A/HRC/18/25
smuggling would be beneficial. Furthermore, Canada referred to the G8 Lyon Roma DNA
Search Request Working Group, which was tasked with identifying barriers for forensic
DNA information exchange and developing a more effective sharing process. In addition,
Canada is currently chairing Justice Rapid Response, an intergovernmental entity that is
able to rapidly deploy to active duty criminal justice experts, many of whom are forensic
scientists, and which offers a training programme for forensic scientists.
23.
The Government of Colombia explained that, in 2009, the National Council on
Economic and Social Policy approved a document on the consolidation of mechanisms for
the search and identification of disappeared persons in Colombia, and the return of victims’
remains to their families, which provides for short-, medium- and long-term interventions
to be taken by the State. Obstacles hindering the determination of the fate of disappeared
persons and clarification of cases of disappeared persons will be addressed through these
interventions. In 2010, legislation to create a centralized genetic databank for genetic
profiles obtained from the remains of disappeared persons and biological reference samples
obtained from families of disappeared persons came into force. Biological reference
samples must be provided voluntarily by the family member and on the basis of informed
consent. Any genetic material obtained must be managed in accordance with international
standards. An inter-institutional working group, established through the work of the
Commission for the Search for Disappeared Persons, has developed a proposal for the
implementation of this legislation.
24.
Furthermore, Colombia referred to the work of the National Institute of Legal,
Medical and Forensic Science, which investigates deaths relating to gross violations of
human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law, including
through exhumations and identification of victims. It also noted the Plan for Research on
the Crime of Forced Disappearance (March 2011), developed by the Prosecutor’s Office,
the Commission for the Search for Disappeared Persons, the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime, OHCHR and the British Embassy in Colombia. The Plan contains
international best practice and is intended as a guide that will improve criminal
investigations of enforced disappearances.
25.
The Government of Finland noted that it has been at the forefront of developing the
application of forensic genetics to the identification of victims in post-conflict situations,
and it continues to support the objectives of Human Rights Council resolution 15/5. In
Finland, the Act on Inquest into the Cause of Death (459/1973) and the Act on the Medical
Use of Human Organs and Tissues (101/2001) pertain to the use of forensic genetics. In
accordance with this legislation, tissue samples are collected when establishing cause of
death and are stored by forensic doctors working with the National Institute for Health and
Welfare and departments of forensic science in universities. A bill on the establishment of
genetic databanks is before Parliament. If approved, genetic databanks will be established
for medical research purposes. As such, they will not be used for identifying victims.
However, the bill also proposes amendments to the Act on the Medical Use of Human
Organs and Tissues to allow for the use of collected samples for identification purposes in
situations of, for example, major natural disasters.
26.
The Government of Guatemala noted that one of the recommendations of the
Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH) in its 1999 report, “Memory of Silence,”
was the development of a policy for exhumations of the remains of victims of the armed
conflict, particularly from clandestine and hidden cemeteries, noting that exhumation is an
act of justice and reparation, and an important step towards reconciliation. It described
various entities that have been created to implement the recommendations of CEH and the
peace agreements, namely the National Compensation Programme (PNR), National
Institute of Forensic Science (INACIF), and the unit for special cases from the armed
conflict in the Public Ministry. INACIF was created in 2006 to carry out forensic research
10
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