Finnish DNA expertise appreciated in Nepal
Unassuming yet solid, Finnish forensic expertise helps identifying persons missing during a civil war in Nepal. ”The way we work is appreciated,” says Professor Helena Ranta.
Helena Ranta took part in investigating burial sites opened in South East Nepal together with docent Jukka Palo in September.
"Nepal taught me new things again, even though I've been involved in many cases before," Helena Ranta says. Photograph: Marja-Leena KultanenThese weren't just ordinary burial sites. ”Clarifying the cases of disappearances in Dhanusa has a great emblematic value in Nepal,” Helena Ranta says.
Five young men in their twenties went missing in October 2003 during a civil war in Nepal. In August 2010, the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal (NHCR) decided to locate and open the suspected mass graves.
Lead by NHCR, the group included the two Finns and a wide representation of Nepalese authorities: the police, forensic medicine laboratory, university forensic medicine department and state archaeologist. Observers included the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal and the district prosecutor's office.
A group of men from a nearby village helped the group in exhumation.
The remains of four persons were exhumed at the site. Bullets and cases were also found. All findings were carefully documented in accordance with the internationally approved procedure.
In November 2010, the cooperation continues in the department of forensic medicine in Ruskeasuo, Helsinki.
Nepalese doctor of forensic medicine Harihar Wasti and DNA researcher, doctor Dinesh Kumar Jha are learning more about the methods used by the Finnish experts and forensic cooperation between different agents.
Justice for the living and the dead
Finnish experts are specialized in identifying DNA in bones. It is the only plausible method in Nepal's conditions, Ranta points out. Seven years of tropical warmth and monsoon rains have done their deed, and there are only skeletal remains left.
According to Ranta, identification from items, such as remains of clothes, often has misleading results.
In addition to DNA identification, the Interpol approves identification based on dental records and fingerprints. ”These systems of identification bring justice to both the dead and the living,” says Ranta, whose career in identifying victims of conflicts began in Srebrenica, former Yugoslavia in 1996.
”The way we work is appreciated"
According to Wasti, Finnish contribution to the Janakpur identifications gave credibility to the entire process.
”We managed to bring in a comprehensive group. The Finns had an important role. Without them, the probe could have been easily ignored. Their coming in was a good start,” he says.
Finland's strength lies in our unassuming yet convincing expertise. ”We're not pushy,” Ranta defines.
”People have got used to us and the way we work is appreciated,” says the professor after visiting Nepal three times.
Even though the Nepalese experts can only stay for a short while, they have gained a good overall picture of how things work.
”For example, advice on how to arrange a DNA laboratory or ensure a continuous work flow will have long-term repercussions,” Ranta says.
”The DNA identification methods in Kathmandu are similar to ours, so our cooperation can focus on other than technical methods,” Jukka Palo says.
Successful cooperation
In the laboratory of the department of forensic medicine, Wasti and Jha have had the opportunity to follow DNA extraction from 70-year-old bones of Finnish war fatalities, and learn about how the bones found in a marsh in Levähuhta, Ostrobothnia – dating back more than a thousand years – are examined.
However, other than experts of forensic medicine, too, need to be aware of new identification methods in Nepal. The entire legal system must understand the potentials of DNA identification.
”DNA identification is still new in Nepal. The court system is not yet capable of using it in full,” Ranta explains.
She believes it will take time before it becomes a normal part of the legal process.
One way of raising awareness could be extensive and systematic training for prosecutors, the police and other local legal agents.
Forensic pathologist Wasti appreciates the outcome of the study trip. ”Now I'll be able to make a well-founded proposal on how the forensic medical system should be structured in Nepal.”
DNA researcher Jha appreciates the hands-on learning and new, useful work methods that are immediately applicable to his own work.
Cooperation will certainly continue, they both believe. ”Our Finnish colleagues are easily accessible.”
”Every single DNA laboratory still have to learn the right way of operating for them through practice, because the circumstances are different,” Palo reminds. ”Seven-year-old bones in Nepal can be harder to identify than 70-year-old bones in Finland,” he compares.
Careful groundwork is the key. All the experts agree on it.
Marja-Leena Kultanen
What will the future hold?
”There's a strong professional and interpersonal foundation for cooperation between the Finnish and Nepalese experts. Therefore, both countries are interested in continuing cooperation,” says Pirkko-Liisa Kyöstilä Chargé d'Affaires ad interim in the Embassy of Finland in Nepal.
She believes many things will depend on the peace process in Nepal, especially on how and when an arbitration mechanism and the associated legal transactions will be established. With a legal system in place, there will likely be more need for producing materials for the court, Kyöstilä estimates.
”Success in the investigations so far has built the international community's trust on the will and capability of the National Human Rights Commission to follow through these investigations that will have strict requirements relating to international law,” she says.