Stephen Fonseca 15 min

Establishing Identity in Conflict and War: The Crucial Role of Forensic Genetics in Human Identification


The International Committee of the Red Cross’s (ICRC) is an independent organization whose mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence. Victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence often go missing or die. This is equally true for combatants, their bodies often left scattered across battlefields or buried in unmarked graves without their identification confirmed and their families notified of their deaths. Fortunately, forensic identification methods, including DNA analysis, have advanced exponentially in recent years and when there is timely evacuation of bodies and antemortem information for comparison, can greatly assist to identify human remains. The Military Personnel Identification Project aims to reduce or prevent the number of incidences of unidentified dead combatants. Through the development, promotion and implementation of international guidelines and projects that aim to ensure combatants are properly identified, personal and biometric data and samples are collected and databased prior to their deployment into conflict. To aid this the mortuary affairs programs also need to include a proper search process as well as family notification and support structures.



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Hello.

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My name is Stephen Fonseca.

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I'm the manager of the African Center

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for Medical Legal Systems in the Central Tracing Agency

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in the International Committee of the Red Cross.

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I'd like to thank Therma Fisher Scientific for this opportunity

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to present.

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I'd like to present on something that

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is of crucial importance to the International Committee

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of the Red Cross.

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And that is to ensure that the members of the armed forces

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are properly identified and that their families are

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informed of their deaths during war and in post-conflict

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situations.

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The International Committee of the Red Cross

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has experience in armed conflict that spans 160 years.

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Henry Denant, the founder of the RCRC,

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recognized that they needed to be some degree of humanity

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in war.

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And when he saw the inhumanity, he quickly

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realized that even in death, they needed to be dignity and respect.

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And it's actually that fall back that even identification

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tags of dog tags for soldiers was recommended.

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The Geneva Conventions today provide

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a number of rules around the dignified and ethical treatment

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of human remains in conflict and war.

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And those rules apply both to those individuals,

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the members of the armed forces that

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are working side by side each other,

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but also those of the adversary.

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I'm not going to go into all the Geneva Conventions

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in this presentation, but I will say

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that they really impress on the importance of ensuring

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that the dead are ultimately identified, which

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is part of giving them their dignity back.

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Humanitarian for example, lends itself into the scenario

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by ensuring that not only are members of the armed forces who

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go missing and who die in conflict given a proper medical legal

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investigation, but that when this medical investigation takes

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place, other considerations such as tradition, religion,

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and culture are also considered.

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The rights of families are considered,

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and so the community is too.

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We know in forensics that there's an established search

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process, a process whereby people are

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searched for, the bodies are recovered,

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and that there are various identification-related

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examinations, as well as other types of analysis

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that are done, to ensure that someone is reliably

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identified and returned back to their families.

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This often requires a tummy evacuation,

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and without tummy evacuation, there

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are a number of factors that can inhibit

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the identification of those members of the armed forces

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that have died in conflict and war.

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The military rely on primary identifiers,

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such as fingerprints, dental, and DNA,

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and add to that those secondary identifiers,

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which in battlefields can include identification tags,

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name badges on uniforms, rank, scars,

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marks, clothing, jewelry, and other forms of identification.

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We've learned a lot from understanding conflict

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and the consequences of conflict,

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and how the dead are managed in conflict.

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The RCRC has a number of lessons learned

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from being actively involved in humanitarian forensic action.

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We know that in open and closed populations,

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there are a number of different challenges presented.

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But whether it's open or closed,

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all these situations require a systematic approach

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to the identification.

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The state and the condition of the remains

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can present different challenges,

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and they can present different challenges

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to different phases of the identification process.

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But identification must be a multidisciplinary approach.

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Science has seldom the problem today

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when we look at many, many cases of unidentified bodies.

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We know that science has developed tremendously

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in the last couple of decades.

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It's often the lack of something to compare against

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that forces people to remain unidentified.

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And what I mean by that is,

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even if information is collected from any member

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of the armed forces that has died on the battlefield,

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there is still a need for that information to be compared

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against missing persons information,

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information that might be shared from the family.

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It can include those marks, scars, and tattoos

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that were visually identifiable to the family,

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but it may also involve the collection of medical records,

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such as X-rays.

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Forensics can be preventative as much as it can be reactive.

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From what we've learned from the number of these conflicts,

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we know that by collecting information

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on members of the armed forces,

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before they go into battle,

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we can almost guarantee that there would be

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a more timely identification,

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and there would be less trauma experienced by the families.

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Families are central to the process,

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and they are both contributors and beneficiaries.

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It is always important that we consider the traceability

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of the remains, or the continuity of where those remains are.

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Because the family are right at the center,

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they will have a right to know where the remains are

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after a reliable identification is made,

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and if the remains are not returned to them.

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DVR systems are the way to go in terms of ensuring

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reliable identification and timely identification.

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So it's not just that DVR response

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is something that you would see in disasters

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or in migration type events,

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but you would also see it in mortuary affairs programs.

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What the RCLC is proposing over the next three years

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is to develop with members of the armed forces

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from across the world,

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and military personal identification project.

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The concept around this is that if we look at

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what we've learned from forensics today,

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and if we consider the advancements in forensic sciences,

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we know that when people go missing,

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or if they are unidentified human remains on the battlefield,

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having collected the information beforehand

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is likely to ensure an identification,

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or certainly provide the best potential

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for that person to be returned to their family.

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What we've started with is a global survey.

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We've reached out to armed forces across the world

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with the survey where we've asked them to consider

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what is currently available within their own institutions.

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We want to know what type of physical identification

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is carried by the member of the armed forces,

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where the pre-deployment collection of biometrics

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and samples is carried out.

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And do they have a motor affairs program

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that includes a disaster victim identification response?

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What we'd like to see is working groups being created

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from the information that's been provided in these surveys

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and representatives of the armed forces eventually meeting

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in a conference in October,

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where the various categories

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can be studied, can be discussed amongst those

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who have seen operations, who have been on the battlefield.

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We understand the challenges, but also can appreciate

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the importance of adopting new technology into their programs.

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We would like to see the creation of international standard guidelines

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on missing person identification,

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and we'd also like to motivate for the implementation

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of these guidelines with pilot projects.

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When I talk about physical identification in the military sense,

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yes, most people would think of dog tags.

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But physical identification can also include name badges,

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it include microchip cards in various pieces of clothing.

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There are many, many different types and forms

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of physical identification that can be worn

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by members of the armed forces today.

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It's important for us to bring together the armed forces

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and understand what is the basic or the minimum standard

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for all armed forces to adopt within their own doctrine.

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We would like to promote the collection of biometric information

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and the collection of DNA samples.

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We know that this information will essentially provide

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for a potential identification even at the scene or on the battlefield.

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Because identification is really a process of ensuring

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that there is sufficient weight behind the decision to identify

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somebody based on a number of different elements

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or a number of pieces of evidence that ensure us we have

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the right individual and that we haven't made a mistake

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and mistaken them for being someone else.

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Biometric information can be stored by the armed forces

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and it can be readily made available to be compared

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if and when tragedy strikes.

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The military affairs program is very much about the family.

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And when I say it's very much about the family,

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it means that the armed forces have to take every action

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certainly for their own members towards a reliable identification.

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Once again, we know that through DNA and through other identification methods,

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identification is a very reliable outcome

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when you've got this multidisciplinary process in effect.

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The families are then supported through this process, death is tragic.

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This is a sudden and unexpected event for them.

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And so all of the other support systems have to come into play

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to ensure that they both understand what happened.

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They know where their loved one is buried or they receive the remains

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and they are given all the other types of support that ensures

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that they can continue with their lives.

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These international standard guidelines on military personnel identification

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we hope will set the basic standards across the world.

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It will bring forensics once again, not just seen as a reactive approach

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but very much looking at it as a preventative approach,

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preventing people from going missing by ensuring that proper information

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and samples were collected and available if ever needed.

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The implementation of guidelines we hope will take place

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after a consultative process with the armed groups.

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And then when we've implemented this project, what we expect to see

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in terms of outcomes is the respectful treatment of friend and foe.

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Again, the Geneva Conventions and this other legislation, too,

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speaks to the importance of dignity of everybody on the battlefield,

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the importance of collecting identification related material

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while that information is available on both sides, on all sides.

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We want to make sure that members who are in harm's way

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have that psychological assurance that they are going to be identified

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and that their families are going to be informed and supported afterwards

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if tragedy strikes.

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We want to know that there will be improved search, recovery,

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and evacuation of the dead because there are already

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practised disaster victim identification processes in place.

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We want to see less reliance on biological relatives providing DNA samples

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when a sample could be taken from the very person who may go missing.

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We want to very much motivate for reliable forensic examination

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and accurate identification.

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There cannot be an error in the identification.

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The consequences of failing to identify somebody properly and accurately

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has a ripple effect and can create doubt in other cases

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that are related to assembly event.

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Families will be very, very concerned if they see one scene.

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We need timely notification of families and we need to improve the support for

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families.

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But we have also seen large numbers of people who remain missing

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or remain unidentified after conflict.

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We believe that this project will be directly responsible for reducing

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the number of missing and unidentified members of armed forces in conflict.

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We will reduce mass graves and improve the traceability

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or the continuity of remains so that they ultimately reach their families.

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And by doing all of this, we also want to build disaster response

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capacity of the armed forces so that they don't only have to respond

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in mortuary affairs, but they can actually support their national

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governments when they are disasters and other events where the same

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expertise is required.

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I'd like to thank you for listening to this presentation.

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If you'd like more information about this project and other projects,

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please go onto our website at missingpersons.rcc.org.

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Thank you again to Permanfisher Scientific.

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