Forensic Anthropology Teams In Latin America

291 Pages·2020·19.411 MB·English

by  Silvia Dutrénit-Bielous

Forensic Anthropology Teams in
Latin America
This book charts the development of forensic anthropology teams in Latin
America and surveys their main characteristics, achievements, and challenges in
light of a recent past fraught with state repression and violence.
The volume contains contributions by an interdisciplinary group of scholars
from several Latin American universities, with chapters on Argentina, Chile,
Uruguay, Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico. These countries’ shared legacy is a
host of human rights violations that continue to have an impact on present-day
society. Following the move towards democracy and a public demand for truth
and justice, the volume highlights the role of forensic anthropology teams and
their contribution as a source of information for the historical narrative, as a legal
asset in enforcing the right to truth, and in achieving reparation for victims.
This collection will be of interest to scholars from Anthropology, Latin
American Studies, Politics, and History.
Silvia Dutrénit Bielous is a professor and researcher at the Mora Institute, Mexico.

Forensic Anthropology
Teams in Latin America
Edited by Silvia Dutrénit Bielous
Translated by Erick Antonio Sarmiento Marabotto and
Martha Celis Mendoza
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Silvia Dutrénit Bielous
The right of Silvia Dutrénit Bielous to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-14338-1 [hbk]
ISBN: 978-0-429-03133-5 [ebk]
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Contents
List of figures viii
List of contributors x
Preface xv
Acknowledgements xvi
Foreword xvii
Prologue xix
1 An introduction: Departure, journey, arrival 1
SILVIA DUTRÉNIT BIELOUS
Notes 9
References 10
2 Inter-American human rights law and forensic anthropology 12
ANA BURIANO CASTRO
Inter-American human rights instruments 14
The disappearance of the body: Humanisation and sepulchre 25
Forensic anthropology at the service of truth, justice, and
reparation 30
Conclusions 44
Notes 44
References 47
3 The end of negationism in Latin America: The Argentine
Forensic Anthropology Team 50
CÉSAR TCACH ABED
Characterisation of the type of dictatorship 51
The Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team 57
October 2014: The final victory over oblivion 67
Epilogue 70
vi Contents
Notes 72
References 74
4 The role of forensic anthropology in the identification of
missing detainees in Chile 77
ISABEL TORRES DUJISIN
Chile’s regime of terror 79
The transition to democracy 81
The forensic anthropology contribution in the process of
identifying human remains 83
The effects of misidentifications: The incorporation
of the GAF into the SML 87
Emblematic cases that marked the identification process of
disappeared detainees 92
Conclusion 97
Notes 98
References 99
5 Forensic anthropology in Uruguay 101
OCTAVIO NADAL AMÉNDOLA
Historical background: The beginnings of repressive coordination
and Operation Condor 102
The post-dictatorship democratic governments in the face of the
violations to human rights 110
The context of the exhumations: Archaeology against
repression 118
Conclusions 134
Acknowledgements 135
Notes 135
References 138
6 The search for missing persons in Peru 142
CARMEN ROSA CARDOZA
Antecedents of violence in Peru 142
Origin of the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team 145
Forensic anthropological investigation versus mass
exhumations 151
Memoria de los Desaparecidos (Memory of the Disappeared) 154
Context of the Search for Missing Persons Pursuant to Law
30470 155
Conclusions 156
Contents vii
Notes 157
References 158
7 Forensic anthropology in Guatemala 159
RICARDO SÁENZ DE TEJADA
Recent history: From counter-revolution to genocidal acts 159
From denunciation to the search for justice: The study of
political violence 164
Forensic anthropology 170
Conclusions 181
Notes 183
References 185
Further reading 187
8 Forced disappearance and forensic anthropology in Mexico 189
EVANGELINA SÁNCHEZ SERRANO AND CLAUDIA E. G. RANGEL LOZANO
The regime “a la Mexicana”: Presidentialist authoritarianism and
the populist state, the perfect equation 190
Forensic work: The 1970s and diligence focused on isolated
incidents 197
Final thoughts 223
Notes 226
References 232
9 Arrival at destination. What comes next? … 236
SILVIA DUTRÉNIT BIELOUS
Bipolarity scene and repressive strategy 237
Contexts of revision and hierarchy of the disappeared as
emblematic victims 240
The forensic teams as emblematic actors of a regional history
that demanded their presence 242
Conclusions 246
Notes 248
References 249
Index 253
Figures
3.1 Anthropologist Clyde Snow at exhumation works 59
3.2 Avellaneda Graveyard, Buenos Aires, Argentina 60
3.3 San Vicente Graveyard, Córdoba, Argentina, 2003 68
3.4 Exhumation works of Che Guevara, Bolivia, 1997 71
4.1   Research procedures after finding of bones at Hornos de Lonquén, 
1978, Chile 93
4.2 Baños de Chihuío, Chile, June 1990 94
4.3 Relatives of the disappeared and anthropologists in the Cuesta
Barriga mine, where the remains of six victims were identified in 
2001, including those of University of Chile professor Fernando Ortiz 95
5.1 Digging the bottom of a clandestine burial pit in the No. 14
Paratrooper Battalion of Toledo 128
5.2 Grave with the remains of teacher Julio Castro found at Parachute
Battalion 14 in Toledo, 22 October 2011 129
5.3   GIAF Director José López Mazz discussing the findings of 15 
March 2012 with relatives of disappeared detainees at Battalion 
14, Toledo, Canelones, Uruguay 129
6.1 Antemortem with one of the relatives of the detainees, conducted
in 2002 by EPAF, with a commissioner of the Ombudsman’s
Office that translates from Quechua into Spanish  149
6.2 Exhumation in 2008, common grave, Putis community, Santillana
district, Huanta province, Peru  150
6.3 EPAF in 2008 discussing exhumation works at the common
grave, Putis community, Santillana district, Huanta province, Peru  150
6.4 EPAF in 2002 with relatives of the disappeared at the exhumation
of common graves at Chuschi community, Cangallo province,
Ayacucho department, Peru 153
7.1   Grave at the old military detachment in Xejul, San Miguel 
Uspantán, Quiché Department, Guatemala, 2 August 2009  177
7.2   FAFG fieldwork at Chuquexa Segundo “A” canton, 
Chichicastenango municipality, Quiché Department, Guatemala, 
24 June 2014 178
Figures ix
7.3 Victim’s funeral vigil, Pambach, Juan Cruz Verapaz municipality,
Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, 2014 180
7.4   FAFG Forensic Anthropology Laboratory, Guatemala City, 2018  182
8.1   Exhumation of Lucio Cabañas’s remains  203
8.2 External experts hired by the PGR to do the prospection with
penetration radar 204
8.3   Lilia Escorcia and Carlos Jácome (members of EMIH) working 
as independent experts of AFADEM-CMDPDH, along with PGR 
external expert 204
8.4 FAFG forensic anthropologist working at Atoyac de Álvarez,
Guerrero, Mexico  213
8.5   Anthropologists from EMAF (Roxana Enríquez) and EPAF 
(Franco Mora) discussing their work with relatives of the 
disappeared, Atoyac de Álvarez, Guerrero, Mexico  219