Challenging of Commingled Human Remains in Mass Grave

Ahmed Kadhim Mohammed

Abstract: Geologists they said that Iraq is like a floating ship on a sea of oil, but from another point of view, Iraq is a ship floating on a sea of mass graves. Routine techniques are often insufficient to address the identification of human remains in mass graves. The major complicating factors include commingling of skeletal remains, delayed exhumation, lack of ante - mortem information and attempts to conceal evidence of criminal activity. The identification of human remain is important for both legal and humanitarian reasons. Commingled recovered from mass graves are very common in Iraq therefore it was not possible to determine which individual they belonged to. It is the main challenging that face anthropologist in identification of human remains, so we are trying for awareness the importance of new technology to identification commingling human remains. Aims: Commingling of human remains is a common component of certain types of incidents, such as mass graves or mass disasters, and it is often the role of the forensic anthropologist to attempt to document and resolve commingling. Routine techniques are often insufficient to address the identification of human remains in mass graves. For some situations it may also be necessary for a forensic anthropologist to segregate non - human remains that are commingled with human remains. We draw attention to the identification the commingled human remains in mass graves according to modern protocol that approved from International Commission on Missing Person ICMP and United Nations of Human Rights UNHR Results: Cases in which forensic pathologist have too little data for identification by other means and in advanced stage of decomposition. DNA typing (with high number of STR Multiplex kit) and Mitochondrial DNA represents a potentially useful method in cases of commingled remains. Methods: Skeletal remains should be recovered and analyzed in an organized manner for the purpose of resolving commingling. The most appropriate technique (s) should be reliably and objectively applied for segregating remains and determining the number of individuals present. Tests should be documented in a manner conducive to the documentation, replication, and verification of the work performed. Forensic identification of human remains generally involves three main stages of investigation: 1) Background research 2) recovery of remains 3) Laboratory analysis, Robin and Morris, 2009. Methods to be employed to resolve commingling and estimate the number of individuals are divided into three general categories: Recovery, Sorting, and Number of Individuals. For each category, techniques will vary depending upon the remains available for examination and their overall condition. As the condition of the remains declines (e. g., fragmentation or poor preservation), the complexity of the recovery and/or analysis increases. The degree of commingling can vary widely from situations that are relatively straightforward (intact remains and a small number of individuals) to very challenging (large number of individuals and/or extensive fragmentation). The postmortem remains identification using standard methods including the matching of medical and dental records, the recognition of distinguishing characteristics such as the use of clothing and belongings, video superimposition, Ante - Mortem / Post - Mortem Data comprised, X - ray, Postmortem CT scan and DNA typing by somatic, Y and X chromosome STR loci (Luis, 2020)

Keywords: Commingled remains, Anthropology, Bioarchaeology

Edition: Volume 13 Issue 3, March 2024,

Pages: 1104 - 1110