CHAPTER 36

Forensic sciences in Libya and mass gravemvestigationAmin Attia AlemamLibyan Sodey of forensic Odontologv. University ofBenghazi, Benghazi. Libya

Introduction

Forensic archaeology is not a recognised discipline inLibya, although much archaeological, anthropologicaland forensic expertise is present in the country. Recemly,with the vork of a nuinber of scientists and the fali ofthe previous regime, the investigation of mass gravesand the training and formation of the judicial and security forces has been undertaken. The excavation of clandestine graves bas slowly been carried out and with theincrease presence of forensic scientists, albeit the lack offorensic archaeologists. This chapter summarises thejudicial system and the attempts to use forensic disciplines in mass grave investigation in Libya. Recently, thepresence of international organisations bas also highlighted and introduced the role and work of forensicarchaeology, and training is under way to promote thevalue of the discipline, at least at the moment in rnassgrave investigation.

Background on the Libyan politicaland criminal justice system

Libya was a country based on the views, instructionsand beliefs of one person after the Libyan Constitutionwas no longer in effect from 1977. Colonel Qadhafi (c.1942—2011) replaced the Constitution after takingpower with his Green Book and with what he called thePeople’s Declaration of 1977 (DPADM 2004). DuringQadhafi’s regime, which lasted for 42 years (1969—201 t), the Ministry of Justice and National Police experienced widespread corruption. The majority of securityinstitutions were deliherately destroyed throughout thatperiod. However, there were a numher of security organisations that had authority and provided a high standard of facilities. This was because they were stronglysupported, as they were originally founded mainly forprotection purposes and for internal and external investigations for the benefit of that regime.

In the field of criminal investigations, there wereLibyan instïtutions that had already been created duringthe period of the monarchy (1951—1969) of King Idris T,for example, the National Centre of Legislative andCriminal Research (ai jSm) (Mshawari2012). The Centre was founded in 1964. It inciuded sixbranches distrihuted over six different areas: Tripoli,Benghazi, Sabha, the Green Mountain, Sehratah andthe West Mountain Branch. It was concemed with allthe legal issues that needed specialist investigation indifferent fields, forensic sdences among them.

In 2002 its name was changed from the Centre ofExpert Witnesses to the Court of Laws and Research and

It becarne more organised, with aseparate forensic medicine department. The last availablestatistics for the number of cases in this departmentwere for 2005, when 15,6 16 cases required examination(clinical cases): 12,979 cases were I)rOcesSed in thatyear, which represented about 83% as a percentage ofcompletion. Statistics show that the highest numbers ofcases were recorded hy the Benghazi branch with 7897cases, which reprcsents half of the total nuinher (50%),while the Tripoli branch took second place in terrns ofcaseload, with 5503 cases.

The first officially recognised Libyan specialist inforensic sdences was Dr Fawzi Benomran. As notedby Benomran (forensic Pathotogy in Libya, PersonalInterview/Personal Comment, 7 May 201 3, Derna,Libya), he was the first forensic pathologist in Libya. Iieheld the post of Director of the Centre of ExpertWitnesses to the Court of Laws and Research, andthe Head of Department of Forensic Medicine andToxicology at the Faculty of Medidne of BengbaziUniversity until July 1997, when lie left Libya for a jobin Duhai, United Arab Emirates. Prior to I)r Benomran’sinvolvement, all forensic spedalists at the Centre wereexpatriates from different nationalities (e .g. Egypt,India, Poland and Bulgaria). However, Libya stijl has ashortage of experts in the field of forensic investigation,where the domestically available specialties are restricted

Forensic Archacologv: A Gtohal Perspective, first Ediüon. Edïted by W,J. Mike Groen. Nicholas M1rquez-Grant and Roben C. Janaway.

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302 Africa, Asia and Oceania

to one main forensic science — forensic pathology. Onlyfour forensic pathologists currently hold a PhD, whilesome other sciences are completely absent, such asforensic anthropology, forensic archaeology, forensicodontology and forensic entornology. There are a fewforensic toxicologists, and, Jastly, since the revolution,there are now two specialists in forensic genetics, inDNA profiling and DNA fingerprinting respectively.

There are currently two forensic rnedïcine departments at Libyan Universities. The first one is in theSchool of Medicine at the University of Benghazi,which opened in 1974, and the second is in the Schoolof Medicine at the University of Tripoli, which openedin 1978. Both have an academie teaching function(Benomran 2013).

The lacilities and equipment inside the forensicdepartments in the justice and education sectors are stillconventional and very simple. This shortage was veryapparent during the liberation war in 201 1.

Status of forensic archaeologyin Libya

There are no forensic archaeological specialists in Lihyaat the moment. However, there are regular archaeologists present in Lihya with experience in the excavationof (mass) graves. Since Soine of the excavated archaeological human rernains are mummified, archaeologicalexcavation experience could also be of use duringforensic investigation of (rnass) graves.

There have heen a nuinber of discoveries made hyLibyan archaeologists of faunal and human skeletalremains. for instance, five mummies were discovered in1995 at El-Jaghbub by Dr Fadel A. Mohamed, Advisorto the State for Antiquities and lecturer at the Universityof Omar al-Mukhtar. First he found weil-preservedhuman remains in the area and when he sent samplesto France for radiocarbon tests, the results were datedbetween 196 BC and AD 126 (Mohamed 2007). Therehave been a numher of other discoveries made by international individuals and organisations, such as a child’smummified body which was discovered in 1959 insidethe Uan Muhuggiag cave in the Libyan desert byProfessor Fabrizio Mori. A two and a half year old childwas found bound in animal skin, and this skin has beenradiocarbon dated to be between 3275 and 3635 yearsBC (Aufderheide 2003). Another example is the skeletalrernains of two individuals who were eanhquake vietims during Emperor Gallinus’s fifth consulship in AD262, exhumed from the Sanctuary of Demeter andPersephone at Cyrene, bv the University of PennsylvaniaMuseum of Archaeologv and Anthropology hetween1973 and 1981 White 1990. Moreover, human osteological material was excavated by C. M. Daniels andhoused at the Jarma museum. This consists of 56 human

skeletons retrieved from 68 archaeological features(Mattingly 2010). Recently, archaeologists have uncovered 20 Stone Age skeletons in and around a rockshelter in Libya’s Sahara desen. A new programme ofterritorial study was launched in the area of WadiTakarkori, which is located in southwestern Lihya onthe border with Algeria in a strategic position betweenthe Tassili and the Acactis Mountains. As pan of theactivities of the archaeological inission in the Sahara, ateam from Sapienza University in Rome was supponedby Lïhya and led by Dr Salah Agab who is the chairmanof the Department of Antiquities in Tripoli (Lernia andTafuri 2013).

Diie to its strategie location and large surface area,about 1.8 million km2, I.ihya has heen strongly characterised hy its history and archaeology. for inillenniaLibya has been a land of very different civilisations,including Greek, Roman, Islarnic, Ottoman and Italiancolonialism, as well as its original history as an Africancountry. Therefore Lihyan scientists helieve that inLihya many archaeological discoveries are possible.

Although this example is ar-chaeological in nature andnt)t forensic, it illustrates and eml)hasises that there aremany experienced and qualified archaeologists andanthropologists in Libya whose skills should not beundervalued for forensic and/or criminal investigationin the future.

Identification process duringthe Libyan revolution

The early days of the Lihyan revolution (fehruary 2011)clearly showed a deficit in the area of identification forthe rebels’ unidentified bodies, hut a great effort wasmade and is still being made locally, in an attempt tocompensate for this lack of identification of the victims,despite the absence c)f subspecialties and unavailablefacifities. The Centre of Expert Witnesses to the Courtof Laws and Research in Benghazi, under the auspicesof the Libyan Ministry of Justice at the beginning ofthe revolution, was one of the official institutionsthat belonged to the National Transitional Coundi

when the east of Lihya was liberated onthe revolution’s sixth day. While the other parts of thecountry were not yet liberated, the forensic mellinedepartment of this centre was responsible for dealingwith all the different cases of the victims on the EasternFront, VSïth a restricted forensic team and a lack of fadilities. The team consisted of four forensic pathologistsand one dentist. All memhers were official staff of thiscentre except for the dentist. as he was a volunteer during that period.

Unidentified bodies presented with different injuriesand even if they had dear body and facial features theysometimes could not he identified hecause of an absence

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of ID. furtherinore, if there were no relatives who askedabout them at the mortuary, they were usually buried innumbered individual graves, without a death certificate.Only photographs and a DNA sample were taken fromthis first group. The second type of unidentified victimswas those whose facial and physical features werepartially or completely lost due to the severity of theirtrauma. For example, on 2 April 2011, NATO mistakenly attacked the rebels; 13 pec)ple were killed and theirbodies were severely burned and charred. For forensicanthropologists obtaining a biological profile in thosecases is possible since forensic anthropologists can dealwith such cases even if the remains are modified hy theheat (Blau and Ubelaker 2009, 23). With the absence ofdental records, as well as the lack of a DNA database andfacilities for analysis, the identification process in this2011 incident was difficult to apply.

This incident emphasised the cl;allenge that the teamfaced regarding the increasing prohlem of identification.The situation made the teani consider finding a suhstitute for DNA analysis, rather than collecting samples; tosolve this problem the team proposed to start dentaldiagnostic work at the conflict line hy building up adental record system for all the soldiers at the EasternFront. This proposal was promoted by a group of dentists from the University of Benghazi Dental School.Another idea was to introduce a proposal to the militarycouncil and rebel leaders to make metallic militaryidentification plates for all soldiers at the front line.Neither of these 5c)IUtiOfls was implemented and thentimher of unidentified hodies increased dramatically.The nuinbcr of missing rebels also increased, startingwith the first incident at Binjawad nu 8 Marci; 2011,when about 200 rebels were captureci hy Qadhafi’s

Forensic sciences in Libya and mass grave investigation 303

forces, the outcorne unknown. In other conflict zones,mortality rates were not documented, but predictionsbased on previous experience were frightening. Duringthat time new discoveries of muhiple ;nass graves werealso made, of people previously killed by Qadhafi’sforces. The first mass grave to be investigated was atZueitina village.

Zueitina mass graveZueitina is a coastal village 150km west of Benghazi.News of a mass grave in that area reached one of therebel hattalions from an eyewitness in April 2011. Soiiiebattalion members then went to the site at Zueitina andafter searching they uncovered their first eviclence.Tliey kept searching until three skeletonised humanhodies were exhumed non-scientifically. They thendecided to complete this mission under legal jurisdictionand the case was therefore handed over to the Centre ofExpert Witnesses to the Court of Laws and Research biBenghazi, where the forensic department recruited aforensic team (Figure 36. 1) led by a forensic pathologist,Dr Khaled Almgasbi. He was the Centre President andthe Head of its forensic department. After that all thevictims’ remains were exhurned from the grave(Figure 36.2), and then transferred to an autopsy lahoratory in the Benghazi Medical Centre (Figure 36.3).

Seven skeletons were arranged in order from one toseven, post-mortern dental records were made, 1)hoto-graphs were taken and dental samples were collectedfor I)NA analysis. Dental identification was attempted,but found impossible as ante-inortem dental recordswere absent. l)uring the first days of the revolution theinternal security headquarters, which host representedthe repression of Qadhafi’s security syswrn, was invaded

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Figure 36.1 The Zueitina mass graveinvestigation team which inciudes theforensic team (eg. forensic

pathologists, odontologists), rehels.

prc)secutors, and memhers of human

rights organisations. April 2011.

304 Afrïca, Asia and Oceania

Figure 36.2 Exhurnation of the Zueitina

mass grave (2011).

Figure 36.3 Autopsv laboratory of the

Benghazi Medical Centre where the

examination process of the Zueitinamass grave was held 12011).

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accepted the news of their sons’ fate as they hadsuspected the cause of the disappearance for about 1 5years. In 1996 a group of seven friends, two of thernbrothers aged 17—25 vears old, were secretly executedhecause they disagreed with Qadhafi’s regime. Themurder happened away from the hurial place as recentstones from eyewitnesses mention the cnirne takingplace near a small city east of Benghazi called Alabvar,about 220 km from Zueitina. These seven skeletalremains belonged to this group of friends, hut the

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and destroyed by rebels. Some of the files detailing theregime’s cnimes were preserved by the rehels. These filesheld inany secrets and one of these files related to theZuehina mass grave. It had contained all the necessaryinformation about the crime, one peni-mortem photo—graph of one of the seveii victims (figure 36.4) and alsotheir naines.

This file reached the cnirne investigator directly fromthe rebels and after that the seven families wereinformed as to what had happened to their sons. They

1

Forensic sciences in Libya and rnass grave investigation 305

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Figure 36.5 The funeral cerernony forthe Zueitina Martyrs was held inBenghaii’s Liheration PlaLa and theywere buried in Alhawari Cemetery inMay 2011. This picture was takeninside the Martyrs Battalion

t Benghazi Protection).

forensic team found it difficuk to differentiate betweenthem and thus issue a deatli certificate for each of thern.Lihyan forensic specialists testified as to their findings tothe Centre of Expert Witnesses to the Court of Lawsand Research. The sample collection instructions forinitochondrial DNA analysis were given by theAmerican Society of Forensic Odontology. After sam-

Figure 36.4 Superhnpositiori c)f two photographs. The first one is a peri-inortein picture which was found within the internalsecurity headquaners’ files. The second one is a post-inortem picture of one of the seven victirns skulls of the victims of theZueitina mass grave. This process was applied befc)re the I)NA testing had been conciucted.

ples had heen taken a ftmeral ceremony for the ZueitinaMartyrs was held in Benghazi’s I.iberation Plaza andthey were buried in Alhawari Cemetery in May 2011çfigure 36.5). DNA analysis for the seven cases andtheir farnilies was conducted in the Genoma laboratoryin Rome, Italy, and the resuks were finally disciosed on$ July 2012.

306 Afrïca, Asia and Oceania

Identification process after the Libyanrevolution

Multiple mass graves were discovered in different placesin Libya during and after the liheration. The largest oneis the Ben Jawad grave, which inciudes 157 bodies ofrehels killed by Qadhafi’s forces in March 2011. BenJawaci village is locateci 1 5f) kin east of Sirte. Forensicinvestigation of this grave started on 2 Manh 2012 bythe Centre of Expert Witnesses to the Court of Laws andResearch, l3enghazi brauch.

The Libyan Minïstry of the Affairs of the Fainilies ofMartyrs and Missing Personsestilnates that there are around 10,000 people inisshigin Libya. This number inciudes J)eople lost cluring therevolution as well as from previous events, such as the127f) prisoflers killed in 1996 in Abu Sallin prison. Therebas been a great effort made hy the Libyan provisiorialgovernment to search for and identify the missing pec)ple. This has been done with the cooperation of international organisations. For example, the InternationalCommiltee of the Red Cross (ICRC; Tidhall-Binz andHofmeister, Chapter 49 this volume) and the Physiciansfor Human Rights (PIIR; Schmitt et al., Chapter 53this volume) supported the Mhflstry of Affairs of thefamilles of Martyrs and Missing Persons (MAFMM)hy reuniting families, dealing with human remains,collecting and storing personal details and/or advisingon the handling of Inissing person cases (ICRC 2013;PIIR 2013).

The International Commission on Missing PersonsUCMP; Hanson, Chapter 48 this volume) director,General Kathryn Bomherger, and the Lihyan Ministerfor MAFMM, Naser Jibril Hamed, agreed to cooperate inTripoli in November 2012 to try to sotve missing personcases from the Qadhafi’s regime and the latest cmiflictstICMB 2012).

This agreement inciudes the ICMP providing help increating a Libyan Identification Centre çLIC). This isessential in developing a sustainable means of dealingwfth missing person cases in Libya in the future. TheLIC plans to have a DNA laboratory system which willhouse a facility to inanage biological samples for DNAidentity testing and which will have the capachy todevelop further in other areas. This centre should allowfor better coordination of internal testing in Libya andthe ability to provide assistance internationally.

Full training in successfuÏ recovery and identificationhas been provided hy the ICIvIP for Lihyan scientistsinvolved in the identification process of mass grave viefims, inch;ding archa eology and anthropology.Demonsnating the value of archaeology has certainlyheen focal in the last 2 years. In addition, a Lihvaspecific version of the Forensic Data ManagementSystem (FI)MS), a spedalised software solution internally designed hy the ICMP to record identification, will

be donated by the commission. In terms of legalsupport, the ICMP will assist Libya in writing specificInissing person Jegislation.

Future of forensic sciences in Lïbya

Currently there are many Libvan students studyingforensic sciences outside the country. Many of thesesciences are completely ahsent in Lihya. Meanwhile,there are others currently training in Libya to he adomestic forensic team able to deal with war victimsand graves and who are receiving training inciudingforensic archaeology. In addition, related civilianorganisations have heen founded during and after theliheration war, such as the Lihyan Society of ForensicOdontology (Figure 36.6. Moreover. archaeologistsfrom univershies may receive training in forensics;this will he of value in the search, location and excavation of human remains buried in clandestinegraves. Therefore it is anticipated that the field offorensics in Libya will grow significantly during thefew next years.

Figure 36.6 Meinhers of the Libyan Society of ForensicOdontology of the National Health Systems Conference heldon 29 August 2012.

forensic sciences in Libya and mass grave investigation 307

Acknowledgements

1 wish to express mv sincere grafiwde to Professor fadelAh Moharned, Tariq EljahmL Wanysa Massoud, RachelEmbury. Dr fawzi Benomran. Dr Khaled Alrngasbi andDr Mahrnud Kaddura for their contrihution during thetime of research and viiting of this chapter.

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