Exhumation of mass graves in Iraq: considerations for forensic investigations, humanitarian needs, and the demands of justice.

Abstract

ACROSS WAR-TORN IRAQ, IRAQIS HAVE BEGUN TO REveal the horrors of nearly a quarter century of repressive rule. Former political prisoners have led journalists and human rights investigators to prisons where torture and summary executions reportedly were routine. Municipal grave diggers, shepherds, and farmers have publicly disclosed the whereabouts of mass graves believed to hold the bodies of those who disappeared during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Lacking adequate forensic expertise and in the absence of international assistance, Iraqis have been exhuming some of these graves in a manner that prevents forensic identification of most of the remains and possibly brings greater mental anguish to the relatives of the deceased. For example, in May 2003, at 2 sites located near the Mahawil military base just north of the southern Iraqi city of Hilla, villagers used a backhoe to dig up more than 2000 sets of remains, gouging and comingling countless skeletons in the process, while some families used their hands to dig for bones and shards of clothing and carted them away in wheelbarrows and buckets. Clearly, the numerous infrastructure, public health, safety, and security needs of Iraq require immediate attention; however, addressing the fate of missing persons will be an important aspect of the long-term restoration of the health and well-being of Iraqis. In this context, coordinated forensic, psychosocial, and logistical support for the Iraqi people may help enable the remains of some of the missing to be exhumed and identified in a humanitarian, scientific, and judicial manner. However, at the time of this writing, US and other coalition authorities have not implemented a plan to help Iraqis recover the remains of their relatives in a dignified manner and to preserve evidence that might convict those responsible for these crimes. Although this may be understandable given the current dire situation in Iraq (ie, ongoing conflict and security threats, infrastructure and public health demands, and the need to prioritize resources), it stands in contrast with the role played by the United States during and after the recent wars in the former Yugoslavia. For example, in 1993, before the conflict in Croatia and Bosnia had ended, the United States had funded and donated field equipment to forensic teams investigating mass graves in those countries under the auspices of the UN Commission of Experts and its successor, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Similarly, after the war in Kosovo, the United States dispatched a team of forensic scientists to the region to investigate graves associated with the purge of ethnic Albanians in the spring of 1999. These forensic investigations were used by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in indictments of war criminals in the former Yugoslavia. The grim spectacle at the Hilla burial pits in Iraq and protests of international human rights organizations prompted the US Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) to take action. In late May 2003, the ORHA (which has since been folded into the Coalition Provisional Authority) announced that it would take measures to secure grave sites, launch a media campaign to explain to the public the necessity of preserving grave sites, and request governments to send forensic teams to Iraq to exhume graves prioritized for forensic investigation. In the meantime, several nongovernmental organizations have become involved. At the onset of the war, 2 USbased human rights organizations, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, sent 10 researchers, including 1 of us (E.S.), to the region to investigate possible violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed by all sides of the conflict. In June, 2 of us (W.D.H. and M.S.) traveled to Iraq on behalf of Physicians for Human Rights to assess local capacities for dealing with the search for missing persons. In addition, a British-based group, the International Forensic Center of Excellence for the