Page 10 - HOH

A6 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 9 april 2022
Experts set to travel to Ukraine to identify the war's dead

By MIKE CORDER more damaged fragments
Associated Press of bone sample," said DNA
THE HAGUE, Netherlands Laboratory manager Ki-
(AP) — An international or- eren Hill. "This is quite a
ganization formed to iden- unique method in terms of
tify the dead and missing its application into the miss-
from the 1990s Balkan con- ing person's context."
flicts is preparing to send a On Friday, lab staff in white
team of forensics experts clothes covered with blue
to Ukraine as the death plastic overalls, hair nets
toll mounts more than six and gloves were meticu-
weeks into the war caused lously working on other cas-
by Russia's invasion. es, grasping small shards
Authorities in Kyiv have of bone in pliers and grind-
reached out to the Inter- ing away their surfaces in
national Commission on search of DNA.
Missing Persons to help put The ICMP has an online por-
names to bodies that might tal where people in Ukraine
otherwise remain anony- can anonymously report
mous amid the fog of war. locations of bodies, and
A team made up of a fo- will help family members of
rensic pathologist, forensic the missing to provide DNA
archeologist and an expert samples to help identify
on collecting DNA samples Staff handles forensic evidence at the laboratory of the International Commission on Missing them.
from bodies and from fami- Persons in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, April 8, 2022. Associated Press The commission was estab-
lies to cross-match, is ex- lished to trace the dead
pected to travel to Ukraine into a gigantic crime scene mayor of Chernihiv, said that we work together with from the Balkan wars of the
early next week, Director- that is taking place across about 700 military person- the Ukrainian authorities to 1990s. Its sterile, high-tech
General Kathryne Bomb- Ukraine," Bomberger said. nel and civilians have been properly excavate these laboratories are a world
erger told The Associated The team will have plenty of killed in the northern city crime scene sites to identify away from the muddy mass
Press on Friday. work to do when it deploys during the war, and that the mortal remains so that graves where the organi-
They will help identify the to Bucha, where images of 70 of the bodies remain un- evidence can be provided zation's experts first rose to
dead, but also document bodies lying in the streets identified, Ukrainian state in the future for criminal trial prominence among the
how they died — informa- after Russian forces with- news agency Ukrinform purposes, not only poten- decomposing dead of the
tion that can feed into drew shocked the world. reported. The commis- tially to the ICC, but also 1995 Srebrenica massacre
war crimes investigations Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fe- sion, known by its acronym potentially within domestic of more than 8,000 Bosnian
in the future. The organiza- doruk said Thursday on ICMP, already has a work- courts in Ukraine," Bomb- Muslim men and boys.
tion's laboratory in an office Ukrainian television that ing relationship with the erger said. They helped put names to
block on a busy street in at least three sites of mass prosecution office of the In- The organization is at the bodies that in some cases
The Hague will build a cen- shootings of civilians dur- ternational Criminal Court forefront of using new tech- were torn apart and spread
tral database cataloging ing the Russian occupation and other crime-fighting nology in their painstaking across multiple mass graves
evidence and the identities have been found. Fedoruk agencies like Interpol and work to identify bodies from as Bosnian Serb forces bur-
of the missing. said hundreds have been Europol to share evidence. even the smallest samples. ied and then re-buried the
"Having this centralized ca- killed and investigators are ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan "We have implemented a dead in an effort to cover
pability is absolutely critical finding bodies in yards, already has opened an in- new extraction technique, traces of their genocidal
because you have to look parks and city squares. vestigation in Ukraine. which allows us to extract attempt to wipe out Sre-
at this as an investigation Vladyslav Atroshenko, the "We want to make sure more DNA from smaller or brenica's Bosniaks.q

Spain bans harassment of women

entering abortion clinics

MADRID (AP) — Spain is free in the public health opposed by right-of-center
awaiting the publication in service through the 14th political groupings.
coming days of a new law week of pregnancy. They argued that the al-
banning the intimidation or The legal changes mean terations flew in the face
harassment of women en- that anyone harassing a of the constitutional right to
tering abortion clinics. woman going into an abor- free speech and the right
The law comes into force tion clinic will be commit- to assemble.
when it is published in the ting a crime that can be Anti-abortion groups said
Government Gazette, punished with up to one their gatherings outside
possibly next week, af- year in prison. abortion clinics were or-
ter the Spanish Senate on Spain's government, led ganized to pray and offer
Wednesday endorsed a by the center-left Socialist help to the women.
law passed earlier by par- government, proposed the The national Association of
liament. The Senate gave law last year and lawmak- Accredited Clinics for Preg-
A teenager from the 'Right to Live Platform', bottom, holds a its blessing by 154 to 105 ers approved it in Septem- nancy Termination says
banner which reads: ''Abortion Zero'', as she takes part during
a demonstration against pregnancy termination, in Pamplona votes for changes to the ber. that more than 100 cases
northern Spain, March 23, 2014. penal code in Spain, where In the Senate, as in parlia- of harassment are reported
Associated Press abortions are available for ment, the changes were outside clinics each year.q