ICTY Prosecution forensic teams which were conducting exhumations of Srebrenica-related mass graves between 1996 and 2001 produced 3,568 “cases.” In their terminology, a case is a file referring to a distinct collection of body parts, usually accompanied with an autopsy report. Even though the number of “cases” ultimately created falls far short of the alleged 8,000 victims, it is important to point out that the total number of cases does not refer to actual the number of individuals. Many cases consist of one or a few bones of little or no forensic significance. Other cases, as in these examples, compound the confusion because they consist of body parts belonging to several different individuals. When the overall number of individuals was surveyed using the most reliable forensic method, the number of paired femur bones based on the autopsy reports, it was established that in the entire cohort of 3,568 cases there were 1,919 distinct individuals. Their patterns of injury were characteristic not only of execution, but of combat as well. Some had no apparent injuries at all and for about 70% the cause of death could not be reliably established. The representative sample below of “cases” which in the opinion of Prosecution forensic staff consisted of aggregated mortal remains of several different individuals illustrates the confusion and reflects the often misleading presentation of the exhumation process. All the cases selected are from the Glogova mass grave, but similar examples can be found at all major sites.

GL02 018BP Gen Body Parts

GL02 044BP General Body Parts

GL02 078BP General Body Parts

GL02 097BP General Body Parts

GL03 002BP General Body Parts

GL04 002BP General Body Parts

GL05 012BP General Body Parts

GL05 101BP General Body Parts

GL02 004BP Gen Body Parts

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