DNA Identification in Human Rights
Use of DNA Identification in Human Rights Work to Reunite Families in Latin America
Victor Penchaszadeh
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) identification serves many purposes, including the preservation and defence of human rights. In Argentina, a military dictatorship disappeared 30 000 dissidents, including 500 babies born in captivity and, after their mothers’ assassination, were appropriated by families associated with the repression. After return to democracy, search, localisation, DNA identification and family reunification were state policies and so far 120 individuals had their identity restituted and families reunited. When after a gruesome civil war in El Salvador caused 75 000 deaths and hundreds of missing children, a DNA database of families with disappeared children was developed and DNA testing of hundreds of people with unknown identity lead to identification and reunification of 265 youngsters with their families.
In Brazil, DNA identification of hundreds of individuals who were stranded from their relatives during compulsory isolation of patients with leprosy in Brazil, identified 158 pairs of individuals who did not have know they were siblings.
In conclusion, the use of DNA identification as a tool to redress and repair human rights violations is a novel and valuable application of human genetics.
Introduction
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) identification requires the sequencing of specific segments (markers) of DNA of the person or remains to be identified and compare them with the DNA sequences at the same segments in putative relatives (establishment of family relationships) or with antemortem samples of known identity in the case of remains. If the compared DNA profiles do not match, the result is negative and the relationship is excluded. When the two compared DNA profiles match, the results are expressed as the probability that the positive matching is not due to chance (probability of inclusion), which with current techniques it may reach 99.99% (Prinz et al., 2007; ICRC, 2009). Unprecedented recent advances in genetics have turned DNA identification of human beings an essential tool in paternity testing, criminalistics, investigation ofmass catastrophes and investigation into human rights violations (see also: Kinship Testing; Genetic Profiling in Disaster Victim Identification).
In this article, I reviewthree examples of the use of human genetic identification in human rights work: (1) redressing grave violations (disappearances and suppression of identity of the offspring of political dissidents) in Argentina and El Salvador and (2) identifying individuals separated from birth from their relatives with leprosy in Brazil, so they could learn their true identity, overcome stigma and recover family relationships.
During the 1970s and 1980s, many Latin American countries were subjected to oppression and dictatorship under repressive military regimes that paid no respect for political nor economic, social and cultural rights. Most military regimes came to power with the active political and military support of the United States as part of the cold war and in support of neoliberal economic policies which increased social injustice and wealth inequality to unprecedented levels. The United States continued to support these dictatorships for years in spite of the lack of rule of law and the egregious violations of human rights being committed, including crimes against humanity such as waging war against the civilian population, genocide, torture, forced disappearance and killing of dissidents, as well as appropriation and suppression of identity of their children. After years of incompetence of the military in all fronts, changing international political landscape with the end of the cold war, and popular resistance and struggle, the military were forced to leave power in most countries and allow the return to constitutional governments. The sequel of years of repression in these countries, with thousands of disappeared persons, included increased socioeconomic inequality, disruption of the social fabric and psychosocial distress.
Further, the appropriation of the offspring of dissidents practiced by the military led to thousands of children and young adults with suppressed identity and unaware of their true family relationships. With the advances in human genetic identification occurring since the 1980s, scientists soon realised that these techniques could and should be utilised to help these children and young adults recover their true identity. Indeed, in a number of countries, the return to democracy led to policies of the application of forensic genetics in investigations of the abduction of children and suppression of their identity by the military, honoring the right to identity as a fundamental human right and enabling the reunification of families in Latin America. The same techniques are being used all over the world for the genetic identification of human remains of disappeared persons (Doretti and Fondebrider, 2012; EAAF Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, 2016).
The example discussed from Brazil, on the other hand, involves longstanding state public policies which called for the separation of the offspring of parents with leprosy to prevent contagion. These policies were based on social prejudice and stigmatisation of patients with leprosy and the erroneously presumed contagiousness of the condition. The results were hundreds of individuals through out the country separated from birth from their parents and ignoring their true identity. As we will see in the following, DNA identification in these cases also allowed many of these individuals reunite with their families.
While recent developments in human genetics have been awesome, current applications of genetic technology for the benefit of people should not allow us to forget that flawed genetic concepts were used in the past to justify troubling violations of human rights, such as eugenics, racism, discrimination, stigmatisation of the ‘different’ and even genocide (Müller-Hill, 1988; Kevles, 1995). Recently, however, and as exemplified below, human genetic identification is increasingly being used for the preservation and defence of human rights, specifically the right to identity, which is a fundamental human right (United Nations, 1989), enabling investigation and reparation of its violations, recovery of suppressed identities, reunification of families and bringing perpetrators to justice (United Nations, 2009;Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, ICRC, 2015).