Paper short abstract:

This paper summarises the findings from my doctoral research, an anthropological study of war crimes against children in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s. It considers child and adult deaths and is based on primary forensic data gathered and submitted to ICTY between 1996 and 2000

Paper long abstract:

Between 1991 and 1999 war broke out across Former Yugoslavia. Thousands of people are believed to have been killed and many more were internally displaced or forcibly expelled from their countries. In 1993 the United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to investigate war crimes allegedly committed in the region. Its work is still ongoing.

This presentation summarises my doctoral research which comprises an anthropological study of the children in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina who were killed as a direct result of war crimes perpetrated during the conflicts of the 1990s. Primary forensic data collected by investigators and scientists on behalf of ICTY between 1996 and 2000 was used to create a single integrated database which allowed the numbers of child deaths, causes of death, demographic profiles of the deceased, and post-mortem treatment of their remains to be analysed in both countries.

The findings from the research are presented within their wider socio-political context and an assessment is made of how closely the forensic evidence supports accounts from other literary sources. Ideas for future research generated by the findings are also considered