Under the patronage of Lt. General, HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, the Disaster Victims Identification Conference for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region, will kick off on Sunday. The two-day conference, organized by the Ministry of Interior, in cooperation with the International Police (INTERPOL), will be held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
Major General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, Director General of Central Operations at Abu Dhabi Police, Head of the Victim Affairs Office Committee and General Coordinator of the Conference, indicated that the conference will address a set of important topics, including Forensic Evidence and its use in Forensic medicine; the use of modern scientific techniques in for victims identification; and the latest experiments and applications in this sector. The event will also review the role of forensic evidence in victims identification; the importance of enhancing the level of readiness and preparation; and establishing a joint coordination between regional countries on Disaster Victims Identification and Mass Casualties (DVI).
Participants at the Conference will review a number of specialized worksheets. Two sessions will take place on Day 1; the first will be chaired by Colonel Mohamed Ali Al Dallal, Deputy Chairman of the Victim Affairs Office Committee, and will address four different working papers. (i) "History of DVI” presented by Colonel Mohammed Ali Al Dallal; (ii) “Disaster Victims Identification Protocol” presented by Steve Sergeant, victim identification expert from the Victims Affairs Office; (iii) “International Criminal Police - Interpol and Human Rights”, presented by Helena Ras, Chairperson, International Group for Disaster Victims Identification; and (iv) “Real Laws of Forensic Medicine in Disaster Victims identification”, submitted by Professor Peter Ellis, Forensic Pathologist, at the Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services facility, Australia.
The second session will chaired by Colonel Mohammed Ahmed Al Hosani, Deputy Director of Social Support Centers in Abu Dhabi Police, and will discuss three working papers. (i) “Planning for Mass Casualties incidents and Victims Identification mechanism in the United Kingdom”, submitted by Howard Wei, Scotland Yard Inspector and Member of the INTERPOL Disaster Victims Identification Center; (ii) “Role of DNA in the Identification of Major Disasters’ Victims”, presented by Lt. Colonel Maryam Al Qahtani, Director of the Criminal Biology and DNA Department; and the (iii) “Challenges in the Global Mechanism of Disaster Victims Identification”, submitted by Thomas Parson, Forensic Expert at the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).
Day two of the Conference will also include two sessions. The first session will be chaired by Lt. Colonel Dr. Saeed Matar Al Seraidi, Director of the Quality Management Department at the Ministry of Interior, and will discuss three working papers. (i) “Identification of Illegal Immigrants, victims of sinking ships” presented by Anthony Castlani, Senior Officer at Disaster Victims Identification Center in Indonesia; (ii)”Criminal Anthropology and Disaster Victims Identification”, submitted by Khadouma Al Nuaimi, Expert from the Criminal Evidence Department; and (iii) “Coordination Approach on Disaster Victims Identification”, presented by Derek Forrest, Expert from the UK Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) Unit.
The second session will be chaired by Major Dr. Nasser Mohammed al-Bakr, Director of Graduate Studies, and Member of the Organizing Scientific Committee at Abu Dhabi Police College. Three working papers will be discussed in this session, namely; (i
