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Forensic Anthropology: Investigating Human Rights Violations

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Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology
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Introduction

The contribution of forensic anthropology and archaeology to human rights revolves around three core concepts: historical record keeping or “getting the record straight,” enforcing “the right to know” of surviving families, and the creation of new approaches in the “jurisprudence” pertaining to interpretation of evidence about violations against international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

Definition

Forensic anthropology and archaeology have significantly improved human rights work throughout the world, from the starting point of investigations carried out on the after effects of armed conflicts where state officials perpetrated massive human rights abuses. International instruments set forth by the UN to prevent crimes against humanity, such as the Geneva Conventions, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, have set the groundwork for...

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Correspondence to José Pablo Baraybar .

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Baraybar, J.P. (2018). Forensic Anthropology: Investigating Human Rights Violations. In: Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_155-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_155-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51726-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51726-1

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