2023-08-30 22:00:00
Can you imagine searching for a missing loved one in another country and not having any information about their whereabouts?
In Brazil, the Federal Police were able, through the Ibero-American Network of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences Institutions, to help identify a missing man who had drowned in the state of Ceará, thanks to a tattoo from a soccer club. They identified which team it was, and thus the local forensic team contacted the representative of the Brazilian Network, who in turn contacted the Argentine and together they were able to give answers to the relatives.
“The family was already looking for him with no sign, no record of where he was. That’s how the network really worked. We see a huge prospect for this to help in the search for missing persons and many other medicolegal issues.” commented Rodrigo Travassos, a Federal Police specialist who represents Brazil in the Ibero-American Network.
Teamwork to give answers
The importance of this regional coordination to respond to the disappearance of people was one of the topics discussed during the XV Meeting of the Ibero-American Network, which was attended by representatives of 16 countries and which took place between August 28 and 30 in Brasilia. .
“Without any type of bureaucracy, we were able to access our records in the Judicial Police of the Province of Córdoba, which has access to the national dactyloscopic records, and with a very simple management, and in a short time, we were able to identify them. So our colleagues from Brazil were able to give a very quick and effective response to this person’s family”, declared Moisés David Dib, Head of the Institute of Legal Medicine of Córdoba (Argentina).
Network participants also attended one of the world’s largest forensic science events, InterForensics, which brings regional perspectives and humanitarian issues, with the aim of improving forensic work and respect for the dignity of the deceased.
“The conversations are at the level of public policies, protocols, regulations and all forensic processes that can somehow join efforts to identify, search for and recover the thousands of people who are missing and deceased,” said Alejandra Jiménez, Regional Coordinator Coroner of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
For Duarte Nuno Vieira, Full Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (Portugual) and former president of the Network, joint work brings numerous advantages and facilitates identifications that would not otherwise be possible.
“When we talk, for example, about the identification of victims about whom we do not have much information, and who have often come from other countries, this work allows an exchange of information between institutions. We have many practical examples, such as the very recently in Brazil,” stressed Vieira.
In Brazil, the ICRC works with the authorities to support their capacity to manage unidentified deceased persons, offering technical recommendations and promoting the exchange of good practices.
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