Description
The paper addresses the puzzle of why violent actors engage in strategic exhumations, relocating victims' remains post-conflict when they no longer pose a security threat. We argue that analyzing the strategic management of victims’ remains (‘afterlife of violence’) can reveal a lot about the logic motivating actors to deploy clandestine repertoires of violence. A new global repository of countries with strategic exhumations supports a comparative analysis of Cyprus and Chile. Despite differing conditions, both cases show systematic disinterment processes. We argue international accountability and organizational capacity drive these actions, with motives and capabilities varying between conflict and authoritarian settings.
