Revealed from the bones of Bosnian genocide victims

The victims of genocide in the mid-1990s in Bosnia suffered serious health problems before Bosnian Serb forces began the bloody massacre. That is the result of a study of bone samples found in mass graves here.

The bone fragments with signs of chronic disease and birth defects show that Bosnian Muslim health has serious problems before the Bosnian violence conflict.

'They lacked health care for a long time , ' said Ann Ross, an anthropologist from North Carolina State University (USA). 'For example, bone analysis shows that there are a few individuals with serious ear infections . That said they don't even have access to antibiotics to handle this problem.' .

Research can help policymakers identify populations that are isolated from social development, Ross said.

The skull of a victim in the 1995 genocide at Srebrenica
found at the mass grave outside Potocari village in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces besieged Srebrenica town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The "cleansing of the nation" by eliminating Bosnian Muslims was carried out for many years, with many people arrested or forced to leave their homes destroyed by Serbian troops.

Serbian soldiers rushed in and began a shooting from July 11 to July 18, killing some 8,000 Muslims, most of them children and men. Their bodies were thrown into mass graves throughout Eastern Bosnia.

In 2004 in The Hague, the former Yugoslav International Criminal Court declared what happened at Srebrenica was like genocide.

In 2007, Ann Ross participated in trips to the area to help identify remains from the mass grave.'In the process, I realized that these skeletons have many unusual things , ' Ross said. In fact, when conducting the test, 35% of the 142 Bosnian bodies showed signs of birth defects or health problems such as ear infections and osteitis.

This condition usually occurs due to lack of folic acid during pregnancy. This shows that the nutrition of mothers here is extremely poor.

While collecting information, Ross saw the foreboding of another genocide from the bones of the victims.'The bones are telling you that their master's life is not great. They are not healthy people, and many of them suffer physical pain that is completely avoidable. '

Poor health shows signs of another potential genocide crime. This scientific evidence contributes to the international community's action.'Now, instead of acting after the fact has happened, I think we should be more aware and really have effective precautions before that,' Ross added.