BiometricsMore equitable access to DNA identification after disaster or conflict needed: experts

The April 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza Factory Building in Bangladesh, in which more than 1,130 people were killed, is only the latest in a long line of events that has made plain the plight of the families whose loved ones go missing after conflict and disaster.

In a new paper published in Science, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh ethics, policy, and human rights experts argue that international structures are needed to promote more equal access to forensic identification technologies, ensure their fair and efficient use, and provide uniform protections to participants following large-scale conflict and disaster.

“After a conflict or a disaster, if remains are burned, mangled, decayed or comingled, the only way to identify them may be by using DNA,” said lead author Alex John London, professor of philosophy in CMU’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences and director of the university’s Center for Ethics and Policy. “In low- and middle-income settings, such technology may not be available, or not available in sufficient capacity to handle the surge in demand associated with a mass casualty event. Not being able to identify a missing loved one can have emotional, social, and economic implications that can be most dire for those who are already the most vulnerable.”

A Carnegie Mellon University release reports that according to media reports, hundreds of Rana Plaza victims’ families still have not received the bodies of their loved ones or the death benefits that accrue for survivors because the government has not been able to formally identify all of the victims. This situation, which has led to demonstrations against the government by families and allegations of corruption and malfeasance, has arisen, in part, because the main forensic laboratory in the country does not have enough capacity to handle so many cases at once.

“Humanitarian organizations and governments increasingly recognize the importance of timely identification of remains and, ideally, their return to families for proper burial. Unfortunately, though, access to the resources and technologies to perform these acts is significantly restricted by the willingness and ability of governmental and non-governmental organizations to pay for them,” said co-author Jay Aronson, associate professor of science, technology, and society at CMU and director of the university’s Center for Human Rights Science. “This means that some victims of conflict and disaster have been identified (e.g., in Bosnia or in the aftermath of