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	HU OSA 386
Fonds 386:	Records of the Physicians for Human Rights' Bosnia Projects

Date(s) 1996-1999

Extent and medium

Estimated total:
Textual materials, photographs and 22 videotapes
16 linear meters
Currently processed:
57 Archival boxes, 7 linear meters
21 VHS, 0.53 linear meters

Name of creator(s) Physicians for Human Rights

Administrative/Biographical history

• HU OSA 386C Physicians for Human Rights

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Deposited by Physicians for Human Rights, Boston

Scope and content

Materials include reports, databases, lists, forms, memos, correspondence, handbooks and manuals, newsletters, press releases and clippings, maps, photographs and videos.

The fonds consists of the documentation of three projects ran by the Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in Bosnia-Herzegovina: the Ante Mortem DataBase Project, the Identification Project and the Forensic Assistance Project, collectively known as the Bosnia Projects. The records give a detailed insight into the tireless work which PHR carried out in order to identify the thousands of victims of the war in the former Yugoslavia exhumed from the various mass graves scattered throughout Bosnia.

By accessing the forensic monitoring and autopsy reports, antemortem interviews, dental and DNA records, and the photographs of human remains and personal belongings, one can closely follow how the exhumations and the process of identifying the individuals and the cause and manner of their death were meticulously conducted. The correspondence with international organizations such as the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, as well as with various state investigation commissions, reveal that, by submitting evidentiary records of war crimes, forensic science can help in the conviction of perpetrators. In addition, there are several files that deal with the psycho-social and traumatic effects of the war in the Bosnian society.

Two videotapes deserve special attention. One is a 20-minute educational video produced by PHR on the identification procedures, meant for the wider Bosnian audience and also broadcast on the national TV. The other is a 1999 documentary titled War Kids, which is a first-hand account of the war as told through the stories of young survivors: Muslim and Serbian teenagers in and around Sarajevo.

Accruals Expected

System of arrangement

• HU OSA 386-1 Identification Project, 1996-1999
  • HU OSA 386-1-1 Identified Cases, 1997-1999
  • HU OSA 386-1-2 Lists of Missing Persons, 1996-1999
  • HU OSA 386-1-3 Tracing Requests, 1996-1997
  • HU OSA 386-1-4 Interviews and Questionnaires, 1996-1997
  • HU OSA 386-1-5 Medical Records, 1997-1999
  • HU OSA 386-1-6 Collective Centers, 1996-1999
• HU OSA 386-2 Forensic Assistance Project, 1997-1999
  • HU OSA 386-2-1 Administrative Files, 1997
  • HU OSA 386-2-2 Findings, 1999
  • HU OSA 386-2-3 Consultation Reports, 1999
  • HU OSA 386-2-4 Recovery Documentation Reports, 1999
  • HU OSA 386-2-5 Photographs Relating to FAP
  • HU OSA 386-2-6 Maps Relating to FAP
• HU OSA 386-3 Administrative Records, 1996-1999
  • HU OSA 386-3-1 Media and Publications, 1996-1999
  • HU OSA 386-3-2 Guidelines and Project Description, 1996-1999
  • HU OSA 386-3-3 Affiliated Organizations, 1996-1999
  • HU OSA 386-3-4 Progress Reports, 1996-1999
  • HU OSA 386-3-5 Personnel and Employment, 1996-1998
  • HU OSA 386-3-6 Forensic Needs Assessment Project, 1996-1999
  • HU OSA 386-3-7 Correspondence and Memoranda, 1996-1999
  • HU OSA 386-3-8 Video Collection, 1995-1999
  • HU OSA 386-3-9 Minutes of the Meeting of the PHR Board of Directors

Conditions governing access

Some of the records containing personal data and other information are restricted from access. Restrictions are specified on the series level.

Language/scripts of material Bosnian, English

Finding aids

• Related OSA Reference Information Paper available. (RIP 9: Human Rights)

Related materials

• PHR Newsletters and some of the Forensic Monitoring Reports are available at: www.phrusa.org

Related units of description

• HU OSA 377 Collection of David Rohde relating to Srebrenica, 1991-1999

Publication note

http://www.phrusa.org/cgi-bin/search_engine.cgi

Note

Keywords: War crimes; mass graves; exhumations; identification of victims; missing persons; forensic reports; antemortem and postmortem data, DNA analysis; traumatic effects

Date(s) of descriptions

Described by Csaba Szilágyi on November 30, 2004
Online version updated 17 November 2009