12
stage, it was not possible to determine if death occurred on the 18 or 19.
Each autopsy lasted two or more hours. A few of the corpses showed burns.
l)
Judgment
pathologist)
of
Robert
H.
Kirschner
(doctor
and
forensic
He was Assistant Chief Examining Doctor and deputy principal of Cook
County, Chicago, Illinois at the moment of rendering his statement. He has
done over 7,000 autopsies throughout. In the case of El Frontón, authorities
must, as usual, get fingerprints of the inmates, and it would have been easier
to compare them with those of the corpses, as well as odontographs, tattoos,
and old scars; therefore, family help is very important. On June 20, it would
have been very easy, if the necessary information had been available, to
identify all the corpses. It is very important to take photographs and prepare
drawings of the disaster place before removing the corpses, even to identify
the cause of death. Autopsies were very professional, but there was neglect
by the people in charge of the identification; even now many identifications
could be possible, even without exhumation, especially if families cooperate.
There are a few cases in which identification is not possible. An internal blast
would leave perceptible traces on the body.
m)
Judgment
anthropologist)
of
Clyde
C.
Snow
(doctor
and
forensic-
Since 1984 he has been called several times outside the United States, to
investigate mass disappearances or executions in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile,
Guatemala, El Salvador, Iraq, Kurdistan, and former Yugoslavia. Many of
these cases were even more difficult than El Frontón case because there was
a list of prisoners and in penal records there should have been physical
descriptions, fingerprints, dental evidence, etc. Somehow mummification
makes identification easier, in particular through fingerprints and skin scars.
Statistically, it is not possible for a doctor to have found 17 corpses among 96
presenting bullet wounds and that the other two doctors have not found any.
In a building bigger than the Blue Pavilion corpses were removed and
identified in two or three weeks. If he had been called to identify the corpses
of El Frontón, first he would have gathered all the information on the victims
and afterwards he would have taken photographs of the bodies in the places
where they were found. Even seven months after the incident, it would had
been possible to identify more than 90 percent of the bodies, and that even
now these would be possible by gathering all the data on fingerprints and
tooth prints and, in some cases by exhuming the bodies.
39.
At the request of the Commission, the Court asked the State for some
documents related to the case, of which the State only provided some (supra para.
18). 4
4
cf. a list delivered by the Head of the Identification Department from San Juan Bautista
Penitentiary to the 2nd Permanent Instruction Court of the Navy. Majority opinion by the Investigating
Commission of the Congress of Peru about the events on June 18 and 19, 1986, in Lurigancho, El Frontón,
and Santa Bárbara prisons, Lima, December 1987. Minority opinion by the Investigating Commission of
Peru about the events on June 18 and 19, 1986; in Lurigancho, El Frontón and Santa Bárbara prisons,
Lima, December 1987.