Over the past week the team has worked to wrap up the first mass grave identification. As we began to exhume the remains of the last individual of the grave, I began to prepare the remains for photography. However, during the next trowel of sand I struck a set of Carpal bones which exposed the hand of a yet unseen victim – number 11 for this grave at that point.
These victims were silenced in a brutal manner and their voices muted. However, through these ongoing efforts we aspire to give them a voice, dignity, and closure.
-Derek O’Neill
Archaeologists and students working into the afternoon clearing both graves with the Mass grave warning sign in the foreground. (Photo by Derek O’Neill)
Bottom of the first Mass grave, one of the last Victims. (Photo by Derek O’Neill)
Armed guards stand by into the evening and observe the participants as they clear the mass grave. (Photo by Derek O’Neill)
