Editorial
https://doi.org/10.48188/so.7.6
Croatian contributions to the first systematic DNA-based large-scale identification of mass graves war victims
Šimun Anđelinović
; University Hospital of Split, Split, Croatia
Dragan Primorac
; St. Catherine Specialty Hospital, Zabok/Zagreb, Croatia; University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia; Medical School, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia; Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, University of New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; Eberly College of Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Marija Definis
; University Hospital of Split, Split, Croatia; University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia; University of Split Faculty of Forensic Sciences, Split, Croatia
Arijana Vuko
; University Hospital of Split, Split, Croatia
Ivana Kružić
; University of Split Faculty of Forensic Sciences, Split, Croatia
Željana Bašić
orcid.org/0000-0002-8327-1978
; University of Split Faculty of Forensic Sciences, Split, Croatia
*
Ivan Jerković
; University of Split Faculty of Forensic Sciences, Split, Croatia
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The large-scale DNA identification of war victims emerged in the early 1990s as a response to unprecedented forensic challenges posed by mass graves and highly degraded human remains during and after the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This historical perspective revisits the origins and long-term impact of the first systematic applications of DNA-based technology during the massive identification of mass grave victims during wartime, which started between 1993 and 1994 at the Clinical Department of Pathology, Forensic Medicine and Cytology, University Hospital of Split. Through the integration of classical forensic methods with early PCR-based DNA typing and the establishment of a kinship reference database, Croatian scientists, in collaboration with leading American experts, developed a methodological framework capable of resolving complex mass-fatality cases under wartime conditions. This work was formally recognized in 1995 before the United States Congress, providing rare institutional validation of a forensic program operating outside established Western infrastructures. Over the following three decades, the approaches developed in this context evolved into a standardized forensic practice that incorporates STR analysis, mitochondrial DNA, and forensic genomics. Their application has extended far beyond the regional context and has contributed to the global approach to disaster victim identification and post-conflict recovery. The Croatian experience thus represents an important moment in the transition of DNA analysis from isolated forensic use to a systematic, large-scale tool for human identification, with continuous scientific, institutional, and humanitarian implications.
Keywords
DNA identification; war victims; mass graves; forensic genetics; Croatia; international collaboration; disaster victim identification
Hrčak ID:
346545
URI
Publication date:
22.4.2026.
Visits: 89 *