Minors buried in clandestine pits of the armed conflict: testimonies and signs

Abstract

I Thousands of minors died in circumstances associated with the Internal Armed Conflict in Guatemala. The reports Guatemala Never Again and Guatemala Memoria del Silencio are evidence of this. However, in relation to minors and armed conflict, investigations have focused more on missing children. The deaths of minors, in this period, have been blurred, to be assimilated with the adult population. Many of these victims were buried in clandestine graves scattered in the areas of the national territory, where the violence manifested itself with greater intensity. The tasks of search, recovery, analysis and identification of corpses, in these pits, are carried out through forensic anthropology skills. With the purpose of investigating the contexts related to the deaths of minors, buried in clandestine graves, data recorded in files related to forensic anthropology surveys were compiled and processed. Experts associated with 86 sites, where they were supposed to be buried victims of the armed conflict, among whom were minors. According to testimonial information, the people buried in these sites died between 1978 and 1993, in circumstances related to the armed conflict. The high percentages of minors referred to in the testimonies and the number of sub adults located, show the impact that this violent period had on Guatemalan children.