Will Qaddafi be charged with war crimes?

Will Qaddafi be charged with war crimes and human rights violations? CBS News.

Ivory Coast ‘war crimes’ both sides responsible says Amnesty

Ivory Coast war crimes against humanity. Both sides are responsible says Amnesty International. United Nations Video.

DNA clears Cornelius Dupree from 30 years in Texas jail

Jan 5 – A man wrongfully convicted of rape and robbery in the U.S. state of Texas has had his case overturned and has been cleared by DNA evidence after 30 years in jail.

Read more on this case on BBC News, MSNBC, Reuters, Yahoo News.

World peace with forensic archaeology?

World peace with forensic archaeology!  Is it possible?

While world peace might be a bold claim in terms of forensic archaeology all on it’s lonesome, peace is somewhat part of what what the profession is about. Besides the general digging up of dead bodies or retrieving body parts during mass disasters and major incident investigations, there is in my opinion a deeper meaning to this area of forensics.

Forensic science in general is concerned with using science for the law and is used (generally speaking) to fight crime in order to render people accountable for their wrongdoings as well as provide a form of closure for victims.

In essence, forensic science is there to provide the best possible scientific evidence in support of a legal dispute. Be that civil cases or criminal investigations.

Forensic archaeology continues to be used in the detection and excavation of mass graves in relation to war crimes and genocide investigation. These include some of the worst atrocities known to man and beg belief when looking at the psychological and social motives for such crimes.

On an ethical basis it absurd that someone would want to do such horrible things to another human being and yet as a species, we are no strangers to war and death.

Without straying any further from the point, forensic investigations could be regarded as a safeguard for people. After all forensic archaeology is part of a system in support of the police and other law enforcement agencies.

Consequently forensics is participating as a driving force towards a utopian society where ultimately, after having achieved world peace, it would no longer be necessary to have said profession! While this may not happen in the immediate future, or maybe ever (given the grotesque nature of our species), this should not diminish our efforts in trying to reach this objective.

This positive course of action has been happening in all areas of our society for a long time. Just look at how we are dealing with global warming and taking positive steps towards sustainable and environmentally friendly living.

As we live in an ever increasingly populated world, forensic archaeology and forensic science can act as a deterrent to some criminals and therefore bring us slightly closer to a world in which we can live side by side (at this point you can get out the hippie flower necklaces), acknowledging our differences but above all, living in harmony.

That’s a vision of world peace I could live with.

Many Thanks and peace to all,

Alex

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Mass grave found on Olympics site

An ancient burial pit containing 45 severed skulls, that could be a mass war grave dating back to Roman times, has been found under a road being built for the 2012 British Olympics.

Read more LONDON (Reuters)

The killing fields of Cambodia

The killing fields is a name given to the number of sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried.

Read up about the killing fields on Wikipedia

Read up about the Cambodian genocide on Guardian.co.uk

Uncovering Iraq’s Horrors in Desert Graves

2006 Article from the New York Times:

Uncovering Iraq’s Horrors in Desert Graves

Babies found in Iraqi mass grave

BBC news site:

Babies found in Iraqi mass grave

Mass graves in Iraq

Via Wikipedia:

Mass graves in Iraq

Afghan mass grave

Around 30-40 bodies have been uncovered in a mass grave in an education department west of Afghan’s capital Kabul.

The mass grave was discovered during construction processes.

Primary investigation has been carried out by Afghanistan Human Rights Commission.

Read the full article at Quqnoos