ONE BODY IN FOUR GRAVES

By: SENSE Tribunal

14.05.2010

According to the latest OTP report, a total of 6,557 victims were identified after the
investigation in Srebrenica and Zepa that lasted for years. OTP [Office of the Prosecutor]
investigator Dusan Janc gave evidence about this effort at the trial of Zdravko Tolimir

According to the latest report on the results of the OTP investigation, the number of identified
Srebrenica victims has reached 6,557. There are still about 1,300 names on the list of the
International Commission for Missing Persons whose remains have neither been recovered
nor identified.

At the trial of former security officer in the VRS Main Staff, the court heard testimony of Dusan
Janc, OTP investigator who authored the report. Zdravko Tolimir is on trial for genocide and
other crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa in the summer of 1995.

Janc joined the OTP Srebrenica investigation team in 2003 and has since drafted four
reports. The latest report containing information on the newly discovered graves and
exhumations was completed in April 2010. The purpose of the report was to give the Trial
Chamber an accurate number of victims from Srebrenica, the number of graves where their
remains were exhumed and other forensic evidence establishing connection between the
findings and the events described in the indictment.

In the process of establishing this connection, Janc explained, the starting point in most of the
cases was direct testimony of the witnesses or survivors of mass executions listed in the
indictment. The team of investigators, forensic experts, archeologists and anthropologists was
then able to locate the mass grave sites and recover items which helped the team reconstruct
the Srebrenica crimes.

Janc drew a map marking all the graves identified in the Srebrenica area and one grave
containing victims of a crime in Zepa. A special chart showed the link between primary and
secondary graves and links between several secondary graves.

Links between primary and secondary graves were reconstructed using forensic evidence
such as soil, pollen or broken glass, which helped establish the connection between the
primary grave at the glass factory tip in Kozluk and the secondary grave in Cancari. DNA
analysis of remains helped establish the identity of the victims. However, body parts
belonging to a single victim were found in two, three, and in one case in four mass graves.

Apart from the evidence recovered from graves, the team gathered so-called surface remains,
mostly along the way where the column of soldiers and civilians was moving in an attempt to
break through towards Tuzla. Of a total of 960 victims whose remains were gathered on the
surface, 703 victims were identified, Janc said.

The Srebrenica investigation is still underway, Janc said, noting that the number of victims will
certainly increase in future as new graves are discovered and recently exhumed remains are
identified.

The accused Tolimir has asked for six hours to cross-examine Janc. Tolimir will begin his
cross-examination on Monday.

Source:
http://www.sense-agency.com/en/stream.php?sta=3&pid=15822&kat=3