Fighting impunity: Dismemberment - Cause of Death in the Colombian Armed Conflict Maria Dolores Morcillo-Méndez, MD; Isla Yolima Campos, MA Medical forensic documentation of torture is of the utmost importance in the historical and political context of Colombia. In 2005, the government passed the Justice and Peace Law that allowed former paramilitary soldiers to come forth with immunity if they confessed to their crimes and provided information on the whereabouts of mass graves, which remained hidden in the countryside. However, immunity was not provided if it could be proven that the crimes included sexual violence or torture. In looking at the skeletal remains in mass graves, Morcillo-Méndez and Campos, of the National Institute of Forensic Sciences in Bogota, found that some exhibited signs of torture and ill-treatment through dismemberment. Her findings supported that torture through dismemberment was the cause of death in several remains discovered in mass graves. Although typically dismemberment has been used to conceal a body after death, many victims and demobilised paramilitary members, through art and testimony, have described this as a common form of torture and murder. More than 4,000 mass graves were exhumed and 1,400 human remains were examined. The following findings were noted: • Mass graves often contained remains of one to five individuals; skeletons were often disarticulated and incomplete; • Remains have evidence of multiple, linear and sharp-edge cut marks, often in a ‘V’ shape, single or multiple cut marks. The marks are mainly located along the limb joints – knees, elbows, shoulders, hips, and the collar bone and sternum. • The fractures are consistent with a machete and some cases an axe; • In most cases, no other traumatic injuries are present that could explain death; • Most remains were found with no clothing or only traces of underwear. Many were exhumed with ties or binds around wrists and ankles, or gags and blindfolds over mouths and eyes. In a closer examination of 28 remains, forensic examinations could not find other injuries that would cause death in 18 of those cases, other than the injuries and marks consistent with the dismemberment pattern. Dismemberment would cause death through massive bleeding. Sectioning limbs would cut through major vessels and victims would suffer hypovolemic shock after more than 20% of total blood volume is lost. The heart is incapable of pumping enough blood through the body to keep organs functioning. The findings are consistent with reports that dismemberment was a cruel practice of torture and murder during the Colombian armed conflict. “The expert opinion is critical in order to avoid disparity and inconclusive results, therefore it is necessary that dismemberment as a cause of death is included as such in the forensic reports in order to contribute to the real understanding of violent practices during the war.” Read the full report in TORTURE journal, Vol. 22, Supplementum 1, 2012. Available online at www.irct.org/torture-journal Getting the evidence: Countering torture through medico-legal documentation 17