Dead To Rights Trainer

[Leola]

Forensicexperts involved in human identification collect information from police and families of the missing, compare them with the identifying features and the data collected during the autopsy, and successfully restore the identity of a dead person. Forensic pathologists, odontologists, anthropologists, biologists and fingerprints technicians are involved in the identification process of human remains where visual recognition is not possible or not appropriate.

For the families of the missing, returning an identity to unidentified human remains is a crucial part of the process of grieving. A human being is a person, either alive or dead, but without an identity, a person has no rights. The work done by forensic experts, while performing a human identification, is also aimed at restoring the human rights of the dead and a whole dignified management of procedures throughout.

One of the activities of the human identification process is Disaster Victim Identification (DVI), which is a more complex and often international operation. DVI specialists collect dental data, dental radiographs, DNA, fingerprints and record other identifying features (tattoos, scars, jewellery, personal belongings, clothing). An identification cannot avoid the postmortem collection and analysis of dental data for the preliminary reconstruction of the biological profile of the cadaver.

Countries have set up DVI teams to perform the human identification process applying best standards and allow international cooperation. Mass disasters very often involve multinational casualties and fatalities, and international cooperation is pivotal to achieve positive results, as the postmortem data collection from the victims is only on the stages of the process and the antemortem data must be obtained from the country of origin of the victim.

A key for best practice in the management of the dead is training and planning before a disaster occurs, to be ready with DVI specialists and logistic resources. Training must develop knowledge and skills in the management of the technical and forensic activities related to Disaster Victim Identification following mass disasters, major accidents or terrorist attack.

Knowledge and competences in forensic sciences are the starting point, but DVI training goes further. The recovery, collection recording and analysis of postmortem data protocols must be applied, and the forms suggested by Interpol (and NATO) used.

The international scenario of mass disasters requires standards and operational procedures which allow experts from various countries to work effectively, independently from their nationality and spoken languages. DVI teams within police agencies have usually periodical training, sometimes open to consultants, as forensic odontologists. Some universities and forensic organisations offer also specific training in DVI. But one should never forget the identification after a disaster is always a police investigation, with some rare exceptions.

Among international agencies and resources available in this field are groups of international experts, like the one created in Lyon, France, in 2015, named Forensic Odontology for Human Rights, which became in 2019 a volunteering association (AFHOR) of all those experts interested or involved in best practice in human identification and age estimation. Today AFOHR has a network of over 100 experts from almost 30 nationalities.

This blog post is from August 25, 2016, authored by Edith Garwood, Amnesty International USA Country Specialist covering Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the State of Palestine.

Baltimore law enforcement officials, along with hundreds of others from Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington state as well as the DC Capitol police have all traveled to Israel for training. Thousands of others have received training from Israeli officials here in the U.S.

These trainings put Baltimore police and other U.S. law enforcement employees in the hands of military, security and police systems that have racked up documented human rights violations for years. Amnesty International, other human rights organizations and even the U.S. Department of State have cited Israeli police for carrying out extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings, using ill treatment and torture (even against children), suppression of freedom of expression/association including through government surveillance, and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters.

In one case, a 28-year-old Palestinian man, not suspected of any crime except being present during a raid, was killed in what appears to have been an extrajudicial execution by Israeli forces, including an undercover police unit, during a raid on al-Ahli hospital in Hebron November 2015.

Eyewitnesses report that when Israeli forces entered the hospital room where the suspect was recuperating, they immediately shot his cousin. There was no attempt to arrest him or to use non-lethal alternatives before shooting him dead. This is one example among many.

There are also documented incidents of suppression of freedom of expression by Israeli police. For instance, journalists covering protests have been assaulted or shot. Individuals are also arrested for social media posts or for gathering to peacefully discuss the occupation. Police have harassed and arrested Israeli whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu repeatedly since he served his full sentence in 2004. Just this past July, Vanunu was in court for giving a news interview, moving (in the same building) without notifying police and for meeting with foreign nationals.

The people of Baltimore deserve better. The American public deserves better. Baltimore and other police departments should find partners that will train on de-escalation techniques, how to handle mentally challenged or ill citizens, on the constitutional rights of citizens concerning filming and how to appropriately respond to those using non-violent protest to express their opinions. Israel is not such a partner.

Seleka forces have destroyed numerous ruralvillages, looted country-wide, and raped women and girls. In one attack inBangui on March 25, Seleka fighters raped two sisters, aged 33 and 23, in theirhome. The younger sister, who was eight-months pregnant, lost her baby the nextday. Rape survivors lack access to adequate health care due to insecurity andlack of health services. Civilians who have been abused have nowhere to turn:the civilian administrative state in CAR has collapsed. In most provinces thereare no police or courts. Many health clinics across the country do notfunction, and in at least one town a hospital has been occupied by the Seleka; mostschools are closed.

Humanitarian organizations are themselvesvulnerable to Seleka attacks, impeding outreach to affected populations.Civilians looked to the Mission for the Consolidation of Peace in CentralAfrican Republic (MICOPAX), a regional peacekeeping mission led by the EconomicCommunity of Central African States (ECCAS), and in particular its militaryforce, the Multinational Forces for Central Africa (FOMAC), for desperatelyneeded protection. On July 19, 2013, the Peace and Security Council at theAfrican Union (AU) adopted a decision to transition MICOPAX into theInternational Support Mission in the Central African Republic (AFISM-CAR) andto initially support the political transition for six months.

As the Seleka moved down to Bangui from thenortheast, they captured major towns along the way. In these towns, the Selekaimmediately began to loot the homes of thecivilian population; those who tried to resist were threatened, injured, orkilled.

Human Rights Watch documented attacks on villagesby Seleka forces and their allies in northern CAR between February and June2013. This research focused on a broad triangle of territory within the mainroads linking Kaga Bandoro, Batangafo, and Bossangoa.

In another attack, on May 19, Seleka forceskilled 12 villagers trying to flee from three villages on the Bossangoa-Boguilaroad. According to residents, members of the Mbarara community also attackedvillages outside Batangafo around this time.

Villagers who chose not to leave theirhomes live in perpetual fear of the prospect of renewed Seleka attacks. Thesetraumatized residents told Human Rights Watch that when they hear a vehicleapproaching they run.

As soon as the Seleka took Bangui on March24, they started to attack civilians and pillage the city. Human Rights Watch gatheredcredible testimony that the Seleka killed civilians the day the rebels enteredthe capital. Virtually every neighborhood was attacked:

Once they took Bangui, the Seleka began targeting members of the national army, the Central African Armed Forces (Forces Armes Centrafricaines, FACA). Human Rights Watch has recorded numerous cases of extrajudicial killings of members of the FACA by the Seleka. In the worst incident on April 18, residents found the bodies of eight members of the FACA 15 kilometers outside Bangui on the Sceaux Bridge. Family members of some of the victims had to go and retrieve the bodies of their loved ones from the bridge.

The Seleka also summarily executed men itbelieved were FACA members. On April 15, the Seleka executed five men at theMpoko River outside Bangui. Human Rights Watch received other credible reportsof the killing of suspected FACA at the river.

Part of the problem of poor accountability relatesto the loose command structure within the Seleka and the difficulty thathigh-ranking generals have maintaining control over their troops. Fightersoften only answer to their direct commander, and different factions do notnecessarily recognize one another. In April 2013, Human Rights Watch recordedmultiple incidents of Seleka fighters killing other Seleka fighters to controlterritory in Bangui. Human Rights Watch also found inadequate efforts by Selekaleaders to ensure their subordinates do not commit serious abuses or are punishedfor crimes committed.

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