Preliminary Considerations for Crime Scene Analysis in Cases of Animals Affected by Homemade Ammonium Nitrate and Aluminum Powder Anti-Personnel Landmines in Colombia : Characteristics and Effects
Gutiérrez, Carlos Jaramillo (University of Medellín. Criminal Investigation Program)
Roldán, Gustavo Farías (University of Chile. Department of Animal Pathology)
Severin, Krešimir (University of Zagreb. Department of Forensic and State Veterinary Medicine)
Orozco, Ubicelio Martin (Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez. Department of Veterinary Science)
García, Pilar Marín (Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Departamento de Anatomía y Embriología)
González, Víctor Toledo (Universidad de Alcalá. University Institute of Research in Police Sciences)

Data:	2022
Resum:	Anti-personnel landmines are a major problem in countries that are subject to internal conflicts of a military or public order nature. They also continue to be a great threat to the population and biodiversity, even in post-conflict stages. Those most often used by armed groups are simple or homemade antipersonnel landmines that are designed without any type of technical regulations and standardized production systems. Their low-cost manufacturing and the use of easily accessible explosive substances for agricultural use, such as ammonium, have allowed their indiscriminate use, turning them into a huge public health problem. They are only detected when people or animals activate them, because they do not contain any materials that are detectable by traditional means. The scant literature on these artifacts focuses on injuries caused to humans, and only incidentally on field work. The objective of our study was to describe the behavior of a controlled explosion of a homemade antipersonnel landmine, and to verify the effects caused by the explosion on fauna and the environment. The results enable us to provide guidelines that may be implemented during field investigations, in which forensic veterinarians and related disciplines participate. During the armed conflict in Colombia, homemade improvised antipersonnel landmines were used to neutralize the adversary. Many active artifacts remain buried, causing damage to biodiversity by exploding. The extensive literature describes the effects and injuries caused to humans by conventional landmines. However, there is considerably less information on the behavior and effects of homemade antipersonnel landmines on fauna and good field investigation practices. Our objectives were to describe the characteristics of a controlled explosion of a homemade antipersonnel landmine (using ammonium nitrate as an explosive substance), to compare the effectiveness of some evidence search patterns used in forensic investigation, and to determine the effects on a piece of an animal carcass. The explosion generated a shock wave and an exothermic reaction, generating physical effects on the ground and surrounding structures near the point of explosion. The amputation of the foot in direct contact with the device during the explosion and multiple fractures were the main effects on the animal carcass. Finally, it was determined that finding evidence was more effective in a smaller search area. Many factors can influence the results, which must be weighed when interpreting the results, as discussed in this manuscript.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Homemade antipersonnel landmine ; Landmines ; Biodiversity ; Crime scene analysis ; Veterinary forensic medicine
Publicat a:	Animals, Vol. 12 (july 2022) , ISSN 2076-2615

DOI: 10.3390/ani12151938
PMID: 35953927

23 p, 6.7 MB

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