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Forensic Sciences Research Volume 7, Issue 3 Publishes:
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tfsr20/7/3
Special Issue: Humanitarian Applications of Forensic Science
This special issue includes articles that further the discussion on humanitarian applications of forensic science. A video introduction to the issue by the Guest Editors is available to view at https://youtu.be/hBL2c8QGl9k
Guest Editors: Derek Congram and Oran Finegan
In late July 2021, the Ministry of Veteran Affairs of the People’s Republic of China released a statement about the repatriation of the remains of Chinese soldiers from the Korean War, which had been recovered by the Republic of Korea:
“Following humanitarian principles and in the spirit of friendly consultation and practical cooperation, China and South Korea…will further deepen the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in the joint search, excavation, and identification of the remains of the Chinese People’s Volunteers in South Korea.”
This statement reflects the motivation for the introduction of forensics into the portfolio of expertise within the International Committee of the Red Cross in 2003: a humanitarian mandate and a spirit of pragmatic collaboration among countries to mitigate the lingering harm caused by armed conflict and other situations of violence, and to address the needs of affected people. These are just two examples of a broadening of forensic science application, which goes well beyond the common, narrow conception of forensic science as supporting criminal investigation. Increasingly, and especially in recent years, we are witnessing an increased socialisation and utilisation of forensic science in humanitarian work: in refugee camps, concurrent with ongoing war, at pandemic burial sites, hospital morgues, remote villages, and even in university classrooms. This evolution of thought and practice is what motivated this special issue of Forensic Sciences Research.
Papers in this issue:
Editorial
Broadening the application of forensic science in an era of standardization
Derek Congram and Oran Finegan
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20961790.2022.2099338
Review
Improving witness interviewing for the investigation of disappeared persons due to armed conflict
Derek Congram, Maria Mikellide, and Matthew Vennemeyer
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20961790.2021.2009626
Research Article
Gaining community entry with survivors for forensic human rights and humanitarian intervention
Jaymelee Kim, Lucia Elgerud, and Hugh Tuller
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20961790.2021.2002524
Case Reports
Humanitarian action in academic institutions: a case study in the ethical stewardship of unidentified forensic cases
Justin Z. Goldstein, Mariah E. Moe, Emilie L. Wiedenmeyer, Petra M. Banks, Sophia R. Mavroudas, and Michelle D. Hamilton
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20961790.2022.2035063
A dental perspective on the successes and limitations of the disaster victim identification response to the Nepal earthquake
Samarika Dahal, Gopal Kumar Chaudhary, Mani Raj Maharjan, and Eugen Dolma Walung
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20961790.2022.2034716
Materials for the study of the locus operandi in the search for missing persons in Italy
Pier Matteo Barone, Rosa Maria Di Maggio, and Silvia Mesturini
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20961790.2020.1854501
Short Communications
Human rights and humanitarian forensic action: the experience in Uruguay
Hugo Rodríguez Almada, Frances Borches Duhalde, and Victoria Iglesias Salaverría
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20961790.2022.2052591
Letting go and saying goodbye: a Nepalese family's decision, in the Ethiopian Airline crash ET-302
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20961790.2021.1995945
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Guest Editor Biographies
Derek Congram is a board certified (DLAF, #20) forensic anthropologist and archaeologist, specializing in medico-legal and humanitarian applications. He is the forensic specialist for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Delegation for India, Nepal, Maldives, and Bhutan, and is the Co-Head of the International Centre for Humanitarian Forensics of the National Forensic Sciences University in India. He is Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University and affiliated with the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy of the University of Toronto. His work, teaching, and research focus on the investigation of disappeared persons: their location, identification, repatriation, and memorialization. He has worked in more than 25 countries for governments, universities, non-governmental, and international organizations, including the United Nations, International Criminal Court, and the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team. His primary interests are the Geographic Information Science (GIS) analysis of body disposal in conflict contexts and professional ethics. He promotes victim families as protagonists and at the centre of forensic and humanitarian investigations.
Oran Finegan is the former Head of Forensics for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and has been working in the humanitarian sector for more than 20 years. Through his studies Oran has obtained a degree in Anatomy, a Master's degree in Forensic Anthropology, and a Master's degree in Human Rights and Political Theory. He worked as a forensic anthropologist with the United Nations (UN) International Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Balkans (1998 and 2001), and with the UN Office on Missing Persons and Forensics in Kosovo (2002 and 2006). He also worked for 2 years with the UN Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus, helping coordinate their forensic laboratory. Oran joined the ICRC in 2008. During the past 13 years he has worked as Regional Forensic Advisor for the Western Balkans (2008—2011), Forensic Advisor for Iraq (2012—2013), as Deputy Head of Forensics (2013—2017), ICRC Head of Forensics from 2017-2021, and most recently as Forensic Specialist for South East Asia. His current interests are focused on furthering the application of forensics in the humanitarian sector and underlining the importance of the protection of the dead in emergency settings.
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The Journal of the Academy of Forensic Science (AFS), Shanghai, P.R. China.
Forensic Sciences Research is a quarterly peer reviewed open access, English language journal publishing international research on forensic sciences, including forensic pathology, clinical forensic medicine, criminalistics and crime scene investigation. It aims to promote forensic sciences through quality research articles, reviews, case reports, and letters to editors. Forensic Sciences Research is indexed in by ESCI, PMC, Scopus, DOAJ, ProQuest, and HeinOnline.
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Print ISSN: 2096-1790
Online ISSN: 2471-1411
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