forensic monitoring project report: halapić and petrovo vrelo...

PHYSICIANS for

HUMAN RIGHTS St*

FORENSIC MONITORING PROJECT REPORT

Halapic and Petrovo Vrelo Exhumations Republika Srpska Commission on Missing and Tracing

(11 August 1998)

FINDINGS

Report by: Heather P. York, M.A.

Forensic Monitor Forensic Monitoring Project Tuzla, Bosna i Hercegovina

January 1999

Physicians for Human Rights 100 Boylston Street, Suite 702 Boston, MA 02116 USA Tel. (617) 695-0041 Fax. (617) 695-0307 Email: [email protected] http ://www.phrusa.org

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75000 Tuzla Bosna i Hercegovina

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Financed with support of International Commission on Missing Persons

ICMP International Commission

on Missing Persons

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HALAPIC AND PETROVO VRELO EXHUMATIONS

Summary of Events

On 11 August 1998, the Republika Srpska Commission on Missing and Tracing recovered five bodies from two sites in the vicinity of Glamoc. One skeletonized body, that of a female civilian, was; wrapped in a blanket under a sheet of tin. These remains were exhumed from a grave in the middle of a field near Halapic Mountain. The other four bodies were exhumed from a concrete crypt in a cemetery near Petrovo Vrelo. One of the bodies from this site wore military clothing and was allegedly that of a male soldier. The other three, two males and one female, wore civilian clothing. All four were at least partially saponified inside heavy plastic body bags.

A Forensic Monitor from Physicians for Human Rights was present for the duration of the exhumations; at both of these sites.

At the time of this report, no information was available regarding the postmortem examination of the human remains recovered from these two sites.

PHYSICIANS/or HUMAN RIGHTS, January 1999 1


Participants and Observers

Republika Srpska Commission on Missing and Tracing IVANCEVIC Milan KARAN Dr. Zeljko MARICMilko " MAKJVIC Aleksandar RADETA Aleksandar VESELINOVIC Slavisa Representatives of Canton 10

Member Forensic Pathologist, Banja Luka Crime Technician Morgue Assistant Member Morgue Assistant

Federal Commission on Missing Persons - Croat Side RADIC Jerko Member

Office of the High Representative YOUNG Steve

Physicians for Human Rights STIKIC Sandra YORK Heather

Exhumations Officer, Banja Luka

Translator Forensic Monitor

Others Members of the International Police Task Force British Stabilization Force Personnel Witnesses and informants

Site Description

The Halapic site is at grid coordinates 33T XJ 424E 820N on the Crni Lug topographic map (Sheet 2483 II, Edition 6-DMA, Series M709, and Scale 1:50,000; Figure 1). The site can be accessed by driving southeast on the main thoroughfare that runs to the west of Ninkovici and Branjesci. The site lies 20 m to the north of this road in a field near the summit of Halapic Mountain. When the Commission team arrived, the site was covered by tall grass, trampled down but otherwise uniform with the surrounding area. A low, dilapidated wooden fence surrounded an area of approximately 5 m x 5 m in the field (Photo 1).

The Petrovo Vrelo site can be found at grid coordinates 33T XJ 500E 8ION on the Glamoc topographic map (Sheet 2583 III, Edition 6-DMA, Series M709, and Scale 1:50,000; Figure 2). It can be accessed by driving 1 km east on National Route 15 from the point where the road splits off into western and eastern branches, approximately 1.75 km east of Glamoc. From that point, the cemetery lies 2.5 km away along a northwestern road from the National Route. The cemetery abuts this road on the northeast.

Upon arrival, the Commission team proceeded to the southeastern quadrant of the cemetery, 20 m northwest of a barbed wire fence. The crypt that was expected to contain four improperly buried bodies was a concrete, above-ground structure with a marble headstone. The stone bore the family name of one of the male victims being sought. There were grave pictures and birth dates for this individual and his wife, but no death dates had been inscribed on the headstone (Photo 2).

PHYSICIANS for HUMAN RIGHTS, January 1999 2


Site History

Informants at the Halapic site claimed that two civilians, a woman and a man, were buried within the fenced section of the field. The woman was allegedly killed in front of a nearby house. The bodies were expected to be covered with a sheet of tin. The informants had been told that the individuals may have been buried by those who had killed them.

A witness present at the second site indicated that the residents of Petrovo Vrelo left the town on 28 July 1995, one day before it fell. Of the four individuals that were expected to be inside the crypt, three were allegedly civilians who hid in the town until October of 1995 when they were caught and killed. The witness said these people had been placed in the crypt by workers from Livno. The fourth individual was allegedly a soldier, but no other information was provided.

Exhumation Process and Condition of Remains

At Halapic, two laborers working with shovels exposed a large sheet of crumpled tin covering a set of human remains. The tin was approximately 0.5 m deep. The remains were wrapped loosely in a light blue and white floral pattern blanket (Photo 3) and oriented toward the southwest. Inside the blanket, the skeletonized remains were clothed in a dark plaid civilian shirt and a black leather jacket. The clothing and blanket were full of maggot casings. Nothing else lay beneath the body. Milko Marie, crime technician for the Commission team, took photos of this body with the label " 1 " attached. The body was removed to the Commission's vehicle for transport to the Banja Luka morgue facility.

Digging was then concentrated in an area 0.5 m to the northwest of the first burial, still within the fenced section. A trench parallel with the first body was dug to 0.5 m, but no other human remains were encountered in the very compact soil. The sheet of tin was reburied in the grave and covered with backdirt when the holes were refilled.

At the Petrovo Vrelo site, workers removed the small wooden door from the front of the crypt. Inside, several bright orange body bags with black zippers were visible by flashlight near the entrance. There was also a single wooden coffin on the left side, under the wife's inscription on the headstone (Photo 4). The crypt was otherwise empty.

Workers pulled out the first orange body bag. Inside was a set of incomplete and partially saponified remains. The skeletal elements appeared to be male, and the clothing was civilian. The incomplete state of these remains suggested that they had either been exposed to the elements ;and animal activity or else exhumed and reburied in this location. Photos were taken of this individual with the label "2" attached (Photo 5).

The second body bag contained the remains of a female in civilian clothing. This body was more complete than the first, and it was partially saponified. The Forensic Monitor did not see a head inside the body bag. Photos were taken of this individual with the label "3" attached.

The third body bag contained the remains of a male in civilian clothing. The body was saponified! and appeared complete except for the head. Photos were taken with the label "4" attached.



The remains inside the fourth body bag, like the first, looked as though they might have been exposed on the surface or undergone exhumation and reburial. The remains were saponified and partially skeletonized. The individual was a male in military clothing. Photos were taken with the label "5" attached (Photo 6).

A small, blue, plastic bag was also found inside the crypt. Inside were some animal bones, probably from a cow. The bag was left inside the crypt.

The wooden coffin was presumed to belong to the woman whose name appeared on the headstone. It was not opened or removed from the crypt.

All bodies from this site were placed in the Commission's truck for transport to Banja Luka.

Postmortem Examination Findings

No information regarding the postmortem examination of the bodies recovered on 11 August 1998 was available at the time of this report.



MAP NAME: GLAMOC SHEET NO: 2583 III EDITION: 6-DMA SERIES: M709 SCALE: 1:50,000 GRID COORDINATES: 33T XJ 500E

810N & \N\ iw \ . \ w \ w ^ [ftTTnro

PHYSICIANS/or HUMAN RIGHTS, January 1999 h


Photo 1. View to the north of the wooden fence surrounding the grave at Halapic. (RollHY-015, Exp.21)

Photo 2. View to the west of crypt containing four bodies at the cemetery in Petrovo Vrelo. (Roll HY-016, Exp.21)



Photo 3. Crumpled sheet of tin and Body 1 wrapped in a blanket at Halapic. (RollHY-015,Exp. 27)

Photo 4. Body bags and wooden coffin inside the crypt at Petrovo Vrelo. (RollHY-016,Exp.7)

PHYSICIANS/or HUMAN RIGHTS, January 1999


Photo 5. Incomplete remains of Body #2, a female civilian, at Petrovo Vrelo. (RollHY-016,Exp.lO)

Photo 6. Incomplete remains of Body #5, a male soldier, at Petrovo Vrelo. (RollHY-016,Exp.l3)


PHYSICIANS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) mobilizes the health professions and enlists public support to protect and promote the human rights of all people.

PHR believes that human rights are essential preconditions for the health and well-being of all members of the human family.

We use medical and scientific methods to investigate and expose violations of human rights worldwide.

We work to stop violations of human rights.

We demand the perpetrators of human rights violations be held accountable for their actions under international law.

Since its founding in 1986, PHR has carried out forensic investigations, including exhumations and autopsies, of alleged torture and extrajudicial executions in Afghanistan, Brazil, Israel, the former Czechoslovakia, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Iraqi Kurdistan, Kuwait, Mexico, Panama, Somalia, and Thailand. PHR has also devoted considerable energy and resources, under the auspices of its Chicago-based International Forensic Program, to assist the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (and its predecessor the U.N. War Crimes Commission) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, to collect evidence of genocide in those nations.

The President is Charles Clements, M.D., M.P.H., the Vice President is Carola Eisenberg, M.D., the Executive Director is Leonard Rubenstein, J.D., the Deputy Director is Susannah Sirkin, the Advocacy Director is Holly Burkhalter, the Senior Program Associate is Richard Sollom, the Director of Communications is Barbara Ayotte, the Campaign and Education Coordinator is Gina Cummings, the Membership Development Coordinator is Steve Brown. William H. Haglund, Ph.D., is Director of PHR's International Forensic Program. Vince Iacopino, M.D., Ph.E)., is Senior Medical Consultant. The director of Bosnia Projects is Laurie Vollen, M.D., M.P.H.

© 1998 Physicians for Human Rights. All rights reserved.

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