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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 April 2010

Abstract

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Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2002

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References

1 Szymborska, Wislawa, “Hunger camp at Jasko”, in Forche, Carolyn (ed.), Against Forgetting: Twentieth Century Poetry of Witness, W.W. Norton, New York, 1993, p. 459.Google Scholar

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5 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 78 U.N.T.S. 277, adopted by Resolution 260 (III) A of the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1948 Art.2.

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14 SC Res. 955, UN SCOR, 49th Session, 3453rd Meeting, Annex, UN Document S/RES955 (1994).

15 As of October 2002, 108 individuals are currently in proceedings before both the Rwandan and Yugoslav tribunals. So far, 41 accused have been tried, of whom 35 have been found guilty. See the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at <http://www.un.org/icty/> and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda at <http://www.ictr.org>.

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19 See Haglund, William D., “Recent mass graves: An introduction”, op cit. (note 6), pp. 243262.Google Scholar

20 Davor Strinovic (personal communication), Institute for Forensic Medicine and Criminology, Zagreb, Croatia, 11 October 2002.

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28 In The Missing: ICRC Report (Summary of the Conclusions Arising from Events Held prior to the International Conference of Governmental and Non-governmental Experts, 19–21 February 2003 the ICRC states: “A death certificate alone might not be enough to induce belief in the death of a missing person. The authorities that issue death certificates have a responsibility, as does the ICRC when it delivers information on death, to ensure the authenticity of the information contained therein; the certificates should include information on the cause of death and the availability of the human remains.”

29 See the website of the International Commission of Missing Persons, <http://www.ic-mp.org/icfact.asp>.

30 Edward Huffine (personal communication), International Commission of Missing Persons, 29 September 2002. According to Huffine, the total number of positive identifications of the Srebrenica dead will be near 1,000 by early 2003.

31 Testimony of William Haglund, The Prosecutor v. Krstic, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Case No. ICTY IT-98–33, 29 May 1999, T. 3722.

32 The Prosecutor v. Milosevic et al.: Indictment, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Case No. ICTY IT-02–54, 24 May 1999, para. 90.

33 Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, adopted by UN Security Council Resolution 827 on 25 May 1993, Art. 5.

34 The Charter of the International Military Tribunal, annexed to the London Agreement for the Prosecution and Punishment of the Major War Criminals of the European Axis, of 8 August 1945, Art. 6(c).

35 Graham Blewitt, quoted in Abrahams, Peress, and Stover, op. cit. (note 2), p. 75.

36 The principle enunciating the responsibility of command responsibility derives from the principle of individual criminal responsibility applied by the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals. It was subsequently codified in Art. 86(2) of Protocol I.

37 ICTY investigators have also observed the exhumations of the remains of hundreds of Kosovar Albanians who were killed by Yugoslav forces during the war in Kosovo and later transferred to Serbia and buried in clandestine graves.

38 Jose-Pablo Baraybar, Director, Office on Missing Persons and Forensics, United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Press Statement, Pristina, Kosovo, 29 September 2002.

39 Press Statement, UNMIK, Pristina, Kosovo, 24 September 2002.

40 Amnesty International, “Disappearances”: A Workbook, Amnesty International USA Publications, New York, 1981, p. 109Google Scholar. Also see Quirk, Gregory J. and Casco, Leonel, “Stress disorders of families of the disappea red: A controlled study in Honduras”, Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 39, No. 12, 1994, pp. 16751679.Google Scholar

41 See Boss, Pauline, Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live with Unresolved Grief, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1999.Google Scholar

42 See Bringa, Tone, Being Muslim the Bosnian Way: Identity and Community in a Central Bosnian Village, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1995, p. 194.Google Scholar

43 Verdery, Katherine, The Political Lives of Dead Bodies: Reburial and Postsocialist Change, Columbia University Press, New York, 1999, pp. 107108.Google Scholar

44 See Doretti, and , Fondebrider, op cit. (note 3).Google Scholar

45 Weinstein, Harvey M., “Where there is no body: Trauma and bereavement in communities coping with the aftermath of mass violence”Google Scholar, paper presented at the ICRC Workshop on Support for Families of People Unaccounted For, Geneva, Switzerland, 10–11 June 2002.

46 Fondebrider, Luis, “Reflections of the scientific documentation of human rights violations”Google Scholar, paper presented at the ICRC Workshop on Human Remains: Law, Politics, and Ethics, Geneva, Switzerland, 23–24 May 2002.

47 See Eppel, Shari, “Healing the dead to transform the living: The preventive implications”Google Scholar, paper presented at the International Seminar on Torture and Organized Violence in the 21st Century, 24–26 January 2001, Copenhagen, Denmark.

49 Psychologists dealing with survivors of trauma have long postulated that personal efficacy is a major determinant in recovery. In recovering from trauma, Judith Herman argues that “[n]o intervention that takes power away from the survivor can possibly foster her recovery, no matter how much it appears to be in her immediate best interest”. See Herman, Judith, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror, Basic Books, New York, 1992, p. 134Google Scholar. Another way of examining this phenomenon is through the “control over one's destiny” hypothesis, developed by Leonard Syme, who holds that control over one's destiny refers to the ability “to influence the events that impinge upon our lives”. According to Syme's research, a great sense of control in one's life often leads to better health outcomes. See S. Leonard Syme, “Social and economic disparities in health: Thoughts about intervention”, The Millbank Quarterly, Vol. 76, 1998, pp. 493–505.

50 Besides the two ad hoc international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, a per manent International Criminal Court has been established to try persons accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The Statute of the International Criminal Court, of 17 July 1998 (which entered into force on 1 July 2002) can be found at <http://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/.htm>.

51 Report of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, E/CN.4/2O02/67, 21 01 2000.Google Scholar

52 Ibid. The UN has also produced two documents – Manual for the Prevention of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions and Guidelines for the Conduct of United Nations Inquiries into Allegations of Massacres – that set out the standards and procedures for investigating war crimes and violations of human rights.

53 The Missing: ICRC Report, op cit. (note 28), p. 65.Google Scholar

54 Clyde Snow quoted in Joyce, and Stover, , op cit. (note 16), p. 217.Google Scholar