DNA Profiling in Relation to Missing Punjabi Persons in Iraq

INTRODUCTION

A mass disaster is an unexpected event that causes serious injury and death to a number of people. Mass disaster events may be natural disasters (earthquakes, flooding, and tornadoes), accidental disasters (aircraft crashes, train crashes and derailments, and building fires), or intentioned terrorism acts (direct attacks on significant objectives and bombing of populated areas, including suicide attacks and deployments of chemical and biological weapons). Forensic identification of victims is essential not only for humanitarian reasons but also for civil or criminal investigative needs, and it is essentially based on forensic anthropology, fingerprints, forensic odontology, radiology, and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) typing.¹

Experiences gained from previous mass fatality incidents reinforce the need to make all necessary steps to guarantee sample preservation for DNA analysis and to use suitable protocols for documenting the chain of custody of DNA sampling and body tracking.

The purpose of disaster victim identification may be to bring justice or closure to the families of the missing, and also to show respect to the victims themselves by treating them with individual dignity.² It is questionable whether scientific or historic curiosity is an adequate substitute for these motives and such endeavors must be dealt with very carefully. There are some mandated rights and responsibilities in this area. For example, the Geneva Convention defines a responsibility of states to help in the location of graves of persons who have died while in their detention.³ The identification of human remains has been undertaken without the aid of DNA typing for many years, and a wide range of approaches are still appropriate for differing circumstances.⁴ However, in recent times, DNA technology has been extensively and usefully applied to the identification problem.⁵ The identification of the remains may only be a part of the problem. It is important to remember that the position of the body or the burial may be a crime scene in itself and that much information may be obtained from a proper scene examination.⁶

MATERIALS AND METHODS

As per the Government of Iraq, the blood samples were to be collected on FTA cards but this department was not having these cards. So it caused delay in the collection of blood samples, thereby causing apprehension in the minds of the relatives of missing persons and this point was highlighted in the electronic and print media also.

Keeping in view the sensitivity and urgency of the issue, director, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) Hyderabad, was contacted and whole issue was discussed with him and he agreed to supply the DNA kits. A laboratory technician of the department with an authority letter and official letter was flown to Hyderabad for collecting DNA kits from director, CDFD. In every case, blood samples of three close relatives were taken (Fig. 3) and as per the procedure that is after filling the performa pertaining to physical attributes of missing persons, biological specimen authentication performa (Fig. 4), photographs, and signatures of the doctor collecting samples and the witness were sent to the Ministry of External Affairs of India for onward transmission to Embassy of Iraq, New Delhi.

CONCLUSION

The blood samples of all the relatives of missing persons of Punjab were matched with the cadaveric remains found in graveyards in Mosul and Badish areas of Iraq. So, all the missing persons thereby were identified and the statement in this regard was given by the late honorable minister of external affairs in the Parliament.

Later on, cadaveric remains of these missing person were airlifted to India for their final rites by Government of India (Fig. 5). Though the analysis of biological sample is done in the laboratory but the selection, collection, preservation, and dispatching of the biological samples fall within the domain of the medical personal. By adopting the accurate procedure, the accurate result was revealed, thus leading to establishment of identity of individuals.

REFERENCES

1. Mass Fatality Incidents: A Guide for Human Forensic Identification. NCJ 199758, June 2005, Special Report by National Institute of Justice.Available from http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/199758.pdf. Accessed: April 30, 2005.

2. Williams ED, Crews JD. From dust to dust: ethical and practical issues involved in the location, exhumation, and identification of bodies from mass graves. Croat Med J 2003;44(3):251–258.

3. Ferllini R. The development of human rights investigations since 1945. Sci Justice 2003;43(4):219–224. DOI: 10.1016/S1355-0306(03)71780-8.

4. Cox M. A multidisciplinary approach to the investigation of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide: the Inforce Foundation. Sci Justice 2003;43(4):225–227. DOI: 10.1016/S1355-0306(03)71781-X.

5. Ganswindt M, Ehrlich E, Klostermann P, et al. Bone finds: a challenge to forensic science. Leg Med 2003;5:382–385. DOI: 10.1016/s1344-6223(02)00137-2.

6. Skinner M, Alempijevic D, Djuric-Srejic M, et al. Guidelines for international bio-archaeology monitors of mass grave exhumations. Forensic Sci Int 2003;134(2-3):81–92. DOI: 10.1016/s0379-0738(03)00124-5.