• by Ashfaq Yusufzai (peshawar)
• Thursday, December 01, 2011
• Inter Press Service

A much-needed DNA laboratory is to be set up at the Forensic Science Department of the Khyber Medical College in Peshawar, capital of the violence- battered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region in Pakistan.

The lack of DNA testing has been particularly felt in this region which sees a lot of terrorist related crime and a high crime rate generally.

'The long-awaited DNA laboratory will improve investigations into terrorism-related incidents, such as bomb and suicide attacks, and over a period of time, we can identify the relatives of those who bombed themselves,' Hakim Khan Afridi, associate professor at the Khyber Medical College in Peshawar tells IPS.

Afridi says courts often have to exonerate suspected terrorists for lack of evidence. 'Only a few terrorists have been convicted because of lack of forensic evidence. Tracking down terrorist networks has been a Herculean task for the government.'

In the absence of a forensic laboratory, the government cannot establish the identity of suicide bombers by using DNA profiling with matches from relatives.

'Since 2005, there have been more than 100 suicide attacks but the government doesn’t know who the suicide bombers were and whether they from Pakistan or abroad,' Afridi said.

DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. It is widely used in modern scientific investigations of crimes to identify the perpetrator.

The laboratory will cost 6.5 million dollars, with grants from donors and governments including the U.S. - the main funder in the war against the Taliban in Pakistan.

'Such a facility was long needed to identify not just terrorists but also potential suspects in other crimes, whose DNA may match evidence left at the crime scene,' said Khalid Khan, an officer at the forensic science section of the police department. A fingerprint bank is also being set up, he said.

'The police have begun taking fingerprints from criminals they have arrested. Experts have been deputed to take fingerprints from all criminals brought by police,' he said.

Omar Ali, a senior police officer tells IPS that 1,450 criminal cases were registered in 2010, which included 832 murders and 99 sexual assaults. But convictions were obtained in only a few cases because of the lack of forensic evidence.

In the absence of scientific evidence, the police rely on ‘third degree’ methods - beating up the accused to force confessions out of them, he said. 'Many times, the accused confess to committing crimes due to severe beating by the police, but deny the crimes when they are presented before the court,' Khan said.

With the laboratory in place, there will be no need to beat up the accused because the police could collect forensic evidence that would be presented in the court, he said.

'The DNA of suicide bombers is not useful because we don’t have DNA profiles of the suspected population,' says Dr Afridi. 'The establishment of this lab will enable us to have profiles and reach the suspected people after terrorist strikes.'

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain tells IPS: 'The violence-wracked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is finding it hard to cope with the rising crime rate besides endless spate of bombs and suicide attacks.'

He says 'many countries, including the U.S. and Japan have pledged financial and technical support to establish the DNA lab.' He says they would approach the U.S. through the federal government to provide funding for the DNA facility.

Besides strengthening the medico-legal system of the province, the lab would also cater to the practical needs of medical students and trainee medical officers doing post-graduation in forensic sciences, the minister says. 'About 1,000 medical students will be imparted training in the lab every year, who would then be serving in the rural areas after graduation.'

In time, DNA technology would be used not just for investigating complicated terrorism and other crimes but would be made available to the police for routine investigations, and thus enhance the ability of the criminal justice system to track down criminals, he says.

Six forensic experts have already completed training on DNA in the U.S. and in European countries. More forensic experts would be trained in the proposed laboratory. At a later stage officials say they can also offer diagnostic services to the neighbouring Afghanistan.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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