“Reclaiming Stolen Lives:
Forensic sciences and human rights investigations conference”
Puncak, Bogor, Indonesia, 7th – 10th June 2010
Conference Report
From June 7th-10th, 2010, the Argentine Forensic
Anthropology Team (EAAF) and the Asian Federation Against Involuntary
Disappearances (AFAD) hosted “Reclaiming Stolen Lives: Forensic Sciences
and Human Rights Investigations Conference” in Puncak, Bogor, Indonesia.
The conference brought together 35 forensic experts, human rights
activists, and representatives of victims’ families associations from
seven countries or regions: East Timor, India, Indonesia, Kashmir,
Nepal, Philippines, and Thailand. Participants were also invited from
Pakistan and Sri Lanka, but unable to attend due to difficulties in
obtaining visas. Further, forensic experts from Latin America,
Australia, and Europe attended to deliver lectures and provide input
based on their experiences and regional perspectives. In total, 40
participants took part in the four-day conference. The objective of the
conference was for an open discussion about the different applications
of forensic sciences to the investigation of human rights violations, as
well to start a dialogue on mutual collaboration mechanisms for
non-governmental human rights organizations and forensic practitioners
from the South Asian and South East Asian regions.
The conference began with two days of training seminars on forensic
sciences, with presentations by: Luis Fondebrider (EAAF) and Soren Blau
(Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine) on forensic anthropology and
human identification; Carlos Vullo (EAAF) on forensic genetics; and Hans
Petter Hougen (University of Copenhagen, Department of Forensic
Medicine) on forensic pathology and documenting torture. These
presentations were oriented to both the specialists and non-specialists
in the audience, and discussed how NGOs and forensic experts could
collaborate in investigations. They also covered the ethical and
bioethical considerations in doing forensic work, especially when
working with victims of torture, interacting with families of missing
individuals, protecting confidentiality of DNA samples, and working with
remains. All the presentations were followed by question & answer
sessions, and the powerpoint presentations, as well as international
protocols mentioned, were given to the participants in digital format.
During the third day, forensic
experts and human rights activists presented on their own local
contexts. In total, 15 presentations were given (7 from human rights
NGOs, including a presentation by AFAD that covered a regional
perspective, and 8 by forensic experts). Many of these presentations
discussed local challenges faced in investigating human rights
violations, and in applying forensic sciences to these investigations.
Some common points included:
·
Judicial and Legal Systems:
o
No country in the region has a civil law or strong legal code to
explicitly prevent and criminalize forced disappearances.
o
The international treaty against enforced disappearances has not yet
been ratified in any of the countries covered by the presentations.
o
Lack of acceptance of forensic evidence and expert testimony in courts,
with a preference for witness testimonies, especially in some cases in
relation to DNA.
o
Impunity in human rights cases is still prevalent, aided by the lack of
forensic evidence being used in courts.
o
No legal resolution for families of disappeared persons, leading to
“half widows”, inability by families to administer the inheritance, and
children with obstacles to obtaining an education, among other concerns.
·
Investigations:
o
Little political cooperation or support for forensic investigations of
human rights cases, or in providing resources for a full forensic
investigation.
o
Lack of awareness among the public about a person’s rights in regards to
enforced disappearances, the possibility of a forensic investigation, or
what forensic investigators can do.
o
Uneven coordination or communication between stakeholders (human rights
NGOs, forensic experts, judicial or police investigators, and families
of victims).
o
Data about missing persons has been collected, but is spread between
various governmental and non-governmental organizations, and further, in
some countries, total figures vary because of differing definitions of
enforced disappearances, an absence of coordination and due to divisions
among members of civil society.
o
Sometimes local forensic experts may submit conflicting or
misrepresentative reports to court, undermining the contribution of
forensic evidence.
·
Forensic Capacity:
o
Not all forensic experts are willing to or familiar with human rights
investigations, due to a variety of reasons like, lower pay, safety or
health concerns, or little incentive to work in the public sector.
o
Those forensic experts willing to work on human rights cases are already
overstretched.
o
Lack of coordination regionally among forensic experts willing to work
on human rights cases, either to share expertise or resources.
o
The local academic or institutional base to train new forensic
scientists is absent, only recently started, or not well supported.
o
Need better laboratory facilities, or laboratory facilities devoted
solely to forensic investigations and not shared with other agencies.
·
Exhumations:
o
A lack of government policy about exhumations.
o
Cultural and religious differences within countries, including
opposition to exhumations by either local population or administration.
o
When exhumations do take place, they may not have legal authorization,
or families may do the exhumations themselves, without the involvement
of forensic experts.
On the last day of the conference, participants held a roundtable
discussion to talk about possible joint actions, recommendations, and
collaborations that could help address these obstacles and increase
capacity for forensic work, as well as increase forensic evidence’s
application in judicial investigation. Several general recommendations
and conclusions came out of this discussion. These points are drawn
primarily from the last day of the conference, but were built out of
discussions taking place throughout the week:
-
Formation of a regional network of forensic experts willing to work on
human rights cases, in order to share experiences, specialties, and
case studies, as well as to collectively raise the standard of
practice in the region.
-
NGOs need to initiate investigations, meaning they must be familiar
with the forensic sciences in general and how they are applied in
investigations, in order to incorporate local or international
forensic experts appropriately. NGOs are also often better situated to
manage the political, legal, religious, and cultural contexts around
specific investigations.
-
NGOs and victims’ families association should be aware of local
forensic capacity, and strategic in requesting assistance from
international forensic experts.
-
Forensic training should be provided specifically for lawyers, judges,
and other governmental actors, in order to increase the acceptability
of forensic evidence in courts, and thus improve the rule of law.
-
The acceptance of forensic evidence in courts may also require a
regional lobbying effort, involving NGOs, victims’ families
associations, and other stakeholders, not just forensic experts.
-
NGOs, working with local forensic experts, can develop plans for
collecting ante-mortem information or DNA samples, but also must take
into account how this information will be used (and safeguarded) going
forward.
-
A regular meeting of forensic experts, human rights NGOs, and victims’
families association, either locally or regionally, would increase
coordination and communication.
-
Legal authorization for exhumations should be sought when possible,
but forensic experts, NGOs and victims’ families need to consider
carefully what their desires for an exhumation are, whether they want
official identifications, are seeking cause of death, or other goals,
and what are the limits and possibilities of operating if legal
authorization is difficult or not possible.
-
Training programs, in forensic practices, psychosocial support, and
other topics, need to be tailored to the specific context, and to
consider what training format may be most useful moving forward.
Several concrete activities were discussed for the following year,
involving collaboration between NGOs and forensic experts. The
preliminary discussions for a network of Asian forensic experts
willing to work on human rights cases and assist victims’ families
associations has since moved forward, and the association is tentatively
named the Asian Network of Forensics. The network is still in its
early stages, but an organizing committee is being formed to discuss
membership and activities, and it appears that AFAD will provide
organizational support when possible. The participants hoped such a
network would contribute to strengthening the use of forensics in human
rights cases in the region.
EAAF already considers the
“Reclaiming Stolen Lives: Forensic Sciences and Human Rights
Investigations Conference” a very successful first step in raising the
level of regional communication and local capacity. EAAF has also
planned a series of follow-up activities to reinforce the progress made
at the conference. During 2010 and
2011, follow-up forensic assessment visits, by AFAD and EAAF, and
forensic training visits, by EAAF and VIFM, will be made to many of the
countries participating in this conference, with trips already planned
to Nepal and Thailand. At the conference, EAAF was able to discuss with
many country delegates the specific needs in their context, in order to
anticipate how to tailor trainings or to plan possible collaborative
investigations. Further, EAAF has already planned a 2011 follow-up
meeting that will involve delegates reviewing the collaborative
activities in their countries in the past year, an idea that was widely
welcomed by participants, who also discussed possibilities of funding to
expand the meeting from a smaller scale follow-up meeting to ideally a
more general annual level.
