Missing persons in post-conflict settings: best practices for integrating psychosocial and scientific approaches

Abstract

This paper argues the importance of establishing integrated systems to meet the needs of forensic investigations as well as the needs of families of the missing in post-conflict situations. Meeting the psychosocial needs of families to resolve uncertainty and to recover the remains of their loved ones must be part of a multidisciplinary team approach to a transparent and standardised scientific investigative protocol.

The authors present several case studies from the former Yugoslavia illustrating community-based interventions combining education projects and participation in antemortem data collection as well as providing a support network for families of the missing. The participation of the scientific investigators (pathologists, anthropologists, crime scene investigators, etc), many of whom are unprepared for the presence of family members at the scene, is critical to the success of the integrated process. Providing for and sustaining a long term follow-up programme with families, who may require ongoing mental health and social support, is also essential.

Keywords

Community education forensic investigation missing persons psychosocial intervention transparency

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Stover E , Haglund WD , Samuels M. Exhumations of mass graves in Iraq, considerations for forensic investigations, humanitarian needs, and the demands of justice . JAMA 2003;290(5): 663-666

Stover E , Shigekane R.

The missing in the aftermath of war: when do the needs of victims’ families and international war crimes tribunals clash?

Int Rev Red Cross 2002;848: 845-865

Simmons T , Haglund W. Victim Identification in International Forensics Missions: Transparency in Professional Standards and Ethics . Paper presented in the Physical Anthropology Section at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences meetings in Seattle, WA, February 2001

Nesiah V. Overcoming tensions between family and judicial procedures . Int Rev Red Cross 2002; 823-843

Fondebrider L. Reflections on the scientific documentiation of human rights violations . Int Rev Red Cross 2002; 885-891

Haglund WD , Kirschner R H. Report to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, 1997; unpublished report

Rhode D. End Game: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica, Europe’s Worst Massacre Since World War II. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux , 1997

Keough ME , Kahn S , Andrejevic A. Disclosing the truth: informed participation in the ante-mortem database project for survivors of Srebrenica . Health Hum Rights 2000;5(1): 68-87

Haglund W. Recent Mass Graves, An Introduction. In: Haglund W , Sorg M , editors. Advances in Forensic Taphonomy: Method, Theory, and Archaeological Perspectives. Boca Raton: CRC Press , 2002. p. 243-261

10.

Keough ME , Samuels M. Kosovo Family Support Project: Offering Psychosocial Support for Families with Missing Persons. NASW Press

11.

Koff C. The Bone Woman: A Forensic Anthropologist’s Search for Truth in the Mass Graves of Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. New York: Random House, Inc , 2004