What a lifelong passion can do

Cofounder of Equipo Argentino de Antropologia Forense
receives MacArthur Genius Grant

From the NY Times:
"I was almost in tears," said Mercedes Doretti, 48, co-founder of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, which in 1984 began to investigate cases of people who disappeared in Argentina during the former military dictatorship [1976-1983] and which has expanded its work to 30 countries.

(Do the math: She started her life's work at the age of 25. How lucky to discover such a passion, and to have a lifetime to build on it.)

Some history from the EAAF website:

EAAF members Fondebrider and Bernardi working at a mass grave, Sector 134, Avellaneda, Argentina. Photo by M.Doretti/EAAF.

In early 1984, CONADEP and the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, a non-governmental human rights organization searching for children that disappeared with their parents, requested assistance from Mr. Eric Stover, then-director of the Science and Human Rights Program at American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Stover organized a delegation of forensic experts to travel to Argentina, where they found several hundred exhumed, unidentified skeletons stored in plastic bags in dusty storerooms at several medical legal institutes. Many bags held the bones of more than one individual. The delegation called for an immediate halt to exhumations.

Among the AAAS delegation members was Dr. Clyde Snow, one of the world's foremost experts in forensic anthropology. Dr. Snow called on archaeologists, anthropologists and physicians to begin exhumations and analysis of skeletal remains using traditional archaeological and forensic anthropology techniques.

EAAF is among the groups that pioneered the application of forensic sciences to the documentation of human rights violations.

In 1986, the team began expanding its activities beyond Argentina and has since worked in nearly thirty countries throughout the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe.

A guiding principle for the team since its foundation has been to maintain the utmost respect for the wishes of victims' relatives and communities concerning the investigations, and to work closely with them through all stages of exhumation and identification processes.

We are keenly aware that the identification of remains are a great source of solace to families suffering from trauma caused by having a loved one "disappeared."



From the site's press release:
Doretti believes the prestigious award will give more legitimacy to the forensic scientists working in human rights investigations worldwide.

In addition, Doretti believes that the distinction supports the right of families of victims of human rights violations to independent forensic investigations in their search for truth and justice.