQ 226E 227N on the Zivinice topographic map (Sheet 2883 IV; Edition 7-DMA; Series M709; Scale 1:50,000; Figure 1). Destroyed houses were being rebuilt throughout the area. The site was northeast of a large destroyed structure, possibly a church. The Commission representatives hoped to find the remains of one male from Jeginov Lug, allegedly killed in 1992.

Slavisa Veselinovic and Aleksandar Makivic worked with shovels to the west of a stand of trees that was probably the informant's landmark (Photo 1). At a depth of approximately 0.5 m, a blanket was uncovered. Beneath the blanket were human remains, wrapped in plastic and a white curtain. The remains were mostly saponified with the head oriented towards the north. The feet and head were sticking out of the curtain at either end. The skull was broken into several large pieces. The clothing was too wet to determine whether it was of civilian- or military-type.



The body was lifted out of the hole and into a new body bag and photographed (Photo 2). Mr. Veselinovic picked through the mud beneath the wrapped remains to locate any elements left behind. The remains (Body 1) were then transferred to the Commission's vehicle for transport to the Banja Luka morgue facility.

Pozarnica

Later the same day, the Commission drove to the second site at grid coordinate 34T CQ 236E 334N on the Tuzla topographic map (Sheet 2884 III; Edition 7-DMA; Series M709; Scale 1:50,000; Figure 2). This site was approximately 9 km east of Tuzla on the north side of National Route 18 in Pozarnica (Photo 3).

The Commission sought the remains of a male killed in 1991 on what was, at the time, Bosnian Serb territory. After digging with shovels in two locations near a large, damaged church (Photo 4), a grave was located approximately 50 m northeast of the church and 5 m west of a fence.

A 1.5 m X 15 cm board was uncovered at a depth of approximately 0.5 m. Beneath this, approximately 10 cm deeper, was a sheet of torn plastic overlying a molded-top, rotted, wooden coffin lid (Photo 5). As the pieces of the coffin lid were removed, dirt fell inside. Skeletonized remains and clothing were visible inside the coffin. The remains were initially sufficiently intact to discern that the head was towards the southwest. They became very disarticulated as the laborer placed elements into a new body bag on the surface (Photo 6). The general procedure was to heft armloads of clothing, full of bones, and drop them into the waiting bag.

In the absence of a pathologist to provide direction, Mr. Veselinovic asked the PHR field assistant to look through the remains in the body bag and tell him if any elements were missing. The Forensic Consultant suggested that she might be better suited to this task. A cursory search revealed that only a few elements were missing. These were soon recovered from the dirt-filled coffin and secured in the new body bag.

One tibia removed from the coffin was shattered at the proximal end. The clothing was too decomposed to determine whether it was of civilian- or military-type. At the bottom of the coffin was a wallet with an identification card lettered in Cyrillic. The remains (Body 2) were photographed and transferred to the Commission's vehicle for transport to the Banja Luka morgue facility.

Postmortem Examination Findings

No PHR representative attended the postmortem examinations of these two sets of remains. If any official findings summary is forwarded to PHR, it will be filed with this report.



FIGURE 2: Pozarnica Site Location

MAP NAME: TUZLA SHEET NO: 2884 III EDITION: 7-DMA SERIES: M709 SCALE: 1:50,000 GRID COORDINATE:

34T CQ 236E 334N

/ Vidaicavicit



Photo 1: View to the west of the Jeginov Lug site area, west of a stand of trees.

Photo 2: Saponified remains (Body 1) recovered from Jeginov Lug in a new body bag.



Photo 3: View to the northeast of the Pozarnica site area.

Photo 4: View to the southwest of a damaged church southwest of the Pozarnica site.

PHYSICIANS for HUMAN RIGHTS, December 1999


Photo 5: Slavisa Veselinovic removing pieces of the rotten coffin lid at Pozarnica.

Photo 6: Skeletonized remains (Body 2) recovered from Pozarnica in a new body bag.

PHYSICIANS/or HUMAN RIGHTS, December 1999

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