TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - ERIC Stover gives a voice to victims who cannot be heard from the Bosnia-Herzegovina genocide. Since January 1996- six months after the Srebrenica carnage- he has traveled back and forth to the crime scene, to unearth remains of the victims of the Serbian army's brutality, buried in a mass grave.

The Palembang-born human rights advocate headed the international forensic team assigned to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Through long and punishing work, he uncovered the bodies of around 8,000 men and boys who were systematically murdered by the Serbian army. Victims were found with their hands tied behind their backs. "That was some of the most compelling evidence against Ratko Mladic," Stover, 65, recalled.

Mladic, 74, is a former Serb general who was sentenced to life imprisonment on November 22. The ICTY found Mladic, nicknamed the Butcher of Bosnia, guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity, as well as war crimes, for his actions during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996. Around 5,434 civilian lives were lost, as well as 8,373 during the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995

Stover has spent two-thirds of his life researching human rights violations in the US, Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and Myanmar, and others. His research on the use of landmines in Cambodia helped the International Campaign to Ban Landmines- an organization he co-founded- to win the Nobel Peace prize in 1997.

Commemorating International Human Rights Day on December 10, Stover held public lectures in Jakarta and Aceh last week. The law professor from the University of California, Berkeley, US, met with Tempo's Mahardika Satria Hadi, Angelina Anjar and Reza Maulana at Jakarta, last week in a break during his busy schedule.

What has been your most difficult case?

Probably Mladic's. It was the examination of Srebrenica. Finding the graves was difficult because we had to use remote sensing equipment. There were around 8,000 bodies. The Bosnian Muslim community went to the safe zone in Srebrenica [protected by the United Nations Protection Force, UNPROFOR]. The men and boys fled there, and Serbian forces came and killed them after the Dutch guards turned them away. The mass grave- it was the last chapter in the lives of these people- was known only by the victims and the perpetrators. You want to exhume the bodies very carefully, so that you show respect for these people, and you connect the evidence for the court and for the families.

What did you find?

People's hand were tied with the same cloth, behind their backs. I think they took it from farm buildings nearby. It was one of the strongest pieces of evidence in Mladic's trial. We gathered the bullets [from the bodies]. Sometimes people had photographs in their pocket. Because when they flee, they usually grab three things: the keys to their house because they want to go back, photographs of their family, and sometimes religious objects like the cross, rosary, or Qur'an.

How were the victims identified?

Most of the people from Srebrenica have been identified by DNA analysis. DNA samples were taken from the victims' teeth or leg bones and then matched with the blood sample taken from family members. We have identified around 7,100 victims. Then the remains were handed over to the families for proper burial. I started in January 1996. The work still goes until today.

Is it the tedious process that caused the International Tribunal to take so long to convict Mladic?

It took so long because of many reasons. The trial began in The Hague in the Netherlands, in 2012. First of all, he wasn't captured until 2011. He was hiding in Serbia, and they wouldn't turn him over until finally enough pressure was placed on them. Mladic's health problems delayed the process. The idea is to be sure the trial is fair. Unfortunately, it took so long. But in those high-level cases, where somebody will go to prison for life, we want to make sure it is the fairest trial possible. Because this is the most serious international crime; he was charged with genocide and crimes against humanity. But, finally justice was done and he got a life sentence.

Are there any other perpetrators who have not been brought to justice?

Mladic was one of the last trials. There have been 162. Now the court will conclude its assignment. The ICTY deals with the higher level, but each country themselves deals with lower level alleged perpetrators.

What can Indonesia learn from the Mladic case?

One thing that Indonesia and every country can learn is that if the police or your armed forces are seen as committing a crime, you must immediately investigate and make it transparent and open and independent. If you try to hide it, that causes problems. The families of people who had been killed, they won't forget. They will keep going for justice. It's important to be open and transparent so people see that it's not a 'rigged trial'.

As regards the 1965 massacre, what concrete steps can Indonesia take?

It depends on local human rights organizations pushing for change, and support from the outside. They have to push for an investigation and the collection of the evidence.

The attempt to probe the 1965 purge is opposed by the military and hardline Islamists on the grounds that it could revive communism. What is your opinion?

You have to change. You have to persuade the army that it is important to go back and look at the past to understand. I believe very strongly that you cannot forget the past. If you try to hide the past, it will come back in the future.

Can you give an example?

Every country is different, with a different culture. But I think the court in Cambodia was very helpful. After the Khmer Rouge fell in 1979, nobody talked about it. Parents didn't tell the children about the terrible times. And it wasn't until they set up the court in the 1990s did they start talking about it again.

How freely and extensively is the tragedy discussed in Cambodia?

In schools, they had a program that was set up by an NGO. In the courts, they would bring in school children to come and watch the trial. Then they discussed it. And this has had an important effect.

Read the full interview in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine.