Feb 3, 2015 - Forensic Sciences (Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias .... usip.org/files/resources/Panama-Charter.pdf (last accessed 30 March 2014).
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Forensic scientific practice in Panama Ann H. Ross1 and José Vicente Pachar Lucio2 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, NC State University, Raleigh, USA Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses, Departamento de Patologia Forense, Panama City, Panama
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Introduction Unlike in the United States and other countries, the police in Panama do not work crime scenes. This is under the mandate of the Public Ministry and the tasks are performed by the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses – IMLCF) Criminalistics officials. Although needed as a priority, there are no qualified personnel such as archaeologists and forensic anthropologists; there are no training programmes in Panama and there is little interest in studying these fields. In addition, there is no institutional policy to develop areas of forensic science. There have been a few instances where the public prosecutor has recommended employing the services of anthropologists/archaeologists to conduct excavations in cases of clandestine burials, but these recommendations have not been followed through as a result of the lack of funds. The Institute is completely dependent upon government budget allocations and each year there are more funding cuts, as politicians do not consider the development of forensic science to be a priority.
Medico-legal system in Panama In Panama the fundamental legal entities are the judiciary and the public prosecutor’s office or Attorney General’s Office (Órgano Judicial/Ministerio Público). Prosecutors address the prosecution of legal offences and to accomplish this mission police entities (judicial investigative branches) and scientific experts of the IMLCF are enlisted. The public prosecutor’s office is organised into the district attorney’s office and attorneys at the national level. When there is information on the commission of a crime, specifically in cases defined in the penal code as crimes against life and personal integrity, the public prosecutor directs the investigation at the scene as established by the judicial code. The National Police guarantee security at
the location and detectives begin the investigation under the direction of the judicial investigative branch. Medicolegal death investigators of the IMLCF are present at the scene, have jurisdiction over the body and are responsible for transporting the body, associated evidence and maintaining the chain of custody as well as the delivery of evidence to the representative of the public prosecutor’s office. Forensic archaeologists and forensic anthropologists are not part of the IMLCF personnel. Panama does not have forensic archaeologists and there are no university programmes or any possibility of training in the country. The first author is the only active forensic anthropologist in the country. Forensic pathologists and rarely more generalised physical anthropologists conduct the tasks of a forensic anthropologist. When skeletal remains, surface or buried, are discovered, it is the forensic physician from the IMLCF (the only certified forensic pathologist in the country is the second author) who, when judicial authorities consider it necessary, attends the scene to coordinate the recovery, proper collection, transport and subsequent analysis in the judicial morgue. Remains less than 20 years old are considered to be of forensic significance; however, no legal provision exists to make this determination. Recovery methods are empirically based and do not follow a standard or systematic approach; they are usually made in hostile environmental conditions such as mangroves, areas of dense tropical vegetation and distant beaches. To further impede recoveries in a harsh environment, the personnel conducting the recoveries are under extreme pressure from officials leading the investigation who do not know or understand the importance of a scientific approach. There are still instances in which the remains are excavated in a haphazard manner, placed in plastic garbage bags and sent to the judicial morgue for study by the coroner or medical examiner without recovery, provenance or scene information and documentation such as photographs (Figure 30.1). Unfortunately, no archaeological techniques or methods are utilised in the recovery of human remains.
Forensic Archaeology: A Global Perspective, First Edition. Edited by W.J. Mike Groen, Nicholas Márquez-Grant and Robert C. Janaway. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Figure 30.1 Photograph adapted from
La Prensa depicting the ‘excavation’ of the remains at Punta Barco.
Case example: Punta Barco In October of 2003, a clandestine burial was accidentally discovered in Punta Barco close to one of Dictator Manuel Noriega’s (former military junta leader from the 1980s) enclaves when a containment wall was being constructed in a private residence (Figure 30.2). Although the Panamanian Truth Commission (La Comisión de la Verdad de Panamá) had jurisdiction over crimes committed by the military juntas, they were not allowed access to the site. The Judicial Technical Police (Policía Técnica Judicial – PTJ) cordoned off the area and proceeded to excavate the site with shovels without following a standard crime scene or forensic archaeological protocol (Marcel Chery 2003, La Prensa, see Figure 1). As a result of this chaotic approach much of the evidence was lost and many of the remains exhibited post-mortem damage. There was no associated evidence such as clothing or personal effects and thus it was impossible to determine
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Chama
Cabuya Guayabito
Coclé
Once cases are entered into the judicial morgue system, a basic forensic anthropological analysis is conducted by forensic pathologists who have received some training during their academic preparation through the IMLCF and the School of Medicine at the University of Panama, which includes anthropometric analysis. However, radiographic analysis – a standard protocol in most laboratories – is not conducted due to the lack of adequate facilities and equipment. The number of skeletal cases per year reported in the archives of the judicial morgue is low; many of them remain unidentified as ante-mortem information does not exist in order to make the identification. These (usually traumatic) deaths are thought to be related to human trafficking of individuals illegally making their way to the United States or foreign victims of organised crime.
San Carlos B Espino Las Uvas
Las lajas San josé
Punta Barco
Nueva Georgia
San Carlos Punta Barco
Oceéano Pacllico Figure 30.2 Photograph adapted from La Prensa showing the
location of the clandestine burial at Punta Barco.
the antiquity of the remains or provenance without adequate scene information. Because of the absence of associated evidence and artefacts and poor excavation, a bone sample was sent for radiocarbon testing. The results showed that the sample was dated between 1682 and 1933, with 95.4% confidence interval, and thus the remains were unlikely to be associated with crimes committed by the military regimes of the 1970s or 1980s (Figure 30.3). Furthermore, local indigenous populations were known to have buried their dead on beaches.
Interaction institute of legal medicine – truth commission Panama’s democratic history came to an abrupt halt in 1968 after a coup d’état toppled President Arnulfo Arias 10 days and 11 hours after his administration began. This coup set in motion Panama’s 21 years of military
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Radiocarbon determination (BP)
Forensic scientific practice in Panama
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Punta Barco R_Date(70,40) 95.4% probability 1682 (26.1%) 1736calAD 1805 (69.3%) 1933calAD
200
100
0
–100 1600
1700
1800
1900
Calibrated date (calAD) Figure 30.3 Radiocarbon calibrated dates for Punta Barco remains (OxCal, Ramsey 2013).
dictatorship that began with General Omar Torrijos (1968–1981) and continued with General Manuel Noriega (1981–1989). Forced disappearances, torture and arbitrary execution of its victims characterised the military regimes of the 1970s and 1980s (Cotes et al. 2004; Jemmott et al. 2004; Ross et al. 2004; Suarez Silva et al. 2004).
Chronology At the end of the 1990s interest increased in establishing the actual number of victims of the military dictatorship during the period 1968–1989, which ended with the US military invasion of Panama on 20 December 1989. In 1999, several clandestine graves were discovered, one of which was later identified as the remains of Heliodoro Portugal. His remains were positively identified via DNA on 21 August 2000. Heliodoro Portugal had been identified as a leftist by the military junta and was last seen being forcibly pushed into a car on 14 May 1970 (Cotes et al. 2004; Jemmott et al. 2004; Ross et al. 2004; Suarez Silva et al. 2004). As a result of these findings, the Panamanian Truth Commission was formed on 18 January 2001 by Executive Order issued by the lady President Mireya Moscoso (Suarez Silva et al. 2004). The objective of the Truth Commission as written in the Executive Decree ‘is to contribute to the clarification of the truth regarding human rights violations fundamental to life, including the disappearances committed during the Military Regimes that governed Panama beginning in 1968’.1 On 22 September 1999 excavations were undertaken in the former military barracks in the capital city of Panama, with assistance from a medical examiner. On 24
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September 1999 another three sets of remains were found in the same area. These four cases were analysed at the Institute of Legal Medicine. The excavations were suspended. On 10 December 2000 excavations were restarted on the initiative of the Catholic Church; excavations were carried out by huaqueros (looters who plunder archaeological sites for huacas or pre-Columbian artefacts) hired by the Church, and the medical examiner made the anthropometric assessment. Work continued for several months with a few scattered finds. On 18 January 2001 the Truth Commission was formed, as a result of the shortcomings of the Institute of Legal Medicine with regard to scientific experts, equipment and insufficient materials to conduct the investigations. On the same day (18 January 2001) an Executive Decree, N° 2, was issued, establishing the Truth Commission for a period of 6 months, which was later extended until 2002. The mission of the Commission was to establish a complete picture of the disappearances and murders committed by the military dictatorship. As part of its mandate, it would gather background information that would allow the identification of the victims and establish their whereabouts. It also specified that the Commission could not assume judicial functions typical of the courts, nor infer proceedings pending before them. Thus, the investigations were purely humanitarian in nature and would not result in prosecutorial actions as in other Truth Commissions such as in Chile. Therefore, it could not rule on criminal acts of the perpetrators while investigating the facts. If the Commission came into the possession of information about known criminal acts, they would make the facts available to the Attorney General. The commissioners were empowered to accept and conduct any investigation they deemed appropriate, including requesting reports, documents or records from authorities and public institutions, and to ensure the confidentiality of sources and the safety of witnesses and informants. The Commission had the support of several North American and Panamanian anthropologists, who conducted the excavations of over 30 sites, recoveries and analysis of the remains found in several provinces. The Truth Commission created a Department of Anthropology within its organisation. Cultural anthropologists were tasked with the preliminary investigation, which included examining documents, interviewing informants and developing a socio-cultural profile of the victim within the historical context (Almanza et al. 2002, 198). After the initial investigative phase was conducted, an archaeological phase led by Loreto Suarez (a Chilean trained archaeologist working for the Truth
Decreto Ejecutivo, #2, 2001 Por la cual se crea la comisión de la verdad, Ministerio de Gobierno y Justicia. Available at http://www. usip.org/files/resources/Panama-Charter.pdf (last accessed 30 March 2014).
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Commission) followed where remains were discovered, recovered and preserved; this was the excavation phase. The identification phase included developing a biological profile of the victim and identification when possible by forensic anthropological and mtDNA analysis (Almanza et al. 2002, 198). By 18 April 2002, the Truth Commission had amassed enough information to identify 110 persons who had been assassinated and disappeared (Suarez Silva et al. 2004). However, these numbers changed as new information was gathered, including the positive identification of Jerónimo Díaz Lopez, who disappeared in 1985, in June 2003. About 50% of the victims were murdered or disappeared between 1968 and 1972, 20% between 1973 and 1983, 28% between 1984 and 1989 and 2% with no known information (Suarez Silva et al. 2004). The recovery and identification efforts that yielded the most positive results have been from the island of Coiba. In efforts to locate the remains of Floyd Britton (a student leader), arrested in 1968 and sentenced to the prison in Coiba, others have been inadvertently identified who were not known to have perished there. The remains of Sergeant Sánchez Tenas, who was killed in 1975 at the hands of another member of the military police and whose murder was covered up by the military, were identified via mtDNA analysis while testing the skeletal samples in the hope of finding Floyd. The identification of Jerónimo Díaz Lopez was made via dental comparison and traditional forensic anthropological techniques (e.g. biological profile, dentition). Floyd Britton has yet to be identified (Ross and Broce 2003). On 18 April 2002 the term of operation of the Truth Commission expired and an Office of Seguimiento or continuation was created, which operated until 31 December 2004. Subsequently, all the material gathered was placed in the custody of the Institute of Legal Medicine. Years later, after the enactment of Law 50 of 13 December 2006, the Institute of Legal Medicine was reorganised into the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, which includes forensic anthropology as one of its operating units. Later, with the disappearance of the Judicial Technical Police, Forensic Services and Forensic Laboratories became part of the Institute, an operational and organisational model unique in the region that brings together all the technical expert services and scientists at a single institution assigned to the Attorney General.
beaten to death by prison guards under the direct order of General Omar Torrijos. His body was flown to Panama City for an autopsy and his death was determined to be from natural causes. Purportedly, his body was then sent back to Coiba and interred at the Marañon Cemetery. Previous attempts to locate Floyd Britton occurred in May of 1991 and then again in 2001. The first excavation was concentrated in the northeast sector of the cemetery and was conducted by Dr Clyde Snow. New eyewitness testimonies led to another exhumation on 2–3 August 2001 by the Truth Commission and another team of US forensic anthropologists (Drs Frank and Julie Saul and Dr Murray Marks). Skeletal remains were recovered from four burials in the northwest sector of the cemetery. During this phase, however, two of the burials were only partially excavated. Continued efforts to locate Floyd Britton during a third excavation and exhumation phase took place between 26 February and 6 March 2002 by the first author as Project Director and the Truth Commission. Three burials were identified for excavation from information derived by the Truth Commission from several eyewitness accounts and the remains of the three burials (Ross and Broce 2003).
Excavation protocols
In search of Floyd Britton – bringing forensic anthropology and archaeology to forensic investigations
Burials (tumba), one and two in the northwest section of the cemetery, were partially excavated in 2001 by another team (Sauls and Marks) and burial three, due south of burials one and two, was undisturbed. Standard excavation protocols were followed. A tree located just south of the cemetery boundary (at GPS coordinates N 07°30.182′, W 081°41.789′) was chosen as the primary datum point. The subdatum (one) point is on the southwest corner of burial one and two is 49.15 m northwest from the primary datum point. Burials one and two consist of an area of 5 × 6 m, which was subdivided by 1 m2 (Figure 30.4). Five rows running from west to east were designated 1E–5E. The rows running from north to south were designated 1 N–6N. Thus, the 1 m2 in the southeastern corner was designated 6E1N. Burial three is concentrated in an area measuring 3 × 2 m and the subdatum (two) is on the southwest corner 35.70 m northwest from the datum point (Figure 30.5). Burial three was also further subdivided into 1-m2. Burial contents for each 1 m2 were sifted and the contents were packaged separately in brown paper bags for future analysis. The skeletal remains encountered were left in situ until they were almost fully exposed. When identifiable, human bone was individually packaged by skeletal elements to facilitate reconstruction (Ross Site Report 2002; Ross and Broce 2003).
Floyd Britton was a leftist university student leader who was arrested on 12 October 1968 and was sentenced by the military government of Omar Torrijos (1968–1981) to the penal colony on the island of Coiba on 3 November of the same year. He died in November 1969, allegedly
Tumba uno (burial one) Decomposed and oxidised zinc sheet fragments were found immediately above the skeletal remains along with nine plastic sheet fragments measuring about
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Forensic scientific practice in Panama
Cementerio lsla de Coiba Tumba 1,2,3 20.2 m N 07° 30.212’ w 081° 41.798’
Cemetery boundary
Subdatum 2 N 07° 30.208’ w 081° 41.799’
N
Tumba 3 3x2 m
5m
Distance from primary datum to subdatum 1 49.15 m 334°
57.7 m
Subdatum 1 N 07° 30.205’ w 081° 41.805’
Tumba 1 & 2 5x6 m
Distance from primary datum to subdatum 2 35.70 m 334°
N 07° 30.182’ w 081° 41.797’ Primary datum N 07° 30.182’ w 081° 41.789’ Figure 30.4 Cementerio Marañonat La Central map with burial
locations (drawing: J. Hefner).
70–74 mm in length. These artefacts were placed on top of the remaining skeleton as a ‘covering’ by the Sauls during the previous excavation. The skeletal remains were encountered at a depth of 77 cm (3E2N–3E3N). The skeletal remains were in a poor state of preservation with a fine root system growing around and within the bones. The bones were very moist and chalk-like, disintegrating to the touch. The taphonomic variables (e.g. red clay soil, high humidity, soil pH and acidity, insect and bacteria) on Coiba are ill suited to the preservation of human skeletal remains. This burial primarily consisted of the lower portion of an adult male skeleton lying in an extended position. The upper portion of the skeleton was exposed and removed by Frank and Julie Saul in 2001. The adult male was lying on his back with arms and legs extended, the legs pointing northwards. The femoral heads were oriented laterally, probably from shifting during decomposition. In addition, decomposed wood and oxidised nails (#41) were recovered from within the grave. The nails were bilaterally positioned in rows (c. 7 cm distance
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between nails) along the body indicating that this was a coffin burial. Before removal, the bones were first left to dry and then a thin coat of varnish was applied in order to extract the bones as completely as possible. This procedure was performed as bones and teeth had previously been obtained for DNA analysis in an earlier excavation (Ross Site Report 2002).
Tumba dos (burial two) Burial two was contaminated with refuse (plastic bottle, aluminium foil and a cardboard core of a roll of aluminium foil). Five zinc sheets (4 × 8 cm), large decomposed cardboard sheets and aluminium foil were covering the bones, which were found at a depth of 117 cm. The remains were in a worse condition of preservation than Tumba uno because the above-mentioned tomb refuse trapped moisture and accelerated decomposition as observed by the recent insect activity (Ross Site Report 2002). Tumba tres (burial three) The third burial, or Tumba tres, was undisturbed and the remains of a wooden coffin were located at a depth of 92 cm. However, there was no obvious evidence for a lid although all other walls of the coffin were present; it is likely that the lid decayed at a faster rate due to taphonomic processes (e.g. soil acidity, soil weight and pressure). This grave consisted of an adult male skeleton lying in an extended position and resting on top of a folded blanket with head facing north (Figure 30.5). A cross necklace fashioned out of woven burlap was found around the neck area with the cross in the left hand resting over the chest region. All dentition was present in varying degrees of preservation with the exception of the left first maxillary molar and right second mandibular molar. The dentition showed minimal if absent occlusal wear. In addition, the left mandibular canine has an unusual apical wear pattern on the lingual surface. The molars of this individual are heavily crenulated, which is consistent with someone of African ancestry. Table 30.1 presents the results of the biological profile (Ross Site Report 2002).
Role of the convicted dog handler in planting evidence, the loss of the nation’s trust and the collapse of the Truth Commission The infamous Mrs Sandy Anderson (Michigan, US) and her cadaver dog Eagle were retained by the Truth Commission to help locate the remains of the victims of the military junta. She was brought to Panama several times in 2001, and was treated as a celebrity, with even the presidential helicopter at her disposal. She was found guilty of planting evidence in the United States in 2004 and was under Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation. She was sentenced to 21 months in
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Blanket
Coffin approx. 206 cm
N
SUBDATUM 2 N 07° 20.208’ W 081°41.805’ 1m
Figure 30.5 Detail of burial three (Drawing: J. Hefner).
prison and had to repay $14,500 in damages to law enforcement agencies. Her conviction provided the stimulus for the PRD (Partido Revolucionario Democratico), with strong ties to the military dictatorship, to negate and dismiss the Truth Commission’s findings. They asserted that as the dog Eagle was a fraud everything that was investigated by the Truth Commission was also invalid and, thus, nobody had ever died, disappeared or been tortured at the hands of the dictatorship (Linares Franco, La Prensa, 28 March 2004). It has been claimed that the Truth Commission spent $97,485 on the various Operation Eagles. However, the work conducted by the Department of Anthropology of the Commission was independent of Anderson and her dog. Many of the sites and the 60 so-called boxes of remains currently housed in the Institute of Legal Medicine are not of the disappeared or dead and were ‘discovered’ by Anderson and her dog Eagle. Thirty-four excavation sites were identified in the provinces of Panamá, Chiriquí, Veraguas, Coclé, Bocas del Toro and Colón. However, much of the resistance against the military regimes was in the province of
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Sex and age: The remains are consistent with an adult male. Sex was assessed via gross visual morphology. The remains of this individual are rugose (e.g. heavily marked lineaaspera) and the intercondylar notch of the distal femur is U-shaped. Ancestry: Molar crenulations are characteristic of individuals of African ancestry and were quantitatively substantiated using FORDISC 2.0 using the maximum humerus length and femoral subtrochanteric measures. Stature: The length of humerus (365 mm) was used to estimate stature. The predictive stature equation for African males derived by Trotter (1970) was utilised. The mean predictive stature is 181.09 cm ± 4.43 cm with a prediction interval of 176.66–185.52 cm. Post-mortem modification: There is extensive post-mortem weathering. The bone surface is coarse, rough, brittle and fragile. The internal matrix of the long bones has completely decayed leaving the bones hollow. Summary: The biological profile determined from the skeletal remains is consistent with the biological information made available for Floyd Britton. DNA results: Unfortunately, the samples submitted did not yield any DNA. At present, additional samples are being submitted for re-testing. Recently, other victims have been identified through DNA methods from remains recovered on Coiba and other areas of Panama.
Chiriquí (Almanza et al. 2002, 214). Many of these sites were identified by Anderson. In the light of Anderson’s conviction, every case that was associated with Operation Eagle was re-examined by the first author and graduate assistant and is summarised in Table 30.2. Interestingly, many of the skeletal elements recovered from the mainland were hand and foot bones that generally do not have a high frequency of survivability (Galloway et al. 1997; Waldron 1987; Willey 1990; Willey et al. 1997). Many of the well- preserved foot and hand bones did not exhibit signs of weathering or decay consistent with tropical environments. Skeletal identifications are extremely difficult because of various taphonomic processes (e.g. soil acidity, insect activity and bacterial activity, roots, humidity) and conditions that are not conducive to good skeletal preservation, and therefore the remains sustain considerable post-mortem damage (Ross and Cunningham 2011).
Conclusion In 2010, the Institute of Legal Medicine had 60 boxes containing what were presumed to be unidentified remains. Because of the distrust that Anderson’s planting of evidence caused, a cloud of doubt has surrounded all
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Forensic scientific practice in Panama of the Truth Commission’s investigations. The family members of the victims are convinced that the 60 boxes housed at the Institute of Legal Medicine contain the remains of their loved ones, as no one has presented them with actual evidence. The first author re-examined all of the remains discovered/recovered as the result of the various Operation Eagles and concluded that many of the sites were fake, the majority of the remains were non-human and those that are human are mostly of dubious origin (Table 30.2). Eight individuals were identified during the era of Truth Commission: Heliodoro
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Portugal, Reinado Sanchez, Lindbergh Gante, Ever Quintanar, Alfredo Serracín, Jerónimo Díaz, Cecilio Hazelwood and Gerardo Olivares (Ross et al. 2004). The family members are still requesting that the investigations continue, but investigations have ceased due to changes in government, changes in the Institute of Legal Medicine leadership and corruption. Twenty-three years after the fall of the military dictatorship, not a single conviction has occurred for the crimes committed by the military regime. Of the 110 cases of deaths and forced disappearances documented
Table 30.2 Skeletal element recovery/survivorship by site. Site
Human Non-human Skeletal elements
Tocumen*
×
×
David† Miraflores
× ×
× ×
San
×
Enrique Maleq
×
Las Ajuntas Barranco
×
Piso Fundarte‡
×
Mata del Chayote Cuesta de Piedra§
× ×
Is. Coiba
×
l. patella, r. calcaneus, l. talus, r. proximal femur fragment, long boneshaft fragment, three cranial fragments One first metatarsal r. second metatarsal, proximal hand phalanx; l. femur fragment, proximal hand phalanx; r. maxillary fragment, second premolar with unique restoration, which is consistent with restoration on tooth found at another site, Piso Fundarte Three human maxillary incisor fragments, calcined mandibular premolar enamel, calcined cranial fragments r. calcaneus Proximal foot phalanx and foot phalanx fragment r. and l. tali, r. second rib, l. maxillary canine with unique silver amalgam restoration, restoration is consistent with the restoration on tooth found at Altos de Miraflores, several maxillary incisor fragments, proximal foot and hand phalanx Mandibular premolar with carious lesion l. and r. patellae, l. talus, two r. third metatarsals, three long bone fragments Partial skeletons from burials
Preservation
Operation eagle
Poor earlier finds, good subsequent finds during Operation Eagle Good and still greasy Good
Later finds
× ×
Fragmentary
Good. Rodent gnawing and adhered brown soil Weathered
×
Good
×
Good Weathered, good
× ×
Variable
*Skeletal remains were first discovered in Tocumen in 1999 and 2000 prior to the formation of the Truth Commission. These remains were very weathered, consistent with remains having been buried in a tropical environment. Subsequent findings yielded non-human remains and the human material found was inconsistent with remains having been exposed to a tropical environment. † The condition and preservation of the remains are inconsistent with what you would expect with remains exposed to a tropical environment. ‡ The condition and preservation of the human bones recovered are inconsistent with what you would expect with buried remains or remains exposed to a tropical environment. § Human remains found at Cuesta de Piedra are very weathered, light in colour and display thin, flaky cortical bone. These remains are consistent with having been exposed to a tropical environment. However, later remains recovered from the same site are inconsistent with what one would expect to find with remains exposed to tropical environments (e.g. extensive weathering and cortical flaking). Some even had evidence of patina.
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by the Truth Commission, 84 were presented to the Justice Department. Of these 84 cases, 18 were declared prescribed or unenforceable (despite constituting crimes against humanity), 4 were dismissed and 18 were closed temporarily. In three cases there were pardons (despite the fact that pardon does not apply to criminal offenses) and in two cases the accused were acquitted. In eight cases there were first-degree convictions, which have been appealed, so the accused remain free. The remaining 31 cases, according to the Committee, ‘are pending’ in the Attorney General’s Office and the Judicial Branch (translated from Guevara Mann, La Prensa, 22 May 2013).
References Almanza, A., Tejadas Mora, J. A., Velasquez, O., Thompson, J. E. M. and Berguido, G. F. 2012. Informe Final Comision de la Verdad. 18 April 2002, Panama. Cotes, L. M., Suarez Silva, L., Jemmott, K. and Ross A. H. 2004. The archaeology of tyranny. Presentation at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, AAFS 2004, Dallas. Galloway, A., Willey, P. and Snyder, L. 1997. Human bone mineral densities and survival of bone elements: a contemporary sample. In W. D. Hanglund and M. H. Sorg (eds.), Forensic Taphonomy: Postmortem Fate of Human Remains, 295–318. Boca Raton, CRC Press. Guevara Mann, C. 2013. Los crímenes de la dictadura: Carlos Guevara Mann. La Prensa, 22 May 2013. Available at: http:// www.prensa.com/impreso/opinion/los-crimenes-de-ladictadura-carlos-guevara-mann/179245 (last accessed 10 June 2013). Jemmott, K., Ross, A. H., Suarez Silva, L. and Cotes, L. M. 2004. Preservation in paradise II. A Pre-Columbian burial in a contemporary cemetery. Presentation at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, AAFS 2004, Dallas. Linares Franco, A. E. 2004. El PRD, el Perro ‘Eagle’ y la Comisión de la Verdad. La Prensa, 28 March 2004. Available at: http:// mensual.prensa.com/mensual/contenido/2004/03/28/hoy/ opinion/1594990.html (last accessed 10 June 2013). Marcel Chery, J. 2003. Ministerio Público Desafía Orden de Mireya Moscoso. La Prensa, 22 October 2003. Available at:
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http://mensual.prensa.com/mensual/contenido/2003/10/22/ hoy/portada/1314868.html (last accessed 10 June 2013). Ramsey, B. 2013. OxCal v. 4.2.2, r.2 [computer software program]. Atmospheric data from Reimer et al. 2009. Available at: https://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/oxcal/OxCal.html (last accessed 10 June 2013). Ross, A. H. 2002. Human Remains from El Marañon, Isla de Coiba, Panama. Site Report, Comision de la Verdad. Ross, A. H. 2004. Use of digital imaging in the identification of fragmentary human skeletal remains: a case from the Republic of Panama. Forensic Science Communications 6(4). Available at: http:// www.fbi.gov/about-us/lab/forensic-science-communications/ fsc/oct2004/index.htm/case/2004_10_case01.htm (last accessed 10 June 2013). Ross, A. H. and Broce, B. 2003. In search of Floyd Britton: investigations of human rights issues on the Island of Coiba, Republic of Panama. Presentation at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences 2003, Chicago. Ross, A. H. and Cunningham, S. 2011. Time since death and bone weathering in a tropical environment. Forensic Science International 204, 126–133. Ross, A. H., Jemmott, K, Suarez, L. and Cotes, M. 2004. Preservation in paradise I: El Marañon cemetery, Isla de Coiba, Republic of Panama. Presentation at American Academy of Forensic Sciences, AAFS 2004, Dallas. Suarez Silva, L., Ross, A. H. and Jemmett, K. 2004. In the name of the dead: the Panamanian Truth Commission’s search for the “disappeared”. Presentation at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, AAFS 2004, Dallas. Trotter, M. 1970. Estimation of stature from intact limb bones. In T.D. Steward (Ed), Personal Identification in Mass Disasters, 71–84. Washington, DC, National Museum of Natural History. Waldron, T. 1987. The relative survival of the human skeleton: implications for palaeopathology. In A. Boddington, A. Garland and R. Janaway (eds.), Death, Decay and Reconstruction: Approaches to Archaeology and Forensic Science, 55–64. Manchester, Manchester University Press. Willey, P. 1990. Prehistoric Warfare on the Great Plains: Skeletal Analysis of the Crow Creek Massacre Victims. New York, Garland Publishing Co. Willey, P., Galloway, A. and Snyder, L. 1997. Bone mineral density and survival of elements and element portions in the bones of the Crow Creek massacre victims. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 104, 513–528.
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