Twenty-five years of
Democracy in Argentina
The search for the disappeared
Forensic Anthropology and
Human Rights
Lic. Silvana Turner
Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF)
www.eaaf.org
Political violence
in Latin America
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Disappeared/killed by political reasons (1960 – present):
Guatemala (250.000)
Colombia (100.000)
El Salvador (75.000)
Peru (70.000)
Argentina (10.000)
Chile (3.000)
Gral. Pinochet
Mothers of Plaza de Mayo
Some Truth Commissions
Argentina (1983/84)
 Chile (1990/91)
 El Salvador (1992/93)
 Guatemala (1997/99)
 Peru
(2001/03)
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1976-83
1973-90
1980-91
1962-96
1980-00
Chronology 1
Military dictatorship:
March 24, 1976
Self-amnesty Law
(Law 22.924):
Sept. 27, 1983
Return to democracy:
Dec. 10, 1983
Self-amnesty Law
Annulment.(Law 23.050):
Dec. 29,1983
CONADEP’s official
report:
Sept. 20,1984
Disposal of Bodies
Search and
recovery
of remains
1984
Forensic system
in Latin America
Not very
independent
Judiciary,
Prosecutor's
office, Police
No anthropologist,
archaeologists, etc
forensic specialists
Cases of
complicity
Few independent options
No integration of families/communities
Victims’ relatives
EAAF foundation (1984)
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Independent forensic alternative to the official forensic
system.
Focuses on the investigation of human rights violations
Special emphasis:
 the rights of the relatives/communities of disappeared
people,
 their necessity to know and participate.
Chronology 2
•Trials of Top Junta
Members:
April 22, 1985
•Full Stop Law:
Dec. 5, 1986
•Due Obedience Impunity
Law: May 13, 1987
•Amnesty Law (1st
Presidential pardon):
Oct. 30, 1989
•Amnesty Law (2nd
Presidential pardon):
Dec. 28, 1990
Dr. Clyde Snow
EAAF’s international work
(1986-2008)
AFRICA
AMERICA
Bolivia
Angola
Brazil
DRC
Chile
Ethiopia
Colombia
Ivory Coast
El Salvador
Kenya
Guatemala
Morocco
Haiti
Namibia
Honduras
Sierra Leone Mexico
South Africa Panama
Paraguay
Sudan
Peru
Togo
Uruguay
Zimbabwe
Venezuela
EUROPE
ASIA
OCEANIA
Bosnia
Croatia
Cyprus
Georgia
Kosovo
Romania
East Timor French Polynesia
Iraq
Nepal
Philippines
EAAF’s objectives
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To provide evidence in court/special commissions of
inquiry.
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To assist the relatives of the victims in pursuit of their
rights to recover the remains of their loved ones.
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To collaborate in the training of new teams in other
countries where investigations into human rights
violations are necessary.
To contribute to the historical reconstruction of the
recent past.
Forensic Anthropology
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Forensic anthropology uses methods and
techniques from physical anthropology,
archaeology, and forensic medicine to
investigate legal cases involving skeletal or
almost skeletonnized remains.
EAAF investigation process
•Historical investigation:
Recovery and analysis of oral and
written sources.
Collection of Ante Mortem data
•Archaeological work:
Recovery and analysis of the
findings.
•Laboratory analysis:
Identification of remains, and
determination of the cause of death.
Zona 2
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Military division of the country
Zonas Argentina
-EAAF-
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Map of Illegal Detention Centers
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Map of cemeteries with NN graves (in red)
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Testimonies of victims at Truth Commission
-EAAF-
20
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Cemetery records
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Intelligence reports
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 “30
Media reports
bodies were found in Pilar”
Collection of
Ante Mortem information
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Building a relation of confidence and trust.
Respect cultural and religious context.
Interviews with different members of the family
and friends.
More than one meeting, proper time and place.
Use of specific forms.
Specific strategy for blood/saliva samples for
DNA.
Medical, anthropological, odontological
information. Persona effects, clothing.
East Timor, meeting with
relatives before
exhumations, 2005
Darfur, Sudan,
2004, recording
graves
How to organize the
information?
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The use of computer experts: working with investigators.
Defining what do we want to collect.
Data bases on:
List of victims (name, sex, age, date of disapp., place).
Ante mortem information.
Location of possible grave sites.
Chronology of the conflict.
Information from the media.
Official documents.
Sharing information among NGO´s.
Security of the information.
nd
2
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stage - Forensic
Archaeology
Forensic archaeology applies the techniques of the
traditional archaeology to a legal context.
Capacity and knowledge to analyze a “crime scene” that
involves exhumation of bodies, recovery of remains and
objects spread about the surface.
Minimum field team: Forensic physician, Forensic
anthropologist/archaeologist, Scene of crime officers,
Photographer, Planimetry, and Security.
Guatemala
South Africa
El Salvador
Ethiopia
Croacia
Argentina
Argentina
El Salvador
Argentina
Argentina
Interdisciplinary Team
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Forensic physician
Forensic anthropologist
Forensic odontologist
Forensic radiologist
Other disciplines (Biologists,
entomologists, chemists, etc.)
Are the remains human?
Is the case of forensic interest?
How many individuals are there in the sample?
Identification
Cause of death
PREPARATION OF THE REMAINS
X-Raying
Taking samples
CLEANING
RECONSTRUCTION
LABELLING
EXTENSION IN ANATOMICAL POSITION INVENTORY
DEAL WITH NON BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE (records, transfers)
Biological Profile
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DETERMINATION OF SEX
ESTIMATION OF AGE
ESTIMATION OF ANCESTRY
ESTIMATION OF STATURE
DESCRIPTION OF PATHOLOGIES,
ANOMALIES & ANTE-MORTEN TRAUMAS
ODONTOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
COMPARISON OF PRE & POST-MORTEM
DATA: IDENTIFICATION
EAAF
Identification of the victims
The information from the study is contrasted with the ante-mortem data
obtained through historical investigations and interviews with relatives, as
well as with the contextual information and artifacts from the excavation
(type of burial, presence of ballistic material or elements indicative of
violence, etc.).
Hypothesis of identity
In the absence of medical, x-rays, dental records, etc., this hypothesis
should be verified through genetic analysis.
Genetic analysis
In the laboratory of molecular genetics the DNA extracted from bone material of
the skeleton (teeth, segments of large bones, etc.) is compared with the blood of
the presumed family.
LIDMO
Laboratory
(Córdoba,Ar
g.)
Peri mortem: classification generally by causal agent
• Number
• Location
• Sequence
• Trajectory
Gunshot wounds
Argentina 1990 - 2008
1990- 2003
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Absent by Forced Disappearance Law.
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Economic compensations for victims and relatives.
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Trials on child kidnapping (Condor Operation).
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Opening of processes on the disappearance of foreigners (Spain,
Italy, Sweden, France, Germany).
2003:
Annulment of amnesty laws, with congressional support.
2005
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Supreme Court overturns Due Obedience and Full Stop immunity
laws.
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Reopening of criminal cases.
2008
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368 detained, 54 condemned, 60 fugitives, 64 trials.
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95 young disappeared found by Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo.
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CDCs opened as remembrance places and museum.
EAAF’s achievements
in Argentina
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Exhumations: 1.100
aprox.
Identifications: 300
Blood samples: 6.000
Bone samples: 600
Results expected:
2008-2009
2009-2010: continue
Latin American Initiative for the
Identification of the Disappeared (LIID)
Argentina