The importance of forensic expertise in investigation of human rights violations

Abstract

Introduction: Medico-legal expertise and identification of victims during the war and post war conflicts mean for The Republic of Serbia the most important humanitarian, scientific and ethical problem. Aim: Forensic investigations on territory of Kosovo and Metohija are currently going on. Material and methods: In this paper we observe all cases of Serbs and other non-Albanians who were exhumed and identified during first five years after armed conflict (2000-2005.), in few mass graves and in many single grave sites. Results. In the mentioned period of time, 280 dead bodies were exhumed and forensic team did autopsies, 111 dead bodies were identified. Conclusion: Well done forensic expertise is a prerequisite to the successful identification, but also the criminal processing of cases in the category of war crimes, which all together give a distinctive character. The research, published and presented in this paper at the identified human corpses, through the general data, identified violations, determining the cause and manner of death, as well as its origin, with all the available documentation of circumstances that led to the death is also the scientific and historical evidence of the tragic fate of the missing persons and victims.