Political Changes Influence Forensic Science in Colombia
By: Laurie Sperling, M. Arch, CPSM and Gabriela Kleiman, LEED AP
Issue: August/September 2008
While by size and population Colombia is small in comparison to the U.S., it
is one of the most violent countries in the world. Recently, Colombia has been
successful in reducing the crime rate. How has this occurred now? Significant
change can occur when divergent forces come together.
Colombia is one of the most violent countries in the Occidental world. While
small by size and population in comparison to the United States (U.S.), the
Seventh United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations (1998- 2000) lists
4.55 homicides per 100,000 persons in the U.S.; while in Colombia, the same
metric is 58.69, more than ten times the U.S. numbers. The cause of most of
these deaths is the on-going violence stemming from drug trafficking and five
decades of civil war. Narcoterrorism, involving a host of combatants: the leftist
rebels, government troops, right-wing paramilitary fighters, common criminals,
and drug-traffickers, has been going on for nearly fifty years and flares up
acutely at various times.
The conflict has an alarming number of human rights
violations. Where large swaths of the country are under the control of leftist
guerrillas, military personal, police, mayors, candidates, and judges are threatened,
kidnapped, and killed. The
deplorable phenomenon of “social cleansing” involves the murder of
street children, beggars, and other targeted groups by armed gangs. Frequent
armed robberies and kidnappings make wealthy residents extremely security conscious
citizens who can have fled the country.
Most of the deaths are civilians. Homicide
is the leading cause of death among young men in Colombian cities. Thousands
of these bodies, killed
throughout this half century of violence, have not yet been
recovered, identified, and returned to their families.
Recently Colombia has been successful in reducing
this murder rate. Why and how has this occurred? Significant
change can take place when divergent forces come
together. This is particularly true in Colombia, which has
made great strides since 2000, lowering the homicide rate
by 40%, kidnappings by 83%, and terrorist attacks
by 76% by 2008, according to the U.S. Department of State.
Three specific initiatives have synergistically impacted this
improvement:
the implementation of a new judicial system
internal political
change with community support
U.S. forensic science training and assistance
to Colombia’s national lab system
NEW JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Historically, the
Colombian judicial system has been inquisitorial (as are many Latin American
and European countries), but recently, the new adversarial system (similar
to the U.S.) was adopted in four phases. In the past, the court was not a passive
recipient of information. Proactively involved in determining the facts of
a
case, the presiding judge steered the search for evidence and questioned the
witnesses, including the
respondent or defendant, as part of the “Judges of Instruction” system
of justice. Then, in 1992, Colombia changed their code
and implemented a “mixed” system. In the “mixed” system,
the prosecutor steered the investigation and determined what was evidence. The
adversarial system began on January 1, 2005. In the adversarial system, the defense
and the prosecution square off against each other, distinct from that of the
decision maker, the judge. The court is expected to be objective and free from
bias, rather than leading the inquiry.
Now evidence and expert witness testimony
play key roles,
with the courts serving as impartial referee. The system considers
an investigative and trial stage, where emphasis is made on
the use of evidence: in the first stage, Colombian judicial officials
present evidence, and in the second stage, additional evidence
can be collected by the defense through the order of a
judge, the highest judicial authority in court. Both the prosecution
and the defense can use evidence equally: the governmental
attorney presents evidence, and the defense, in representation
of their client, can refute this with additional evidence, if necessary.
The huge drops in crime statistics are also due in part
to the quicker adjudication of crimes through the adversarial
system, down from an average of 3 years to 90 days.
POLITICAL CHANGE
Alvaro Uribe Velez was elected as Colombia’s President in 2002, continuing
the changes initiated by President Andrés Pastrana Arango in 1998. President
Uribe is a tough leader whose political life has been dominated by his desire
to rid Colombia of the rebels who killed his father 25 years ago. He was re-elected
in May 2006 with 62% of the vote (the first President to be consecutively re-elected
in Colombia in more than a hundred years). This gave him another four-year term
to continue his approach:
tackling Colombia’s armed groups and drug-traffickers. His approval ratings
have been above 70% for much of the time, indicating that most Colombians support
his tactics.
As a key part of his plan, President Uribe has negotiated the Justice
and Peace law with the AUC – United Self Defense
Forces of Colombia – Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, one of the far-right
paramilitary groups; with over 30,000 coming forward to confess their crimes
as part of the peace deal with the government. In addition to surrendering their
weapons, they are providing information on the locations around the country of
mass grave sites of victims of paramilitary and rebel death squads. Some progress
has also taken place toward a negotiated settlement
with Colombia’s second-largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation
Army (ELN) – Ejército de Liberación Nacional.
Colombia’s chief federal prosecutor, Mario Iguaran, estimates that 10,000
murdered Colombians are buried in unmarked graves across the country. Identification
of thousands
of victims’ remains and return to their families for closure, as well
as collection of evidence for use in the adversarial judicial system is a priority.
U.S. ASSISTANCE
Enter ICITAP. The International Criminal Investigative Training
Assistance Program (ICITAP), which provides technical assistance and training
in many countries around the world in the field of forensics sciences, began
in Latin America. Created in 1986, within the Department of Justice and funded
by the U.S. State Department, to build capacity to prosecute key human rights
cases in El Salvador and to enhance the criminal investigative capacity of
police
forces in Latin America, ICITAP continued through the 1990s, delivering training
in every country in Central America, more than half of the countries in South
America, and nearly all of the English-speaking
Caribbean.
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Now helping countries around the world, ICITAP’s Forensic Services
program supports:
training and mentoring of forensic laboratory managers
improvements
in the quality of forensic services available to the criminal justice community
through equipment
donations and technical assistance
the development of management systems
to help laboratories
attain International Organization for
Standardization accreditation
the implementation of quality assurance
programs
the development of policies and procedures, and technical and
training manuals
ICITAP has been working with the Colombian government since
1991 in forensics and law enforcement. Beginning in 2002, ICITAP greatly expanded
its law enforcement assistance to Colombia
through the U.S. Government’s Plan Colombia, a human rights development
initiative funded by Congress.
The agency has had a major impact on enhancing
the forensic capabilities of Colombia’s law
enforcement agencies by:
upgrading their lab systems
training
scientists and prosecutors in providing the expert witness testimony and
presenting demonstrative evidence as part of the
adversarial justice system
conducting forensic anthropology “dig
schools” for investigators, prosecutors, and forensic professionals
The “dig schools” program is increasing the ability
of Colombia’s crime scene investigators to properly process and recover
evidence (including human
remains) from those crime scenes — that will assist the Colombians in prosecuting
those responsible
for the mass murders. Before ICITAP’s instruction, the bodies were not
routinely processed to international
standards with regard to the collection, documentation,
and examination of human remains.
Colombia enacted a new criminal penal code in 2005 with
the transition of the adversarial system. To assist in the transition,
ICITAP delivered training courses that taught investigators,
police officers, and forensic examiners how to serve as
competent witnesses, particularly how to introduce
testimony and physical evidence at trial. To enhance its basic
training program, ICITAP rolled out its first demonstrative evidence
course in 2008 to teach prosecutors and witnesses to
convey complex scientific findings through the use of graphics
and other visual aids.
Of the four program elements ICITAP is focusing on in
Colombia – justice system development; sexual assault investigations; crime
scene analysis and processing; and identification of victims and recovery of
evidence from mass graves – it is this last initiative that reinforces
the need for a specialized facility: the Human Remains Identification Center.
A SPECIALIZED FACILITY: HUMAN REMAINS
IDENTIFICATION CENTER
Plan Colombia’s 2008 appropriations specifically identify $3,000,000 for
investigations of mass graves and identification of remains. The concept of a
national laboratory for human remains came jointly from the collaboration of
Colombian and
U.S. forensic personnel. ICITAP’s Chief Forensic Services Section, Daniel
Garner, contacted Crime Lab Design for design assistance with this specialized
forensic facility. ICITAP wanted to further assist the Colombians with a state-of-the-art
prototype. With no need to replicate the units already set up in the four national
labs, the concept behind the Human Remains Identification Center focuses on processing
remains for two goals: to identify the human remains and collect evidence for
prosecution.
With years of experience leading up to this point, ICITAP staff had a good
idea of the components required for this facility to meet the two goals. Incorporating
areas for body intake (brought by truck from around the country), pathology,
photography, evidence collection, trace, x-ray, forensic anthropology and odontology,
and DNA collection, along with field and lab support, shipping (specimens to
the other national labs for processing) and storage, administrative, training,
and public spaces were outlined.
In addition to forensic scientists, their
techs, administration and building support staff, intelligence analysts, and
investigators
will occupy offices in this facility. Victims’ families will also come
to the facility once identifications are made.
While a specific location had
not yet been determined for the Human Remains Identification Center, it is
anticipated to be in the Bogotá area to start. Rather than anticipating growth in
this facility, satellite expansion may happen in other locations as grave sites
are identified throughout the country.
Confiscated buildings and sites are being
considered for the
location of this center. Part of the design team’s charge was to identify
a gross area so the authorities can identify appropriate sites for further evaluation.
THE PROCESS
To transform the extensive amount of information ICITAP collected
over the years into prototype lab plans for the Human Remains Identification
Center, we used a methodology,
a rational process that began when we translated the program
numbers into bubble diagrams. Then we translated the bubble
diagrams into actual prototype lab plans. These plans can be
used to select the site and estimate cost.
The program contains diagrams, conversations, and past
experience with spaces and size requirements for similar U.S.
facilities into specific spaces. These are quantified and have
net and gross areas, number of anticipated occupants, and storage
requirements. This approach determines the total size for
the facility, based on a desired one-story approach. This helps
the Colombians consider various locations and existing facilities.
A graphic format of the program in bubble or flow diagrams
shows issues of entry, flow, adjacencies of spaces and
process, chain of evidence, security, and engineered systems,
along with public and private circulation.
Utilizing the program and diagrams, we develop a conceptual
floor plan to scale that shows the size and relationship
between the spaces in an architectural drawing. The easy-toread,
color coded floor plan identifies lab, lab support, office,
office support, infrastructure, and circulation. The floor plan
becomes a tool to discuss layout, functionality, protocols, and
staffing with the Colombians.
Along with the floor plan, the Basis of Design (BOD) further
defines the project. The BOD outlines the level of quality
for architectural and engineering systems, materials, and
equipment within the building in terms of function, safety, reliability,
flexibility, ease of maintenance, and value.
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THE FLOW
The Human Remains Identification Center will have separate flows
of human remains, from administrative staff and public access. The public will
enter through the lobby and staff will
have a separate entrance from the employees’ parking. There will be a separate
entrance with a truck dock for delivery of dismembered bodies in body bags. The
number of bodies delivered depends on the size of the grave uncovered. Recently,
more than 100 bodies were exhumed in one day from one site.
The bodies will be
unloaded in the body intake room, with dry and refrigerated storage available.
Since the bodies are dismembered, several can be stored on a gurney-sized shelf.
Overflow needs were taken into consideration with additional storage in the
body intake room. A decomposed tissue/drying room with autoclave will be included
for remains other than skeletal and for potential contaminated remains (BSL-3).
This space will have its own entry and will also be accessible from the accessioning
area.
The accessioning/inventory area will have trace evidence and digital
photography.
Dressed in personal protective equipment (PPE), staff members will open the
body bags, inventory clothing, jewelry, and any other items found with the
body, digitally
photograph the remains, and bar code the information. If tissue remains are
found, they will be collected and sent to the national labs for DNA and serology
analysis.
Dry specimens will then be distributed to different units for analysis, including
the pathology lab, digital x-ray lab for bones and teeth, forensic anthropology,
forensic odontology lab for
X-ray review. Additionally, some dry specimens may be sent
to exam and dissection, others to the DNA sample collection.
To support all of the units, the following areas will be included
in the Human Remains Identification Center: reagent prep,
QA lab, lab supply and storage, shipping area, and walk in
refrigeration. An area to clean and store field equipment will
be accessible from the outside. For long term dry bone storage,
femur-size bone boxes will be utilized; currently the Colombians
anticipate long term storage for approximately 1,000 bodies
per year. The Human Remains Identification Center will
accommodate storage for three years on site.
The office area for administrative staff will include space
for intelligence analysts, investigative officers, technical and
forensic staff, training classroom, computer server room, office
supply storage, break room, building support, lockers, and conference
rooms, while the site will accommodate parking for
employees and visitors.
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THE PROTOTYPE
This unique facility, designed for a tight urban location is planned
as a one-story building with two wings. The facility is supported
with covered exterior access to form an integrated complex providing
accessioning, analysis, and storage related to forensic and
evidentiary services within laboratory, administrative, training,
and support spaces. It is approximately 44,887 gsf/4,170 gsm,
which includes a rooftop mechanical penthouse.
Once the location is selected, the prototype can be revised to more closely
reflect the actual site conditions. This may require a multi-story building
plan. This document will help the Colombian government select their site and
secure financial resources needed to make the Human Remains Identification
Center a reality.
CONCLUSION
The Human Remains Identification Center is a fundamental
component to the ongoing struggle against narcoterrorism. Continuous Colombian
legal and political changes will allow forensic science to give families
of the victims and the entire country of Colombia closure to this bloody chapter
of history by evidence collection, human remains identification from mass
graves
and prosecution of the responsible parties. The Human Remains Identification
Center will assist Colombia in bringing security and justice to its citizens
and accelerating economic growth and prosperity in their rapidly changing
environment.
Laurie Sperling, M.Arch, CPSM, is a Principal with Crime Lab Design.
Gabriela
Kleiman, LEED AP, is an Associate and Forensic Laboratory Planner with
Crime Lab Design. Contact Laurie at lauries@crimelabdesign.com and Gabriela
at
gabrielak@crimelabdesign.com. Crime Lab Design provides full architectural
and engineering services for forensic
and medical
examiner facilities worldwide.
