大象传媒 Scotland - 大象传媒 Scotland - How a life surrounded by death helped one of the world鈥檚 leading forensic scientists to find the 鈥榖urning light of humanity鈥�

How a life surrounded by death helped one of the world鈥檚 leading forensic scientists to find the 鈥榖urning light of humanity鈥�

16 October 2018

As one of the world’s leading forensic anthropologists, Professor Dame Sue Black has witnessed scenes of inhumanity few of us would care to imagine.

In Kosovo in 1999, she investigated a horrific crime scene where 44 men fleeing their homes had been captured by Serbian troops. They were taken to an outhouse which was then sprayed with Kalashnikov bullets and set on fire.

“When we arrived, we had the burnt shell of an outhouse and, in each room, we had individuals who had been deceased for about six months in searing heat,” recalled Prof Black on Good Morning Scotland.

“They were very badly decomposed. They were partly burnt because they torched the building, they were partly buried, and the bodies were disrupted because of the activity of dogs.”

The work of clearing the rooms and identifying the bodies was as important as it was horrendous, because if Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was to be accused of war crimes, it had to be proved that the men were not combatants but ordinary citizens.

Long Interview: Prof Dame Sue Black

The forensic scientist talks about her career helping to solve crimes.

Despite everything she has witnessed, however, Prof Black sees reason to stay positive.

“I’ve seen some truly awful things in my life,” she admitted, “but in every single one of them there has always been a spark of humanity that completely sends all of that darkness into the corner.”

Prof Black cited the example of a grandmother in Kosovo who brought tea to Sue and her colleagues before they exhumed the woman’s family to gain evidence for the UN.

“That, to me, is the burning light of humanity that you find in the greatest depths of deprivation.

“As long as we’ve got that positivity of human kindness and respect, dignity and decency, that’s what we need to be celebrating.”