physicians for human forensic monitoring project report€¦ · human rights forensic monitoring...

PHYSICIANS for

HUMAN RIGHTS

FORENSIC MONITORING PROJECT REPORT

Zavolje Exhumation and Surface Recovery Republika Srpska Commission on Missing and Tracing

(30 October 1998)

FINDINGS

Report by: Richard J. Harrington, Ph.D.

Forensic Monitor Forensic Monitoring Project Tuzla, Bosna i Hercegovina

October 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 .7/www.phrusa.org

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Financed with support of International Commission on Missing Persons

ICMP International Commission

on Missing Persons

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ZAVOLJE EXHUMATION AND SURFACE RECOVERY

Summary of Events

On 30 October 1998 the Republika Srpska Commission on Missing and Tracing (RS Commission) conducted exhumations in the vicinity of Zavolje, Bosna i Hercegovina (BiH). The purpose of the operation was to recover the remains of as many as 15 Bosnian Serb soldiers, and possibly additional Chilians, who had been killed in the area in September 1995. The RS team recovered the remains of three adult males from one gravesite (ZAVl-3), and a small number of bone fragments, believed to be from an elderly woman, that were scattered in the yard of the missing woman's house (ZAV4). The remains from these two sites were taken to Banja Luka for postmortem examination. Additional sites in the area were not excavated at the time due to either de-mining issues or inadequate witness information on the graves' exact locations.

A PHR Forensic Monitor was present for the recovery of the remains, but not for the postmortem examination. The RS pathologist had not released the results of the postmortem examination as of this writing.

PHYSICIANS for HUMAN RIGHTS, October 1999 1


Participants and Observers

Republika Srpska Commission on Missing and Tracing IVANCEVIC Milan Deputy Head KARAN Dr. Zeljko Forensic Pathologist, Banja Luka KRCMAR Goran Member, Banja Luka MARIC Milko Crime Technician, Banja Luka VESELINOVIC Slavisa Morgue Assistant, Banja Luka Several RS Crime Technicians and laborers were also present.

State Commission on Missing Persons (Bosniak) HURTIC Murat Member, Tuzla Canton

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) HARRINGTON Dr. Richard Forensic Monitor STIKIC Sandra Translator

Office of the High Representative (OHR) CHILVERS Peter Exhumations Officer, Banja Luka

International Police Task Force (IPTF) personnel, Stabilization Force (SFOR) personnel, and witnesses were also present at the sites. No family members or media representatives were present.

Site Descriptions

Both sites were in the vicinity of Zavolje, a small town in the eastern foothills of the Grmec Mountains, approximately 20 km southwest of Sanski Most. The first site (referred to herein as ZAV1-3) was approximately 50 m southwest of a paved road in a small, gradually sloping, grassy field (Figure 1; grid coordinate: 33T XK 275 407, as determined using a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit; Map Name: Kljuc; Sheet: 2484 II; Edition: 6-DMA; Series: M709; Horizontal Datum: WGS84; Scale: 1:50,000). Two rusted metal sheets covered a dirt mound approximately 2 m long, 1 m wide, and 30 cm high at the border of the field and a forest.

The second site (referred to herein as ZAV4) was by an abandoned, partially destroyed house approximately 300 m north of the first site along the same road in the southern part of the town of Zavolje (Figure 1; grid coordinate: 33T XK 274 410, as determined using a GPS unit; same map as above). The house was approximately 15m east of and downslope from the road. The front yard was overgrown with grass and weeds, and debris from household goods and the collapsed roof was scattered in and around the house.

Site History

According to RS personnel, 15 Bosnian Serb soldiers were reported to have been killed in the Zavolje area by Bosniaks in September 1995. An undisclosed number of civilians were also



reported to have been killed by Bosniaks during this time as well. The RS team did not provide any additional information on the cases.

Exhumation Process and Condition of Remains

Mine assessment was conducted by local de-mining experts prior to the exhumation date. The presence of human remains at the ZAV1-3 site had been established during the site "pre-visit" (reconnaissance) on 27 October 1998, which was attended by the PHR Forensic Monitor. The ZAV4 site was not visited on that date.

Recovery at the ZAV1-3 site (Figure 2 and Photographs 1 through 5) was performed by RS team members, who used shovels ;and trowels to scrape away the shallow topsoil. The dirt was visually inspected for small bones and artifacts, but the soil was not screened. As each set of remains was exposed, they were assigned a unique number, photographed in situ, placed in a body bag, and transported to a designated location for postmortem examination.

The recovery operation at ZAV4 (Figure 2 and Photographs 6 through 8) consisted of a visual surface search of the house and the: front yard, followed by shallow scraping of the exposed dirt along the front edge of the house. The soil was not screened. The surrounding area of high grass and weeds was not thoroughly inspected for additional scatter of remains due to the lack of mine assessment. The remains and personal effects were collected by hand, labeled and photographed as a single assemblage, placed in a marked body bag, and transported with the ZAV1 through 3 remains to a designated location for postmortem examination. The RS team assumed responsibility for security and chain-of-custody throughout the operation.

The ZAV1-3 site consisted of tliree skeletons, all representing adult males, and some associated clothing in a shallow (approximately 10 cm thick dirt cover) grave with dimensions of approximately 1.5 m by 3.0 m (Figure 2 and Photographs 1 through 5). The remains were in anatomical position except for the ZAV3 cranium being on top of the ZAV1 mid-section. The ZAV1 skeleton was face down, head oriented toward 250 degrees magnetic bearing, and on top of the ZAV3 remains, which (excepting the cranium) was essentially in "head-to-toe" alignment with ZAV1. The ZAV2 remains were immediately southeast of the other two bodies, with the head next to the knees of the ZAV3 remains. Both the ZAV2 and ZAV3 individuals were lying on their backs. The bones were well preserved and had been discolored brown by prolonged burial in soil, but no soft tissue was in association. The identifiable clothing for ZAV1 and ZAV2 were civilian style; the ZAV3 remains, however, wore a military-type jacket with bullets in association. No identification media were found in the soil or in the clothing (the latter given only a cursory field examination).

The ZAV4 remains consisted of a small number of bone fragments that had been surface-weathered (whitish and exfoliated from sun exposure). The larger fragments included portions of a mandible, a femur, a scapula, and a cranial bone (petrous portion). Cursory field analysis of the remains indicated consistency with expectations for an adult female. The deposition of the rest of the skeleton was not determined. Some fabric, possibly from civilian-type clothing, was found near the remains.

In summary, the results of the exhumations are as follows:



Grid Minimum Number Site Coordinates of Individuals

ZAVl-3 XK 275 407 3 ZAV4 XK 274 410 1

Postmortem Examination Findings

A PHR Forensic Monitor was not present at the postmortem examinations. Official results of the examinations had not been forwarded from the RS Forensic Pathologist to PHR at the time of this writing. In the field, however, the pathologist provided names that were believed to correlate to the missing individuals. The ZAVl individual was reported to have been a male soldier born in 1954; the ZAV2 and ZAV3 individuals were reported to have been civilian males born in 1946 and 1955, respectively (note: the ZAV3 individual, not the ZAVl individual, appeared to be in possession of the military-type artifacts); and the ZAV4 individual was believed to be the approximately 70-year-old woman who had lived in the house prior to her disappearance in 1995.

PHYSICIANS for HUMAN RIGHTS, October 1999


ft MAGNETIC

NORTH

FIGURE 2: ZAV1-3 (TOP) AND ZAV4 (BOTTOM)

Sketches Not To Scale

ZAV1-3 /

To Road

Field

Fores S*

ZAV3 Cranium i top of ZAV1 torso

r \

ZAV4

I

Tall grass and weeds • (area not mine-assessed)

Searched Area (approximately 15 x 25 m))

Trampled grass and weeds

•0

&

o

I

Dirt area yielding surface remains

15 m

J

•>i

HOUSE (searched)

PHYSICIANS./or HUMAN RIGHTS, October 1999 6


Photograph 1. View from north of metal cover sheets being removed from ZAVl-3 grave.

Photograph 2. ZAV1, ZAV2, and ZAV3 remains in situ.



Photograph 3. ZAV1 remains in body bag.


PHYSICIANS for HUMAN RIGHTS, October 1999



Photograph 6. View from north of ZAV4 house.

PHYSICIANS/or HUMAN RIGHTS, October 1999 ')


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Photograph 7. RS Team inspecting surface for remains along edge of house.

Photograph 8. ZAV4 remains and personal effects.


PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) mobilizes the health professions and enlists public support to protect and promote the human rights of all people.

PHR believes that human rights are essential preconditions for the health and well-being of all members of the human family.

We use medical and scientific methods to investigate and expose violations of human rights worldwide.

We work to stop violations of human rights.

We demand the perpetrators of human rights violations be held accountable for their actions under international law.

Since its founding in 1986, PHR has carried out forensic investigations, including exhumations and autopsies, of alleged torture and extrajudicial executions in Afghanistan, Brazil, Israel, the former Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Iraqi Kurdistan, Kuwait, Mexico, Panama, Somalia, and Thailand. PHR has also devoted considerable energy and resources, under the auspices of its Chicago-based International Forensic Program, to assist the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (and its predecessor the U.N. War Crimes Commission) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, to collect evidence of genocide in those nations.

The President is Charles Clements, M.D., M.P.H., the Vice President is Carola Eisenberg, M.D., the Executive Director is Leonard Rubenstein, J.D., the Deputy Director is Susannah Sirkin, the Advocacy Director is Holly Burkhalter, the Senior Program Associate is Richard Sollom, the Director of Communications is Barbara Ayotte, the Campaign and Education Coordinator is Gina Cummings, the Membership Development Coordinator is Steve Brown. William H. Haglund, Ph.D., is Director of PHR's International Forensic Program. Vince lacopino, M.D., Ph.D., is Senior Medical Consultant. The director of Bosnia Projects is Laurie Vollen, M.D, M.P.H.

© 1998 Physicians for Human Rights. All rights reserved.

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