To Know Where He Lies Response

Sarah Wagner presents a holistic view of the different organizations, people, and beliefs that went into using DNA technology to identify the missing people from Srebrenica. I found it interesting that the scientists conducting the DNA tests were collecting DNA samples from as many family members as possible to increase the likelihood that they would be able to identify the missing family member among the remains. It makes sense that they would want as many different samples as possible to be more certain about their identifications, but being outside the realm of biology and medicine, that would not have crossed my mind prior to reading this book.

I found the section on mistrust in Chapter 3 to be really interesting as well. It is completely understandable how these people who have been persecuted previously to be suspicious and mistrusting of the government and these outside organizations wanting to take samples of their blood. It reminded me of discussions from an Anthropology and Public Health class I took with Dr. Stoner in regards to vaccination distribution. Often, native people were often very suspicious and unwilling to get vaccinations from the government or the UN or other outside organization because there are rumors that the vaccines will make you infertile or cause disease instead of prevent it. There was the need for local partners to help explain the importance and safety of those vaccines.

Another section that really struck me was in Chapter 5 when the scientists met with one mother to see if she could help them identify which of her sons they had. She had lost both of her sons and the scientists knew they had the remains for one of them, but were unsure of which one. I found it interesting how unwilling she was to help them and refused to acknowledge the possibility that her son(s) were dead. She told them different information than what she had filled out on a different form and refused to believe that the remains might be her son’s. Psychologically, I found this very interesting that she was not yet ready to accept her son’s death. I would have expected her to find peace in having closure and knowing the fate of her sons instead of being left to wonder and worry about them.