Ten years after: Challenges of human remains identification on the territory of Kosovo and Metohia

Abstract

After the armed conflicts throughout the nineties of the twentieth century occurred in former Yugoslavia, identification of war victims is a challenging task. This paper gives a detailed description of exhumed remains identification process. One of the study objectives has been a comparison between DNA results and traditional forensic identification methods. This paper deals with the identification of human remains that were exhumed in Kosovo and Metohia in the period 20012011, belonging to Serbs and other non-Albanian ethnic communities (Montenegrins, Bosniaks, Roma, Gorani, and others), as well as much lower number of Albanians who were also killed during the war and post-war period. The exhumation and identification of human remains began even during the armed conflict, continued with a high intensity immediately after the establishment of UN administration in the province, and from the end of 2001 among the identified victims dominated those of non-Albanian origin – Serbs, Montenegrins, Roma, and others. The experience of this process and the experience of other countries show that there is a need to organize appropriate services for identification of human remains in Serbia, capable to react effectively in case of mass disaster.