ICTY and the forensic pathologist

In this study some serious issues concerning the integrity of the work performed by forensic pathologists engaged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) are highlighted. Since 1991, war crimes in the former Yugoslavia have been the subject of several international medico-legal investigations of mass graves within the framework of inquiries led by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Forensic pathologists involved in the ICTY missions could be subjected to ethical tensions due to the difficulties of the missions, the emergent conflicts between forensic scientists of the investigating teams and the original nature of the ICTY proceedings. In order to study the nature of such ethical tensions, the authors sent a questionnaire to 65 forensic pathologists who had been involved in ICTY missions. The rate of response was 38%. The majority of forensic pathologists questioned (n=18) did not know how the medico-legal data was exploited by the ICTY. Three of them had been subjected to pressures. Three of them were aware of mass grave sites knowingly not investigated by the ICTY. Fifteen considered that the ICTY respected the elementary rules of the law and four of them questioned the impartiality of  justice embodied by the ICTY. Two conflicting types of ethics can be drawn from these results: conviction ethics, which are shared by most of the forensic pathologists questioned, and responsibility ethics. In the former, the forensic pathologist completely agrees with the need for an international war crimes tribunal, even if the justice it delivers can be challenged regarding the respect of human rights and impartiality. In the latter, the responding professional needs to conduct him or herself in ways that do not infringe impartiality.

AUTHORS: G LORIN DE LA GRANDMAISON, MD Assistant professor, M DURIGON, MD PhD Professor and Head of Department Department of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Raymond Poincare Hospital, Garches, France, G MOUTEL, MD Assistant professor, C HERVE, MD PhD Professor and Head of Department Department of Medical Ethics, Necker Medical University, Rene Descartes University, Paris, France

ICTY and the forensic pathologist – Ethical considerations