Forensic expert's Kosovo diary

Identifying victims of a massacre in Kosovo last year

Delia Sargent, a forensic anthropologist from Bournemouth University, recalls her impressions of the efforts made by the British Forensic Team in Kosovo to identify the victims of conflict.

Until my arrival in Kosovo, my main knowledge of the Yugoslavian conflict came largely from the television and newspapers.

As a forensic investigator, I was there to use my expertise to gather evidence of the atrocities that these people had witnessed first hand.

Identifying people is not an easy task at the best of times and it is made even more difficult when clothing is swapped amongst the bodies or the people themselves are buried in places miles from whence they came.

When the clothing of the dead is washed and hung to dry, people come for a look in the hope of identifying a shirt they may have once mended for an uncle or a brother.

Delia Sargent's forensic work investigated victims of atrocities

And even when you think that you "have a result" as a relative becomes certain of that garment's origin, you may find that it was discovered shrouding a young woman, not a middle-aged man as they had hoped.

The war in Kosovo has virtually devastated a way of life for the people who live there. But the rebuilding is progressing at a terrific rate.

The people find work wherever they can, especially in the towns. For example, water is freely available so some have set up car washes along the roadside.

The more rural population do live a very basic life, but they are coping. They are people much like us and after only four hours of a flight from Britain to the Balkans, you realise how close the region is to our own homes and lives.

Missing

They live in the hope that the work we're doing will unravel the mystery of a missing loved one, often confirming what they already know or fear.

A lot of the cases involve exhumations from graves dug by the families themselves after they had recovered bodies.

Despite all of their misfortune, the Kosovans befriended us with acts of kindness that I will probably never be able to repay.

One very hot day, we were accompanied by a group of relatives who had insisted on helping us by doing most of the digging in very hard soil conditions.

Together, they collected what coins they had and trekked for miles to the nearest shop where they bought cans of soda for us all.

On another occasion, a group of men had noticed me picking up a walnut to eat. Minutes later, they were climbing the tree and then presented me with hats full of walnuts.

My feelings about the deployment are, on the whole, very positive. I feel privileged to have been a part of the British Forensic Team in the year 2000.

I was not changed by the experiences associated with the work (which had purpose) but my perception of human behaviour was altered.

We take our safety and standard of living for granted. It was only a few months ago that the people of Kosovo feared for their lives and watched the lives of their relatives stolen away.

As I tuck my four children into bed at night I know that they are safe - I wonder what the children of Kosovo dream of?

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The views expressed here are personal.