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Greetings, Physicians for Human Rights' International Forensic Program is hosting a Round Table Review and Discussion of the draft Guidelines for Mass Fatality DNA Identification Operations. The Round Table will take place on Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. in the Diamond Room at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel, during the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) meeting in Seattle, Washington. (Please note, the draft document linked above will only be available until Saturday, February 27.) These Guidelines for Mass Fatality DNA Identification Operations were prepared by a working group of subject matter experts for the AABB (formerly known as “American Association of Blood Banks”) Relationship Testing Standards Program Unit with input from other members of relevant disciplines and organizations. The AABB has historically been a leader in standard setting, accreditation, education, advocacy and other activities affecting genetic laboratory operations. DNA-facilitated identifications are today's standard for confirming human identifications. This especially holds true for mass fatality incidents, which range from air traffic accidents to armed conflicts to natural disasters. Following a mass fatality event, human remains are identified for the purpose of repatriation, issuing legal documents, and certifying death. Evaluating the viability and costs of DNA-led human identification efforts for the repatriation of remains is a task that requires a broad understanding of the scientific, technical and administrative issues involved in such operations. In order to be able to facilitate responses to the question of relatives seeking the repatriation of their loved ones' remains — be that in humanitarian disasters, or in the process of conflict resolution — the present guidelines are presented as a first step to provide such guidance. This document is the first of its kind, in that it is designed to be overarching and applicable to decision makers as well as to laboratory managers and scientists in planning and implementing mass fatality response DNA identification operations. The round table discussion hosted by PHR intends to introduce these guidelines to the international community for discussion, further development, and inclusion in designing responses to victim's rights to know the truth about their missing loved ones. We invite you to join us for this round table discussion at the AAFS meeting on February 24. Please contact IFP Program Assistant Laura Wagster (lwagster@phrusa.org) with questions. Sincerely, Stefan Schmitt To support our work, please make a donation to PHR. Did a friend forward this message to you? Please consider becoming a part of the PHR online community yourself. This message was sent to . Visit your subscription management page to modify your email communication preferences or update your personal profile. To stop ALL email from Physicians for Human Rights, click to remove yourself from our lists (or reply via email with "remove or unsubscribe" in the subject line). |
