#clea koff

[t0rschlusspan1k]

In occasion of the 30th anniversary from the Rwandan genocide I couldn't refrain from presenting you with this book I read a couple of years ago. It's a memoir/report by Clea Koff, a forensic anthropologist, who worked on the mass graves of the most important massacres in recent history: Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo.

From Penguin Random House Canada:

Published ten years after the genocide in Rwanda, The Bone Woman is a riveting, deeply personal account by a forensic anthropologist sent on seven missions by the UN War Crimes Tribunal. To prosecute charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, the UN needs proof that the bodies found are those of non-combatants. This means answering two questions: who the victims were, and how they were killed. The only people who can answer both these questions are forensic anthropologists. Before being sent to Rwanda in 1996, Clea Koff was a twenty-three-year-old graduate student studying prehistoric skeletons in the safe confines of Berkeley, California. Over the next four years, her gruelling investigation into events that shocked the world transformed her from a wide-eyed student into a soul-weary veteran — and a wise and deeply thoughtful woman. Her unflinching account of those years — what she saw, how it affected her, who went to trial based on evidence she collected — makes for an unforgettable read, alternately riveting, frightening and miraculously hopeful. Readers join Koff as she comes face to face with the human meaning of genocide: exhuming almost five hundred bodies from a single grave in Kibuye, Rwanda; uncovering the wire-bound wrists of Srebrenica massacre victims in Bosnia; disinterring the body of a young man in southwestern Kosovo as his grandfather looks on in silence. As she recounts the fascinating details of her work, the hellish working conditions, the bureaucracy of the UN, and the heartbreak of survivors, Koff imbues her story with an immense sense of hope, humanity and justice.

I also recommend you watch the video and read the articles and posts I shared earlier on my blog to better understand how this horror came to be:

Rwanda: From colonialism to genocide (documentary + article)

Emmanuel Macron's declarations

Some other book recommendations:

[FR] Maria Malagardis, "Avant la nuit"

[FR] Dorcy Rugamba, "Hewa Rwanda: Lettre aux absents"

Fiston Mudacumura, "Born Hutsi: My Imbroglio"

Thank you for your attention.

[writtenwolves]

I really feel this concept of continuum. I don't even have to meet the relative of someone whose body I've exhumed, let alone touch the relative's arm. It's more metaphysical then that, as though in the whole grand scheme of things, there is a thread between me and the living relatives of people I've exhumed. In my mind's eye, looking at the world from outer space I can see these great long silvery strands between me and my teammates and lots of points in Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. I've developed this idea further, into the area of individual and collective memory, because forensic anthropologists affect people's memory of events through exhumation and identification: the existence of a body disallows a relative from maintaining that the person is being held in a prisoner-of-war camp or that the person survived but can't get in touch. Similarly, in places where government or military propaganda continually denies that certain people were killed, the exposure of graves and the analysis of remains refutes the "official story."

Clea Koff, The Bone Woman: A Forensic Anthropologist's Search for Truth in the Mass Graves of Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo

[forensicfield]

Clea Koff

Clea Koff (born 1972) is an American forensic anthropologist and author who worked for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; 2 missions) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (5 missions) in Rwanda, Bosnia,.....

(more…)

[tomorrowimjustdirt]

Forty miles from her home in South Los Angeles Mitrice Richardson sat in a Lost Hills Sherriff's Department located in Calabasas, California.

Mitrice was an intelligent, goal orientated, care free, 24 year old, college graduate with a bachelor of arts in psychology. In 2009 she was working towards a masters degree. To support herself she worked at ex-girlfriend Tessa Moon's family business and part time as a go go dancer at a popular lesbian night club.

For the past several months leading up to the event which took place, Richardson had been increasingly acting in ways those close to her deemed "strange" and "odd". Most notably her mother Latice Sutton had began receieving text messages from Mitrice, one reading, "Im writing a book (my journals) because u told me I can be anything I wanted…u told me I was Miss America, u told me I was Americas Next Top Model…now do u know what I want to be when I grow up? Miss Mother Nature…cuz Miss America is a fake ass joke along with everything else we 'see' so I'm trying to find my way to Michelle Obama to see if she will talk to Mr. Obama about creating my position within the White House."

Latice replied "Call me!" to which Mitrice responded "I feel joy mommie…not everyone has to die to live. I heard in the Bible Jesus dies so we can live forever… now I have to prove the 'unlogic'

On the afternoon of September 16, 2009 Mitrice stated that while at work she had been watching a soap opera and that Jesus spoke to her telling her to take the rest of the afternoon off, which she did.

She ended up at Geofferys, an upscale restaurant located in Malibu. Once there she used the valet service. Before going in to the restaurant she went and sat in the valet staffers own car. He had asked why she was there, "its subliminal" is all Mitrice answered.

Inside the restaurant Richardson ordered a cocktail and steak. She spoke of avenging Michael Jacksons death and joined a large group of guests she did not know. She spoke to them about astrological signs and an upcoming trip to Hawaii, she promised she'd call them once she got there. Staffers checked on the group and while this was all strange, the group assured them that everything was fine.

Mitrice eventually returned to her own table and once finished with her meal proceeded to leave without paying. She was stopped and asked to pay. She wouldn't be able to she said, unless she could offer sex as payment, or maybe call her great grandmother. The manager allowed her to call Mildred, her 90 year old great grandmother whom she was currently living with. Mildred was offering to pay the $89 bill through credit card over the phone. However, they would need a signature which would require Mildred to be there in person, something she wasn't able to do.

During the conversation Mitrice seemed unfazed by what was going on and continued to make odd remarks. With staffers growing more concerned for her well being, the police were called.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department arrived and talked to staffers and Mildred regarding Mitrice. A field sobreity test was conducted on Richardson, she was sober. They could see Mitrice was acting a bit strange, but overall thought she was fine. They were not going to arrest her until the manager decided to press charges for her not paying the meal ticket in hopes that she would be taken to the sheriff department or hospital for a mental wellness check.

With Mildred still on the phone she commented to Mitrice, "they're gettin' ready to take your black ass to jail." to which no response came from Richardson.

Richardson's car with her purse and phone inside was searched and taken to a nearby impound lot.

Mildred notified Richardsons mother Latice letting her know the situation that had unfolded.

Latice called the L.A. Sheriffs Department around 9:30pm asking when her daughter would be released. They assured her they wouldn't relase her until the next morning. Latice had her 10 year old daughter asleep at home with her and didn't want to drag her 40 miles away in the middle of the night, so she stated to a deputy, "I think the only way I will come out there tonight is if you guys are going to release her... she's not from that area and I

I would hate to wake up to a morning report of 'Girl Lost Somewhere with Her Head Chopped Off' "

Upon their loose assement of Mitrice's mental state, they found her to be well enough to be released at 12:28am, even though several statements have deputies claiming they believed Mitrice to be suffering a bipolar episode.

At 5:35am Latice called the department and became enraged and extremely concerned to learn Mitrice had been released to wander off alone.

Little is known about what happened after Mitrice Richardson left the Sherrifs Department, other than she set off down the desolate road on foot.

Latice was advised by Deputy Kenneth Bomgardner to wait at least 24 hours to report Mitrice missing, which she did.

Over the next 11 months several searches of the surrounding area were conducted as well as the reviewing of the security footage collected from the sheriff department. Unfortunately any signs of Mitrice never came to light from the ground searches, but a possible lead came from that night she was released. Edited footage shows Mitrice leaving the sheriffs department followed out the door by a deputy. After being questioned on numerous occasions by journalists the unnamed deputy commented, “The night this nonsense happened, I was one of the guys that kept away from this, minding my own business.”

On August 11, 2010 the mummified body of Mitrice Richardson was found in a creek bed.

Her remains were poorly collected by police without supervison of the lead coroner, and the surrounding area was not secured for investigation. The usual procedure of collecting soil samples and taking photos fell to the wayside. The lack of regard for proper collection made it very difficult for any sort of evidence to be collected and lead to the coroner not being able to conclude a manner of death, just saying there didn't seem to be any foul play.

Lt. Michael Rosson, who supervised the LASD in the removal of Richardson, stated that he believes: animals removed Mitrice's clothing, she may have been bitten by a rattlesnake, or that she may have went into anaphylactic shock after being in contact with poison oak.

Rosson along with other LASD spokesmen state that in no way was this a homicide and that the LASD is in no way responsible for Mitrice Richardson's death.

The retrieval of Mitrice Richardson was so sloppy and unethical that it drew concerned interest from Clea Koff, a former FBI United Nations forensic anthropologist. Koff now runs the Missing Person's Identification Resource Center. Koff stated her disgust for the lack of evidence and disputed the theories given by Rosson.

A few months after Mitrice's body was found, Latice, a family friend, and Clea Koff went to the creek bed and found a finger bone belonging to Mitrice.

In July 2011, Latice Sutton had Richardson's body exhumed for further investigation. Koff hoped the FBI would conduct the autopsy, unfortunately they declined. LASD's crime lab conducted the autopsy with no new findings.

Latice Sutton and Michael Richardson each filed lawsuits against the LASD for their negligence in Mitrice's case. They were each awarded $450,000.

They also asked for the California attorney general Kamala Harris to review the LASD's reports regarding Mitrice. In 2005, after the 500 page report was reviewed Harris announced "there was insufficient evidence to support criminal prosecution of anyone involved in the handling of the case."

Sadly as of 2020, Mitrice Richardsons case remains cold.

[cedarlili]

In defense

This isn’t going to be a long post – it’s a long day, and much to do in it. But I was musing on something and wanted your input on it as well.

I’ve been reading (almost finished) a book called The Bone Womanby Clea Koff, which is the memoir of a young woman who wound up excavating mass graves in Rwanda, Kosovo, Bosnia, and other locales of genocidal mania. It’s an interesting read – more about…

[she-of-the-paleolithic]

Hi! Do you have any book recommendations for a newbie archaeology/anthropology enthusiast? Thanks~ :)

Good question! I probably have entirely TOO MANY recommendations. Sorry in advance for the ridiculous amount of information that’s about to come your way. I’m gonna put the rest of it under a cut so we don’t annoy the shit out of everyone else.  

 I think it’ll be easiest to break it down into categories :)

SOOOOOO first of all  Archaeology: 

If you want a book that is fascinating, archaeologically sound, and has a great narrative I always ALWAYS recommend Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston. It’s a newish book that gives a first-hand account of the recent discovery of an entirely new civilization in the Honduran jungle thanks to supercool Li-dar technology. It sounds heavy but its written for a general audience by a guy who isn’t even an archaeologist, so it’s easy reading. I love this book and have re-read it three times since I bought it last year. 

Another, less-sciencey option is Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams. Adams is a journalist who did some research on Hiram Bingham’s original expeditions to Peru and decided to recreate/do a pilgrimage of sorts following in Bingham’s footsteps. So, there’s no NEW archaeological discoveries, but he does do a decent job of summing up Bingham’s original finds and expeditions, plus he tells a great story and can be pretty funny. A particular passage about his travels through Peru had me crying with laughter.

If you want something a little more “classic”, as it were, I’d suggest Howard Carter’s The Tomb of Tutankhamun (This comes in several volumes, but my personal favorite is Vol 2 The Burial Chamber)  and/or The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen. 

Anthropology:

A great place to start is with Wade Davis’ The Wayfinders. This book pulls examples from many cultures around the world to talk about ancient wisdom and it’s impact on the modern world. Yes, Davis has some other works that have been, uh, problematic, but this book is still a great place to start. Davis also has a video by the same title, which can be found on vimeo, which, depending on just how ‘newbie’ you are might be a good option instead. Davis’s writing can get thick, even for me. 

Specifically within the realm of forensic anthropology (if that’s your thing) some of my favorites are The Bone Woman by Clea Koff (be careful with this one, she specializes in mass graves from recent genocides, so it’s not happy reading but its good), and When Science Sheds Light On History by Philippe Charlier-- this one is interesting because its a series of short explanations into recent forensic investigations from the prehistoric to like, the 1800s. 

And FINALLY (I know, this is so long, just bear with me for one more) for a good blend of both anthro and arch: Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie (yes, THAT Agatha Christie). Christie’s second marriage was to an archaeologist and this book is her own account of the various seasons she spent with her husband in the field in Syria. It’s funny, it’s interesting, it describes his archaeology as much as her learning about the cultures they are living in. 

Okay sorry for being so extra! Great ask, please let me know if you like any of them! 

[laylaacosta]

do you have any people who inspire you / idols?

Oh yes, definitely. 

Careerwise, my biggest idol must be Clea Koff. Not only is she an amazing forensic scientist who worked for the NCIS, but she also wrote some amazing books that are definitely worth a read!

Lin Manuel Miranda is also a huge inspiration. I am not too into musicals, but he just has this really amazing mindset. He is so incredibly driven. He took 7 years to write In The Heights - for no other reason than there being practically no leading roles for Latinx on Broadway. So what does he do? He writes his own. And I think that’s just amazing. He wanted to work in a field with basically no room for people like him, so he just made his own. 

On a smaller scale, it’s also @camilamcrales? She just worked her way up. Got a scholarship, made it through her college career at Eastwood and got exactly where she wanted to be. And that’s exactly what I want to achieve. Great to have her as a guidance counselor, really.

[lordgrantius]

On Clea Koff's "The Bone Woman"

It is with some irony perhaps that I finished reading Clea Koff's "The Bone Woman" today, and determined to do a review on it here on tumblr, given that within the last week I saw on my dashboard a post that, from a quick glance at the comments, looked like people deriding an anthropology student by declaring that they belong in political science. In the case of Ms Koff's work, one could well turn the insult around and suggest that anthropologists not get themselves in over their heads.

The work itself was recommended to me by a coworker, and I will be passing it along to my father who I feel may be interested in it. Clea Koff, a forensic anthropologist, worked with United Nations-affiliated groups (Physicians for Human Rights, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, etc) to investigate the bodies of victims of the various crimes against humanity in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. The majority of the book succeeds, in my opinion, in relating what it must be like to be a human recovering and analyzing human remains. She discusses the blood spattered on the roof of the church in Rwanda, how to tell approximately how old a child was at time of death by how and which bones are fused, the proper methods for exhuming, and more. The technical aspects of this work attract me most, in retrospect, and the ever-present difficulties of dealing with the United Nations bureaucracy is familiar though not boring.

So, what did I not like, or like less? I did predict that Koff would, at some point, make political (and normative) statements regarding the genocides in Rwanda and Yugoslavia. This is not surprising at all, given the subject matter - how one could be working in those mass graves and not have a thought or two about how the bodies came to be there would be exceptional. I did furthermore predict that, in the case of the former Yugoslavia, and in particular Kosovo, Koff would be tunnel visioned as regards the perpetrators. I was correct here, though perhaps I underestimated just how narrow Koff's vision would be.

I would like to start with the most damning criticism. The war in the former Yugoslavia was fought largely between Serbs, Croats and Bosnians, the first two doing the bulk of the work. This much Koff says in her all-too-brief backgrounds. What Koff never mentioned once that I caught was that crimes were committed by more sides than just the Serbs. Indeed, going through the appendix, related to charges laid and settled at the tribunals, only Serb leaders are mentioned (and Milosevic several times). As a Canadian, I well appreciate that the war in the former Yugoslavia was more than just evil Serbs massacring innocent Croats and Bosnians - in fact Carol Off's "Ghosts of Medak Pocket" graces my shelf somewhere. It would be poor form of me to insinuate that Koff was not aware of this, but why she would fail to even mention it is somewhat mystifying. It is true that she mainly focused on the perpetrators of the crimes at the scenes she helped investigate, and so it could be said my concerns are beyond the scope of her work, but then why go so broad in the last section of the book?

Similarly, the tragedy of Kosovo is related as "evil Serbs try to kill Albanians", when some of the literature I've seen suggests that NATO may have intervened on the wrong side, and that Russia and China's obstructions in the United Nations may have had some merit. By wrong side, I should probably clarify that there may not have been a clear-cut right side, as opposed to suggesting that NATO intervene on behalf of the Serbs. Opposition to the war on Serbia seems, in Koff's statements, to be suggestive of a sort of Holocaust-denial - the youth who flashed the Serbian nationalist symbol at the UN convoy causes Koff to wonder if the youth even accepted that the Serbs committed atrocities. I, on the other hand, wonder if the youth was not merely fully aware of the ethnic cleansing, but upset that NATO prevent Serbia from finishing the job.

The last section also deals, in a cursory fashion, with the causes of war itself. The conflicts in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia boil down to resources, a variation of the Blood for Oil argument popular in late 2002/early 2003. To be fair, Koff does not say it as simply. I still cannot bring myself to seriously consider the upheaval in the former Yugoslavia as being ultimately about resources, and neighbours murdering neighbours for their land.

Then again, what would I know - I studied political science.