Investigative analyses on vanished family members don't always result in definite answers.
I chatted with Aunt Sarmaya one summer in 2020. [1][1] To maintain privacy, the interviewees' last names were omitted. We were hanging out in her garden in a village in northern Azerbaijan when Aunt Sarmaya told me about her son Mahir, who vanished during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988-1994) between Armenia and Azerbaijan. After his disappearance, she sought guidance from a fortune teller named Malahat. Malahat claimed Mahir was alive, living in Armenia with his family. Malahat even described Mahir's distinct features, like a scar on his forehead from a childhood accident. Ever since, Aunt Sarmaya clung to the hope that her son would reappear.
I visited Aunt Sarmaya again in November 2022, asking if she'd heard anything about her son. With the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) helping the Azerbaijani government exhume unmarked graves to identify human remains, people hoped these forensic methods would bring clarity to missing persons' families.
Aunt Sarmaya shook her head negatively and quickly added, "But Malahat told me that my son is alive. He is not dead." Her face lit up as she went on retelling the story. Months later, she passed away amidst the exhumations in Azerbaijan.
The ICRC offices in Azerbaijan and Armenia report around 3,890 people are registered as missing on the Azerbaijani side, and 400 on the Armenian side, since the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. Aunt Sarmaya was just one of the many relatives of missing persons I met, first as an ICRC humanitarian agent and later as an anthropologist.
Provisions for respectfully treating, identifying, and possibly returning the remains of deceased persons to their countries of origin during and after armed conflicts were explicitly included for the first time in Article 17 of the First Geneva Convention in 1949. These principles lie at the heart of global humanitarian work. The ICRC depends on forensic technologies and knowledge to deal with the devastating consequences of conflicts, disasters, and migration.
For many, forensic science seems the only way to find the truth and healing for families with missing persons. Yet, forensic science doesn't always offer definitive answers.
On one hand, these methods demand substantial time, money, and political will to be implemented. The forensic teams admit that most missing remains can't be recovered in a timely manner or at all. In such situations, technological interventions risk fueling further uncertainty, promising a resolution that can't be delivered.
Beyond Practical Limitations
Forensic science is not the sole path to truth and healing. Just like Aunt Sarmaya, many people I've met have shared their own experiences of divination, dreams, rumors, and bodily sensations that helped them make sense of their experiences. Disregarding those methods could deprive humanitarian workers of valuable strategies for offering closure to communities coping with traumatic and unresolved losses.
FORENSIC SCIENCE IN A CONFLICT ZONE
The ICRC has been instrumental in seeking answers for missing persons after the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. From 2014 to 2022, the Azerbaijani office collected DNA samples from thousands of families of missing persons, combining the data with medical records, personal histories, and any other relevant information to help identify human remains. By May 2024, 73 individuals had been found and identified, then given back to their families.
However, the investigation process has been slow, requiring understanding of the region's complex history and prolonged conflict's nature. Over the years, Azerbaijani and Armenian people shared multicultural roots but faced intricate ethnic tensions and territorial disputes. The Soviet Union took control of their territories in 1920 after a short period of independence from the Russian Empire, and its policies accentuated ethnic differences. During the late 1980s, as the Soviet Union began to dissolve, conflicts between the two states escalated into the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. Both Armenian and Azerbaijani forces killed and displaced members of the opposing ethnicity from their territories.
In Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding districts, between 1988 and 1994, around 600,000 Azerbaijani citizens were forced to abandon their homes when Armenian forces took control of these territories. The dispute remained unresolved through diplomatic negotiations. In 2020, Azerbaijan initiated a massive military offensive, the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, to reclaim these territories. Though some Azerbaijanis returned, most couldn't due to the hazards posed by undetonated mines dating back to the conflict's duration. This situation also obstructs the ongoing exhumation process. It's assumed that most unidentified human remains are buried in Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts controlled by Armenia.
In September 2023, tensions reignited. Over 100,000 Armenians were forced to flee their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh when Azerbaijan imposed a nine-month blockade, worsening humanitarian conditions. The self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh in Nagorno-Karabakh surrendered and disbanded its armed forces after a 24-hour military assault by the Azerbaijani army. On January 1, 2024, the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ceased to exist, and its territory came under Azerbaijani control.
Armenia supports self-determination, claiming that Nagorno-Karabakh, being majority Armenian, should be administered by Armenia. On the other hand, the Azerbaijani government asserts its sovereign right to defend Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. However, both arguments maintain divisive policies.
DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTY
Communities enduring long-lasting violent conflicts often wonder about the circumstances surrounding a loved one's disappearance. Researchers worldwide explore the benefits and drawbacks of forensic science in resolving such questions [3].
Some families hesitate to endure yet another period of uncertainty—years without knowing if forensic technology will locate, exhume, and identify their loved ones' remains through DNA matching. This uncertainty is heightened when families receive parts of their loved ones' remains, making it challenging to piece together a complete narrative of loss.
At other times, search teams and families resort to alternative sources of support, particularly when the circumstances surrounding losses aren't scientifically verifiable or are contested. For example, Heonik Kwon documents how teams searching for missing soldiers from the Vietnam War sought help through dreams and spiritual practices [4]. Similarly, Alexa Hagerty recounts how forensic scientists digging up bodies in Guatemala were unable to differentiate between the remains of two brothers killed in a massacre. However, the family concluded through a dream that the younger brother's body had been found, leading to a funeral for him. In Uganda, Jaymelee Kim observes that the failure of forensic interventions to fulfill their promises sometimes exacerbated the psychological and spiritual anguish among surviving relatives due to conflicts with the Lord's Resistance Army [5].
In my research in Azerbaijan, I found that Aunt Sarmaya wasn't the only one drawing strength beyond forensic methods to deal with extreme uncertainty. A woman named Reyhan frequently talked about a dream she had of her missing husband, Salim, who vanished during the 1990s war. The following year, Reyhan dreamt that Salim had returned home, and they were talking together. She could feel his hand, warm in hers. When she awoke, no one was there, but the hand he held in the dream stayed warm. "Since that day," she told me, "I lost hope. It means his soul came to visit me. Maybe it was the day he died."
In a clip from the documentary "We Live with Maybe": Searching for Missing Relatives in Post-War Azerbaijan, Reyhan shares her dream about her missing husband.
Leyla Jafarova
Reyhan's dream about her missing husband helped her comprehend his fate. The dream provided her with a means to handle complex emotions and make sense of her life experiences. Although certainty didn't offer a definitive solution to her ambiguous situation, the feeling of certainty empowered her and helped her take control of her interpretation of life.
In the face of profound uncertainty, whether we accept or not the personal truths of Aunt Sarmaya or Reyhan doesn't matter. What's crucial is that we keep a space open for meaningful engagement with our loved ones.
BEYOND FORENSIC SCIENCE
Without dismissing the importance of forensic science, it shouldn't be seen as the only means to address unresolved losses. Forensic exhumations have played crucial roles in documenting political atrocities and human rights violations in many countries [2].
In Guatemala, these investigations exposed evidence of state-sponsored mass killings during the civil war, continuing efforts for justice and reconciliation. Similarly, in Argentina, forensic efforts were integral to uncovering the truth about the "Dirty War," although accountability still poses challenges. Recently, international bodies have urged independent forensic investigations in Gaza, as evidence builds that Israeli forces have committed human rights violations and war crimes against Palestinians. In Ukraine, forensic efforts increase to meet the current demands for identifying missing persons and documenting and verifying war crimes, particularly by Russian forces.
Many families in Azerbaijan yearn for "a place to mourn" their missing loved ones—a place to receive their remains and lay them to rest. Forensic technologies can and indeed do play a vital role in making this happen. One woman expressed her envy: "I'm so jealous of those who can visit the graves of their loved ones. I've never been a jealous person in my life. I'm just jealous that I don't have a grave to visit."
However, families sometimes differ on pursuing or prioritizing forensic investigations.
In one family I encountered, a brother searched for his missing brother, Vugar. His sister, however, opposed the search and was distressed by news of unidentified remains found in cemeteries. The brother had a dream where Vugar asked, "Why are you looking for me in cemeteries?" The sister viewed this dream as evidence that she should keep waiting for her brother's safe return.
To cater to the diverse needs of all those affected by enforced disappearances, humanitarian teams must adopt a comprehensive approach that goes beyond a sole focus on scientific truth and forensic technologies. They should recognize the value of incorporating personal stories, shared beliefs, and broader political circumstances into their work. This holistic approach, enhanced by the involvement of socio-cultural anthropologists at all stages of humanitarian work, enables tailored support for affected communities and opens the door to other forms of healing.
Enrichment Data:
Overall:
Personal stories, dreams, and oral traditions play a significant role in providing emotional and psychological closure to families with missing persons, especially in post-conflict societies like post-war Azerbaijan. While forensic science delivers scientific rigor and objectivity, it's often the personal narratives and community lore that sustain hope and meaning during prolonged periods of uncertainty.
The Interplay Between Science and Narrative
Forensic Science: The Backbone of Resolution
Forensic science—through DNA analysis, toxicology, anthropology, and other specialties—provides solid evidence for identification and reconstruction of events surrounding a missing person [6]. In other contexts, DNA and genetic genealogy have also been applied to identify remains from shipwrecks and longstanding missing persons cases, offering names and histories to the nameless, bringing closure to historical communities [7]. This approach is increasingly seen as an essential tool for solving both contemporary and historical cases.
Personal Stories, Dreams, and Oral Traditions: The Emotional Framework
In places such as post-war Azerbaijan, personal stories, dreams, and oral traditions operate as a parallel system of knowledge and comfort. These traditions act as a coping mechanism for families, keeping the memory of the missing alive, offering solace, and sometimes leading searchers to their loved ones' whereabouts.
- The relatives of missing persons I met in Azerbaijan, such as Aunt Sarmaya and Reyhan, often rely on personal stories, dreams, and oral traditions to find emotional and psychological closure, as forensic science may not always offer definitive answers.
- In post-conflict societies like post-war Azerbaijan, personal narratives and community lore play a significant role in sustaining hope and meaning during prolonged periods of uncertainty, with science and objectivity from forensic science serving as a critical backbone for resolution.
