Cecily Paldino December 18th, 2013

2 Paldino Introduction The roles of a forensic anthropologist are quite simple. First off, a forensic anthropologist is a biological anthropologist; they apply their knowledge of biological anthropology, which is the study of human variation, evolution, and physical features, to legal cases which are, most of the time, criminal. Goals of a forensic anthropologist are standard: they must use their knowledge of the human skeletal system and the variances within it to establish the personal identification of a person, ranging from age, sex, ancestry, and stature. A forensic anthropologist must also record details of trauma, and be able to identify and determine the victims manner of death as well as decide if that death ranges from accidental, suicide, or homicide. With all this evidence and data collected from the remains in custody, the forensic anthropologist must then take the information found, and testify in court if the case is indeed, criminal. Forensic anthropologists are also needed when it comes to identifying remains that are of historical and prehistoric interest, for the purpose of scholarly institutions and museums that want to know more about a particular set of human remains. Finally, a forensic anthropologist must collect evidence and testify in cases pertaining to human rights abuses. Forensic anthropologists play some of the biggest roles in human rights abuses, their professionalism needed when it comes to identifying victims of genocides, military massacres, and other instances when human rights are under attack. The importance of a forensic anthropologist in situations such as these was first recognized in 1984 with Clyde Collins Snows excavations and systematic identifications of Argentinians that were killed during the Dirty War of Argentina (Burns, 1999). With the success of

identifying the civilians slain in Argentina, as well as convicting the corrupt military leaders responsible, Snow created a new kind of forensic anthropologist. However, this particular new forensic anthropologist is to not only have extreme, high leveled skills of identifying human remains, but this forensic anthropologist must also have polished competence in many other aspects that are specifically necessary when in situations that are strictly revolved around human rights abuses. These other aspects are the three other fields of anthropology cultural, archaeological, and linguistics and in order to have a success with gathering and excavating evidence, good communication skills with locals and military officials, and remain safe from the presence of continued military and political unrest, a forensic anthropologist must be every different kind of anthropologist. This essay will not only delve into the history behind the military massacre of Nanking, and the genocides of Rwanda and Argentina, but it will also bring forth the struggles that the forensic anthropologists goes through. From the actual dirty work of the job and the sights and smells that come with it to the much more dangerous aspect such as living in areas still thriving with political conflict, forensic anthropologists that return from these human rights missions leave with an entirely different perspective on their own life. With excerpts and examples from Clea Koff, a female forensic anthropologist that went on five human rights missions (Rwanda [Kibuye and Kigali], Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo), this paper will also highlight on the much more personal and inner-self impacts that forensic anthropologists experience after a mission. Finally, by presenting past genocides and massacres, as well as Koffs stories, this essay will

4 Paldino conclude on and discuss the importance for the forensic anthropologist to be well rounded in all four fields of anthropology.

Notable Military Massacres and Genocides [Genocide] is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves With disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups. (Lemkin, 1944) The 20th century is now notable for the becoming the time-period with a most malicious way of crime; genocide, the term coined by Holocaust survivor Rafael Lemkin. However, this does not mean that the idea of genocide is a new concept. Human history has many instances of massacres, but due to modernization, the powerful influence of mass media, and, relevant to the topic to be discussed, the rise in forensic anthropologists, there is much greater focus on the genocides that have occurred post-industrialization. In correlation to the subject at hand, genocides that will be brought up are the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, and the Argentinian Dirty War (1976-1983), as well as the military massacre at Nanking in late 1937. Starting off in chronological order, Nanking, also known as the Rape of Nanking occurred over a time span of 6 weeks and an estimate 250,000+ were killed, marking it as one of the largest short-term massacres of all time (Dutton, et al, 2005). The massacre that took place in Nanking is not only infamous for the amount of people killed

in such short time, but more so due to the manner of which they were murdered is why this particular event is portrayed as one of the worst. The victims were not just simply killed; Chinese soldiers were publically humiliated and then killed, women were raped, and children and infants were used as bayonet practice for Japanese soldiers. The violence that was displayed by the Japanese soldiers towards the innocent Chinese civilians in Nanking was not only a clear violation of human rights in the most horrendous way, but this particular massacre shines light on soldier desensitization (Chang, 1997). These Japanese soldiers were trained in a way that detached them from any feelings of remorse for their victims, making it easier for these soldiers to follow through with such brutality. The Rape of Nanking showcases that the manner of which soldiers are trained greatly effects the outcomes of events such as these, and a trend of soldier desensitization is shown all throughout these military massacres and genocides. The Argentinian Dirty War (1974-1983) is exactly what its name implies: the atrocities that were committed were more than just conflict and fighting between the Argentinian government in control, and the left-wing guerillas, those who know of instances of government corruptions, and anyone to be associated with activist groups. This period of conflict is called the Dirty War specifically because in order for the corrupt government to gain social order, a different manner of warfare was demonstrated. The warfare displayed throughout the Dirty War was not only just soldier to rebel combat, but there were heightened levels of torture and rape that specifically violated human rights. Although the numbers of those whom went missing and killed were not nearly as high as some massacres, a little over 30,000, but due to the manner they were killed in is why the Dirty War is considered to be one of the worse cases of human rights

6 Paldino abuse. The significance of the Argentinian Dirty War in terms of this essay is due to the fact that the forensic work done there by Clyde Collins Snow was the first documented use of forensic anthropology in terms of human rights abuses (Burns, 1999). Before his mission to Argentina, Snow focused generally on smaller scale, in terms of suspects and victims, criminal cases (See the case of John Wayne Gacy, 1978). Snow recalls the differences between excavating these mass graves within Argentina (as well as many other locations) and identifying victims of a homicide in America: [In Argentina] men murdered those kids with the power of the state behind them. Now for me, thats the worst crime of all (Burns, 1999). Imperialism is, most of the time, the underlying reason behind many of these genocides. The greedy desire of a nation to have control over many areas of land does much more damage than good, and the damage almost always involves those whom dwelled within the imperialism nation beforehand. This is the case of the infamous Rwandan Genocide of 1994, where animosity and indifference between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes augmented to the point of massacre. After Belgium removed itself from Rwanda in 1962, it left behind a lot of resentment between the Tutsi and Hutu, and eventually, leads to a few instances of military conflict, as well as the start of the Rwandan Civil war. On April 6th, 1994, Hutu Rwandan president Juvnal Habyarimana was killed in an airplane crash, and with assassination controversies circulating his death, the event prompted the Rwandan Genocide. The Hutu believed that the Tutsi were a threat to their kind, and in order to have a perfect society, the Tutsi, as well as moderate Hutu (those who believed in peaceful co-existence) were targeted and most likely, killed (Dutton, et al, 2005). Over the course of approximately 100 days, 800,000+ Tutsi and

moderate Hutu were massacred in abhorrent ways, making the Rwandan Genocide one of the most sadistic genocides the 20th century as seen, in such a short time period. Over 77% of the Tutsi and moderate Hutu population was systematically wiped out. (Dutton, et al, 2005). Due to these horrendous events that took place within Rwanda, many tribunals were formed in order to prevent the future of genocide as well as human rights abuse and other types of war crimes. A tribunal that was created that is of notable mention is the United Nations International Tribunal for Rwanda (ITCR), and famous forensic anthropologist Clea Koff worked for that particular tribunal. Koff and other members of a team of forensic anthropologists conducted two missions within Rwanda in 1996, two months within Kibuye, and a few months afterwards in Kigali. Koff recorded her experiences from both trips, and in 2004, published her memoir, The Bone Woman: Among the dead in Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. Within Rwanda in itself, Koff underwent the most dirtiest and gruesome forensic work, as well as experienced frightening instances of military conflict bringing home with her both life-changing and painful memories that will stay with her for the rest of her life. The next few segments of this essay will discuss a forensic anthropologists trials and tribulations of the excessive work they must take on as human rights advocators, as well as avoid any instances of disrespecting the culture upon which they are working in, in order to avoid fatal conflict.

Forensic Anthropologists & the Avoidance of Military Conflict A second or two passed in silence and then the sound of machine-gun fire blasted through the night air I heard a whistle or a hiss pass in front of my face from

8 Paldino left to right my teammates ran to shelter behind the wall of the nearby gazebo and I ran up to the veranda, ducking, as though that would help. After perhaps one minute that felt much, much longer, the shooting stopped (Koff, 2004). A forensic anthropologist must know, that when conducting exhumations in these kinds of locations, there is still much political and military conflict, as well as some levels of continuation of killings (Gibbons, 1992). In order to avoid instances of conflict with the locals, the forensic anthropologist must read up and understand the local culture and customs. If the mission takes place within a place that still is experiencing unexplained disappearances of people, precautions must be made in order to keep the investigation safe for the team of anthropologists. However, even when precautions are made, it does not mean that one should turn a blind eye from the possibility of being in a situation that provokes danger. Therefore, in order to avoid awkward and potentially dangerous situations with locals by not understanding or respecting their customs, these forensic anthropologists must be able to switch between being a scientist and a cultural anthropologist from time to time. Burns (1999) describes this transition as cultural flexibility meaning that all anthropologists should not find this concept of needing to know particular aspects of culture and linguistics new to them, that is, if theyve been properly trained to be a well-rounded anthropologist. For forensic anthropologists specifically, burials are a huge factor when it comes to differences between cultures, as in order to determine whether or not a set of remains were buried due to murder, these distinctions must be made. In the United States, normal burials of human remains are standardly in a coffin, fully clothed, facing upwards. However, when compared to Islamic burial traditions, the bodies are to be facing

sideways wrapped in a cotton material that decomposes quickly. For burial norms pertaining to the United States, this form of Islamic burial would appear to be a victim of a homicide, and for burial norms pertaining to Islamic culture, the standard clothed burial of the United States would be considered abnormal (Burns 1999). In terms of communication between locals and military officials, most forensic teams have an on-site translator, however, when conducting events such as clothing day (lay out the clothes of the victims to help those of the disappeared identify their lost family members), other means of communication must be taken into account. Burns (1999) suggests the idea of a color-wheel, due to the fact that it is much easier to point of to the color in question than try to sift through a translator book. A thorough understanding of local laws is another huge factor that forensic investigation teams must take into account, so no accidental violation of the law takes place. This is the best way to avoid conflictions with the corrupt military that may or may not still be in power. However, sometimes simply obeying the law is not enough, and because forensic anthropologists are a group of human rights advocates and are convicting these exhumations to bring those who committed the heinous crimes to justice, they are seen as a threat and are targeted. This is something that comes with the job of being a forensic anthropologist for the sake of human rights abuses, and those that are a part of these missions know the consequences and the risks that accompany it. Koff and her colleagues followed and respected the local Rwandan/Kibuye laws and customs accordingly, and they were successful in terms of communication with the locals through a translator. However, Koff and the other members of the forensic team were simply in

10 Paldino the wrong place at the wrong time, caught off guard with the event of the shooting. For Koff, the event still haunts her to this day.

The Physical, Dirty Work of a Forensic Anthropologist The less skeletonized condition also sped up exhumation, because a body could be lifted out almost whole: we no longer had to carefully gather more than two hundred individual bones another problem was that bodies in the state of decomposition known technically as saponified have a tender skin. If you punctured it, something not dissimilar to cottage cheese came foaming out, and then you had to clean away that as well (Koff, 2004). Forensic anthropology is not for the squeamish. Although most knowledge revolves around the human skeleton system, if one is conducting examinations of remains that are forensically significant (older than 50 years old, although in criminal situations, the remains usually range between a week to a few months old), there is almost always the presence of remaining flesh as well as a few levels of decomposition. With exhumations of mass graves, where the dumping of hundreds of bodies occurs, there is bound to be sights and smells that are horrendously pungent, due to numerous reasons. With so many bodies layered within a pit, the ones towards the top, closest to the sunlight, are to be much more skeletonized than the bodies that are further below. The deeper a forensic anthropologist digs into the trench of bodies, the more whole the bodies will appear, ranging from many different stages of decomposition. There are five stages of human decomposition: fresh, bloat, active decay, advanced decay, and skeletonization. The stages of decomposition that one would encounter in a situation such

as the excavation of mass graves would most definitely range from skeletonization and advanced decay towards the top of the pit, to active decay, bloating, and some partially fresh towards the bottom. The stages of decomposition also vary due to many other outside effectors, such as weather the bodies decomposing much quicker in extreme heat, and much slower in cold places. For Koff, Rwanda is an extremely warm place, therefore the bodies decomposed much quicker towards the top, and left the bodies towards the bottom in a rancid level of decomposition that the smell was sometimes unbearable. Due to the amount of bodies (ranging from a few hundreds to thousands) to exhume, combined with the heat, the long-term crouching and digest and looking for small pieces of bone, excavating mass graves is extremely exhausting. Koff describes her normal day of exhumation would last from around six-thirty in the morning to about five or seven at night, depending on the amount of work that was needed to be done. Therefore, from Koffs recollections, there is an assumption that forensic anthropologists work on a mass grave site for about twelve hours a day, with little breaks, and long periods of crouching, kneeling, digging, sifting, and the organization of remains and particular bone fragments. Not only do forensic anthropologists have to physically remove the bones from the grave, but there is also the entire process of identification ranging from whether or not the remains are male or female, young or old, as well as the manner of death (in a situation such as this, the manner of death being murder). The purpose of these missions to exhume these mass graves is to identify the remains in order to bring closure to the families that claim to have members whom have gone missing during the period of

12 Paldino extermination. Therefore, after the remains are taken from the grave, cleaned, and laid out, they are examined for specific indicators needed for proper identification. To identify age, forensic anthropologists look at the bone formation, especially within the long bones, such as the femur and humerus, with the epiphyseal fusion of the articular ends. The more unfused the ends of these bones are, the younger the remains are. Another way to identify the age of a victim is by looking at the sternal ends of ribs, the more worn out they appear, the older the victim should be. However, the best and most efficient way to get a more accurate estimation of age is by looking at the dental development of the teeth, looking at tooth eruption and formation to pinpoint much more exact ages, especially in children, where dental formation is so specific (Byers, 2011). The next means of identification that a forensic anthropologist looks for within unidentifiable remains is the sex of the victim. Although there are many diverse ways to determine the sex of the individual, the most efficient and accurate ways are to look at the pelvis, and, if the pelvis is unavailable, the skull. The reason the pelvis shows such distinction between sexes is the due to the sole reason that women give birth, and men do not. Therefore, within female remains, the pelvis is widened, and the pubic bone is in the shape of a U. With male remains, the pelvis is much more narrowed, and the pubic bone tapes the shape of a V. If the skull were to be identified for sex indicators, a forensic anthropologist would look at the robusticity of the features, such as a more squared jaw in males, and clear different levels of mastoid process sizes (larger in males, smaller in females). However, in order to get an almost accurate identification of sex for a set of unknown bones, the pelvis is still the best way of doing so, due to the clear distinctions and notion of childbirth (Byers, 2011).

Stature is the next stage of proper identification, and in order for forensic anthropologists to get a proper measurement of how tall the individual must have been, long bones must be present. By using any of the long bones the femur, tibia, fibula, humerus, radius, and ulna an accurate or close to accurate estimation of the victims length can be measured (Byers, 2011). However, in situations such as finding remains jumbled up in mass graves, not only do some remains come with the absence of long bones, but for the ones that do come with long bones there is the possibility that due to the jumbled state of all the bodies, those bones might not belong to a particular set of remains. The last means of identification that forensic anthropologists look for is ancestry. In situations such identifying hundreds of remains in a grave due to a mass killing, most of the time, it is of one particular race as racial killings are most common in terms of genocide. Therefore, for a forensic anthropologist on a human rights mission, there is not much of a demand to identify ancestry, as it is most likely already known. For identifying ancestry, there are a few specific indicators that discern Caucasian, African American, and Asians from each other (Byers, 2011). However, most of the time, identification of ancestry can lead to a few controversies, and it is one of the most difficult means of identification. For forensic anthropologists that work within human rights, there is a lot more to the physical work than just simply digging up remains. There are the long days, the weather, as well as the terrain that they must become accustomed to as the time goes by being on site. And after all the remains are dug up, they must be taken to a lab where cleaning and sorting must be made, as well as proper identifications that are not usually

14 Paldino easy to come by, due to the mass amount of bones and the susceptibility of jumbled arrangement. For Koff, the work was tedious, but in the end, the result of bringing a family closure by properly excavating and identifying the victim is worth it (Koff, 2004).

The Life-Long Personal Impacts I look around the plane at my fellow passengers but only saw people absorbed in their glossy magazines, wanting half-and-half instead of just milk for their coffee. Now these innocent people were aggravating me Only much later did I understand how much the mission had changed me. In fear of more disjunction, I curbed my tears and sat back in my seat, avoiding the movie screen and feeling like an outsider (Koff, 2004). After a mission, forensic anthropologists go through a few levels of PTSD, depending on their experiences, as well as what theyve witnessed. The sight of the hundreds upon hundreds of mangled, rotting remains is enough to give forensic anthropologists a sight that they will never forget, but by being stationed in locations that still have remaining military tensions, other events can completely change their lives. For Koff, being shot at not only still haunts her to this day, but the sound of gunshots on a small television can heighten her senses and traumatize her to a certain extent (Koff, 2004). It does not matter where the human rights mission takes place, there are still the same emotional impacts that accompany exhumation of mass graves, especially the revealing of the identifications to the local public, and the notion of telling a family member that their loved one, is in fact, a set of remains lying on a display matt. In her memoir, Koff wrote about the reactions of the locals when she told of their loved ones

fate, and that hearing their cries and musing is something that Koff herself will never ever forget. While Koff was in Kibuye, there was a church that sat just on the edge of Lake Kivu, and the church help a disturbing past; it was where a huge massacre took place in Kibuye, and most of the remains that Koff and her team dug up were mostly likely killed within that church. After the remains were dug up, they were held within the church and then removed for cleaning and then identification. Koff described this church as eerie, as there were remaining bloodstains and machete slashes all across the room, and the site frightened her to a huge extent. Another instance of something similar occurred during Koffs stay in a hotel within Kigali, where her hotel room walls were covered in bulletholes, as well as blood stains not too far from them (Koff, 2004). For places such as this, seeing bullet-holes, blood splatter, and machete slashes was not out of the ordinary, and for Koff, it was completely life changing. The quote that is provided at the beginning of this particular segment is different kind of personal impact that these human rights missions have on forensic anthropologist and it is the indifference towards the stuck-up-ness of Western culture. When living in a place that has an absence of fresh water, and hunger is a feeling that is never uncommon, it is strange to return to a culture that is basically abundant of everything and more. While Koff struggled to find fresh water to brush her teeth with, people on her plane were complaining about having half-and-half in their coffee, and to Koff, she found is completely abhorrent and distasteful that she is a part of such a culture. These human rights missions make a forensic anthropologist realize that they live more than just well in the Western world in comparison to these people that have their human rights abused,

16 Paldino and are struggling to survive every single day through hunger, thirst, and avoiding the potential of being slaughtered due to racial and political conflict.

Conclusion: Forensic Anthropologist as an Anthropologist To be a forensic anthropologist as well as be successful within the human rights movement, there is more than just simply exhumation mass graves and identifying the victims, although that does play a huge part. As mentioned previously, there are four fields of anthropology: biological, cultural, archaeological, and linguistics. Forensic anthropology is a subfield of biological anthropology, therefore, a forensic anthropologist must be extremely well-versed in his or her own field of study. So, great knowledge of the methods of identification (age, sex, stature, and ancestry) is a necessity, as well as indicators of trauma to help pinpoint the exact manner of which the victim passed. A forensic anthropologist must also be well educated in means of excavation, bringing in the field of archaeology. Especially when exhuming mass graves, there must be a specific manner of how the remains are sorted from each other, as well as how the remains are taken from the context of the ground. So, forensic anthropologists, whether they are working within human rights or not, must be acquainted with many methods of archaeology. However, in specifics to human rights missions, a forensic anthropologist must be more familiar with cultural anthropology and linguistics, especially if they are to have a successful time communicating with the locals as well as understanding their customs. However, the most important reason for a forensic anthropologist to adopt these extra means of cultural and linguistic knowledge is to protect themselves from the possibility

of breaking any local laws that would raise attention to them the unwanted attention of military forces that pose huge threats to anyone, especially to outsiders of the area. Clea Koff is the perfect example of a four-point anthropologist. Not only she is an excellent forensic anthropologist, and knows how to properly utilize skills of archaeology to excavate remains from a mass grave without damaging them or breaking the bones, but she also displays great levels of cultural and linguistic anthropology. She immersed herself in every single culture she was living within for each mission by meeting and communicating with the locals to the best of her ability, to respecting customs and traditions that are unique to the specific culture. However, even though she portrayed all the ideal traits that a forensic anthropologist must have in order to be successful with human rights, she still saw and even experienced military conflict that, even at one point, threatened her life. Forensic anthropologists play a huge role in human rights abuses. They shed light on the injustice that occurs in events of genocide. By determining how these mass groups of people were killed, most of the time, justice is met and those that committed these heinous crimes are taken into custody and stand trail for their atrocities. However, the most important job of a forensic anthropologist in terms of human rights abuses is the sole aspect of identifying the remains of those whom have gone missing. Through events such as clothing day, where the remaining clothes of victims are lain out for family members to identify (Koff, 2004), as well as the finding of specific artifacts (such as wallets, photos, family relics) that reveal an identity, these nameless bodies are given a name. Even though discovering that one of their family members has indeed passed is absolutely traumatic and more than heart breaking, it finally brings a sense of closure to

18 Paldino these families that spend days and nights holding up photos of their missing loved ones. Forensic anthropologists bring justice to both the country and the people that live within it, the work done by sometimes making huge impacts and receiving much recognition, and other instances of work going unnoticed by the media. However, whether or not these forensic anthropologists are appraised or not for their outstanding work with human rights all across the globe in places with the high levels of military, political, and racial tension, one thing is for sure: these forensic anthropologists leave with a new outlook on life; their own and the life that was once familiar, but now foreign, around them.

Works Cited
Burns, Karen R. Forensic Anthropology and Human Rights Issues. In Forensic Anthropology Training Manual. 63-83. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.

Byers, Steven N. Introduction to Forensic Anthropology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2011. Chang, Iris. The Rape of Nanking. New York: Penguin, 1997

Dutton, Donald G., Ehor Boyanowsky, and Michael Harris Bond. Extreme mass homicide: From military massacre to genocide. Aggression and Violent Behavior 10(4) (2005): 435-73. Gibbons, Ann. Scientists search for the disappeared in Guatemala. (using new molecular methods of forensic medicine). Science 257(5069) (1992): 479. Koff, Clea. The Bone Woman: A Forensic Anthropologists Search for Truth in the Mass Graves of Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. New York: Random House, 2004.