- Amsterdam, the Netherlands
toomvictor@gmail.com
Victor Toom
The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy, Climate, Department Member
- Science and Technology Studies, Actor Network Theory, Disaster Victim Identification, Forensic Genetics, Anthropology, Sociology, and 19 moreLaw, Forensic Science, Social Studies Of Science, Law and Society, Material Semiotics, Monuments and Commemoration, Disaster Studies, MH17, Anthropology of Death, 11 September Attacks, Science Studies, Law and Social Science, Identity and Identification, Personhood, Funeral Practices, Death and Burial (Archaeology), Climate Change, Climate change policy, and Climate Justiceedit
- Contact: toomvictor@gmail.com Dr. Victor Toom is a research fellow at the Netherlands Scientific Council for Govern... moreContact: toomvictor@gmail.com
Dr. Victor Toom is a research fellow at the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) and working on Climate Justice and Long Term Climate Policy. In 2019 and 2020, he was a scientific secretary at the Health Council of the Netherlands (Gezondheidsraad). Before working for the government, he worked as an anthropologist of scientific practice and empirically scrutinized the uses of forensic (DNA typing) technologies in contexts of mass human fatality investigation, including the 1995 Srebrenica genocide and the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York.
Victor has published widely in the field of Science and technology studies. He was a Marie Curie fellow in 2016-2018 (Accounting for genocide, €160,000), and was awarded a 3-year Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellowship in October 2012 (Forensic Bioinformation Innovation: Criminal Justice and Disaster Victim Identification Practices, 2012-2015, £87,000), and a Nuffield Foundation Social Science Small Grant (Communitarian forensic genetic practices, 2011, £11,000).
Victor held research positions in the Faculty of the Social Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany in 2016-2018, the Northumbria University Centre for Forensic Science (NUCFS, 2010-1015), the University of Amsterdam (2003-2010) and Twente University (2002-2003). Victor was a visiting fellow at the Anthropology Department, University of Amsterdam (2016), a visiting scholar at the Institute for Public Knowledge (IPK), New York University (NYU, 2013, 2014 and 2015), and visiting scholar at the ‘Science, Technology and Society Research Cluster’, National University of Singapore (September and October 2011). He was also a member of the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (2003-2010). He lectured and tutored several courses (graduate and bachelor levels) in Forensic Science, Political Science, Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies.edit
This collection reviews developments in DNA profiling across jurisdictions with a focus on scientific and technological advancement as well as the political and socio-legal impact. Written by leading scholars in the fields of Social... more
This collection reviews developments in DNA profiling across jurisdictions with a focus on scientific and technological advancement as well as the political and socio-legal impact. Written by leading scholars in the fields of Social Studies of Forensic Science, Science and Technology Studies and Socio-Legal Studies the book provides state-of-the-art analyses of forensic DNA practices in a diverse range of jurisdictions, new and emerging forensic genetics technologies, and issues of legitimacy.
Research Interests:
Rechtvaardigheid moet, net als doelmatigheid en rechtmatigheid, een belangrijke pijler zijn van het Nederlandse klimaatbeleid. Het klimaat en het klimaatbeleid zullen de komende decennia veranderen. Niet alleen moet de CO2-uitstoot in... more
Rechtvaardigheid moet, net als doelmatigheid en rechtmatigheid, een belangrijke pijler zijn van het Nederlandse klimaatbeleid. Het klimaat en het klimaatbeleid zullen de komende decennia veranderen. Niet alleen moet de CO2-uitstoot in 2050 teruggebracht zijn tot netto nul, ook zal Nederland steeds meer te maken krijgen met een stijgende zeespiegel en extreem weer. Deze opgaven gaan gepaard met hoge kosten. Als de verdeling van deze klimaatkosten niet als rechtvaardig wordt ervaren, dan komt het draagvlak voor het klimaatbeleid onder druk. In het rapport Rechtvaardigheid in klimaatbeleid. Over de verdeling van klimaatkosten doet de WRR daarom drie aanbevelingen: (1) Verbreed het debat en behandel het klimaatbeleid als een verdelingsvraagstuk. (2) Veranker de aandacht voor rechtvaardigheid in het beleidsproces door verdelingsbeginselen stelselmatig en vroegtijdig expliciet te maken. (3) Zorg voor institutionele borging en toetsing van de aandacht voor een rechtvaardige verdeling van klimaatkosten.
Research Interests:
For an English summary, scroll down or see http://dare.uva.nl/record/355406" Dit boek gaat over de twintig jarige geschiedenis van het forensisch DNA-onderzoek in Nederland. Die geschiedenis wordt beschreven door in de details te... more
For an English summary, scroll down or see http://dare.uva.nl/record/355406"
Dit boek gaat over de twintig jarige geschiedenis van het forensisch DNA-onderzoek in Nederland. Die geschiedenis wordt beschreven door in de details te treden van een verkrachtingszaak uit 1989, een inbrakenzaak uit 1998 en de verkrachting van en moord op Marianne Vaatstra in 1999. Op die wijze wordt duidelijk gemaakt hoe forensisch DNA-onderzoek van een bijzondere naar bijna-alledaagse technologie is getransformeerd, en hoe het een opsporingsfunctie heeft gekregen naast de oorspronkelijke bewijstoepassing. De in het boek gepresenteerde analyses zijn gebaseerd op de toegankelijk gemaakte strafdossiers. Aan de hand van die strafdossiers is nauwgezet gereconstrueerd hoe in de verschillende zaken, met verschillende technieken en wetgeving, forensisch DNA-onderzoek bijdraagt aan het proces van waarheidsvinding, en hoe, als gevolg van die technieken en wetgeving, individuen op steeds andere wijze tot onderdeel worden gemaakt van opsporingsonderzoek.
In hoofdstuk 1 wordt het onderzoek geintroduceerd door het normatieve kader te schetsen. Theoretische en methedologische vragen worden besproken door het Amerikaanse en Nederlandse rechtsstelsel te schetsen, in het bijzonder daar waar het gaat over het gebruik van forensische kennis in die twee rechtsstelsels. Hoofdstuk 2 beschrijft een verkrachtingszaak uit 1989, het betreft een van de eerste DNA-zaken in Nederland. Hoofdstuk 3 analyseert een inbrakenzaak uit 1998, en hoe de DNA-databank bijdraagt aan het oplossen van die zaak. In hoofdstuk 4 staat het opsporingsonderzoek centraal dat volgt op de moord op Marianne Vaatstra in 1999, meer in het bijzonder gaat het in de hoofstuk erom hoe meer dan 900 mannen tot onderdeel worden gemaakt van grootschalig DNA-onderzoek. In het concluderende hoofdstukken gaat het over nieuwe forensische DNA-technieken, waaronder het DNA-verwantschapsonderzoek en het vaststellen van uiterlijk waarneembare persoonskenmerken.
ENGLISH
This is my slightly adjusted phd thesis and is published by Kluwer Press.
By going into the details of three so-called 'mile stone cases', I shed light on the development of forensic genetic practices in the Netherlands. More specifically, my interest is the convergence of forensic genetic technologies and forensic DNA legislation and newly 'enacted' (Mol 2002) relations between citizens and the State. The argument presented in the book is that bodies become increasingly important for finding judicial truth in the forensic genetic era, they hence become Carriers of Truth."
Dit boek gaat over de twintig jarige geschiedenis van het forensisch DNA-onderzoek in Nederland. Die geschiedenis wordt beschreven door in de details te treden van een verkrachtingszaak uit 1989, een inbrakenzaak uit 1998 en de verkrachting van en moord op Marianne Vaatstra in 1999. Op die wijze wordt duidelijk gemaakt hoe forensisch DNA-onderzoek van een bijzondere naar bijna-alledaagse technologie is getransformeerd, en hoe het een opsporingsfunctie heeft gekregen naast de oorspronkelijke bewijstoepassing. De in het boek gepresenteerde analyses zijn gebaseerd op de toegankelijk gemaakte strafdossiers. Aan de hand van die strafdossiers is nauwgezet gereconstrueerd hoe in de verschillende zaken, met verschillende technieken en wetgeving, forensisch DNA-onderzoek bijdraagt aan het proces van waarheidsvinding, en hoe, als gevolg van die technieken en wetgeving, individuen op steeds andere wijze tot onderdeel worden gemaakt van opsporingsonderzoek.
In hoofdstuk 1 wordt het onderzoek geintroduceerd door het normatieve kader te schetsen. Theoretische en methedologische vragen worden besproken door het Amerikaanse en Nederlandse rechtsstelsel te schetsen, in het bijzonder daar waar het gaat over het gebruik van forensische kennis in die twee rechtsstelsels. Hoofdstuk 2 beschrijft een verkrachtingszaak uit 1989, het betreft een van de eerste DNA-zaken in Nederland. Hoofdstuk 3 analyseert een inbrakenzaak uit 1998, en hoe de DNA-databank bijdraagt aan het oplossen van die zaak. In hoofdstuk 4 staat het opsporingsonderzoek centraal dat volgt op de moord op Marianne Vaatstra in 1999, meer in het bijzonder gaat het in de hoofstuk erom hoe meer dan 900 mannen tot onderdeel worden gemaakt van grootschalig DNA-onderzoek. In het concluderende hoofdstukken gaat het over nieuwe forensische DNA-technieken, waaronder het DNA-verwantschapsonderzoek en het vaststellen van uiterlijk waarneembare persoonskenmerken.
ENGLISH
This is my slightly adjusted phd thesis and is published by Kluwer Press.
By going into the details of three so-called 'mile stone cases', I shed light on the development of forensic genetic practices in the Netherlands. More specifically, my interest is the convergence of forensic genetic technologies and forensic DNA legislation and newly 'enacted' (Mol 2002) relations between citizens and the State. The argument presented in the book is that bodies become increasingly important for finding judicial truth in the forensic genetic era, they hence become Carriers of Truth."
Research Interests: History of Science and Technology, Sociology, Law, Social Sciences, Forensic Science, and 12 moreActor Network Theory, History of Science, Law and Society, Forensic Genetics, Truth, Socio-legal studies, Science, Technology and Society, Policing Studies, Law and Ethics in Forensic Science, Material Semiotics, DNA profiling and databasing, and Science and Technology Studies
This book addresses the question of medical technology that used to be reserved for medical specialists, and is today applied by laymen. Five studies show how medical technology becomes everyday practice. Two are dedicated to technologies... more
This book addresses the question of medical technology that used to be reserved for medical specialists, and is today applied by laymen. Five studies show how medical technology becomes everyday practice. Two are dedicated to technologies that have become the most normal thing in modern society: the clinical thermometer and iodine prophylaxis (a means to combat iodine insufficiency). Two further studies cover technologies that, in spite of repeated attempts to make them everyday practice still are not: folic acid and painkillers. The fifth example is a study of the automatic external defibrillator (AED), a device that gives electric shocks to people having a heart attack to stimulate the heart to beat again. The AED is not yet a commonly used device, though certain parties in the Netherlands are investing best efforts to change that.
Research Interests:
In this introductory chapter to the volume, we chart the complex relationships between forensic genetics technologies, the law and society, reflecting on what in this book we call the ‘technolegal worlds’ of this technoscience. The... more
In this introductory chapter to the volume, we chart the complex relationships between forensic genetics technologies, the law and society, reflecting on what in this book we call the ‘technolegal worlds’ of this technoscience. The neologism technolegal invites authors and readers to attend to the materialities of forensic discourses and practices; it moves beyond a sole focus on forensic technology and investigation as technical practice to consider the wider norms, values, interests, legitimacy and resolutions that co-constitute the political economies of forensic technoscience. This volume sets the technolegal in conversation with worlds. The notion of worlds refers to various issues the chapters in this book aim to capture. The first and most apparent is that of geography and scale, that of global science and local technolegal rules. But the notion of ‘world’ has further connotations. Worlds are inhabited by subjects and objects who (re)produce them. Consequently, worlds are emergent, and the processes of (re)production can be conceptualised as the descriptor worlding. The focus on worlds and worlding is an invitation to be attentive to the specific, contextual politics and normativities of forensic sciences – the good, the bad and the nuanced. This applies to the various jurisdictions discussed in the volume, to emerging technologies in criminal investigation and to the many issues in the context of legitimacy, including social acceptability.
Research Interests:
Approximately 8,000 boys and men were killed in the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. The victims were disappeared, killed, and buried in secret mass graves. In this article, I ask how forensic anthropologists, demographers and forensic... more
Approximately 8,000 boys and men were killed in the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. The victims were disappeared, killed, and buried in secret mass graves. In this article, I ask how forensic anthropologists, demographers and forensic geneticists produce technolegal knowledge about the number of victims in the wake of the Srebrenica genocide, how those numbers are validated in legal proceedings against those held responsible for the genocide, and, finally, how some try to destabilize the numbers in attempts to deny that a genocide was committed. While numbers, and the larger category of knowledge, are center stage in this article, I use the article to coin and develop the notion of ontologically dirty knots. The concept provides an analytical and methodological innovation to produce scholarly accounts of events partly characterized by secrecy, partly by controversy, and partly by materiality. It ties together meaning and materiality, signals a process that continues to evolve, and suggests that narratives about what happened are the results entanglements, action and friction that can be undone. In these respects, the article addresses current discussions on actor-network theory (ANT) in critical security studies (CSS).
Research Interests: Forensic Anthropology, International Relations, Forensic Science, Actor Network Theory, International Criminal Law, and 10 moreGenocide Studies, Forensic Genetics, Critical Security Studies, Numbers, Donna Haraway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srebrenica, Historical Revisionism, Science and Technology Studies, and Post-Truth
The capacity of contemporary forensic genetics has rendered “race” into an interesting tool to produce clues about the identity of an unknown suspect. Whereas the conventional use of DNA profiling was primarily aimed at the individual... more
The capacity of contemporary forensic genetics has rendered “race” into an interesting tool to produce clues about the identity of an unknown suspect. Whereas the conventional use of DNA profiling was primarily aimed at the individual suspect, more recently a shift of interest in forensic genetics has taken place, in which the population and the family to whom an unknown suspect allegedly belongs, has moved center-stage. Making inferences about the phenotype or the family relations of this unknown suspect produces suspect populations and families. We discuss the criminal investigation following the Marianne Vaatstra murder case in the Netherlands and the use of forensic (genetic) technologies therein. It is in many ways an interesting case, but in this paper we focus on how race surfaced in science and society. We show that race materializes neither in the technologies used nor in the bodies at stake. Rather, race emerges through a material semiotic relation that surfaces in the translation that occurs as humans and things move across sites. We argue that race is enacted, firstly, in the context of legislation as biology reduced to bodily characteristics; secondly, in the forensic analyses as patterns of absent presence; and, thirdly, in society as a process of phenotypic othering.
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Free download: 'Border Deaths. Causes, Dynamics and Consequences of Migration-related Mortality' https://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=1006521 While the term missing refers to various instances and practices, we focus on the bodies of... more
Free download: 'Border Deaths. Causes, Dynamics and Consequences of Migration-related Mortality' https://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=1006521
While the term missing refers to various instances and practices, we focus on the bodies of deceased migrants that remain unidentified, and on the inability of families to mourn someone when there is no body to grieve for. We deploy some ethnographic fragments of how Italian communities sometimes mourn those who are buried without a name and we describe the many problems of mourning someone whose fate is unknown through a discussion of the notion of ‘ambiguous loss’. Our contribution articulates some of the politics around deaths in migration by considering how missing migrants and their bodies are mourned in multiplicity.
While the term missing refers to various instances and practices, we focus on the bodies of deceased migrants that remain unidentified, and on the inability of families to mourn someone when there is no body to grieve for. We deploy some ethnographic fragments of how Italian communities sometimes mourn those who are buried without a name and we describe the many problems of mourning someone whose fate is unknown through a discussion of the notion of ‘ambiguous loss’. Our contribution articulates some of the politics around deaths in migration by considering how missing migrants and their bodies are mourned in multiplicity.
Research Interests:
The automatic exchange and comparison of DNA data between national databases to combat terrorism and cross-border crime in the EU area has been facilitated by the 2008 Prüm Decisions. While it was anticipated that all EU Member States... more
The automatic exchange and comparison of DNA data between national databases to combat terrorism and cross-border crime in the EU area has been facilitated by the 2008 Prüm Decisions. While it was anticipated that all EU Member States would have fulfilled the requirements by August 2011, this has not yet occurred. Once each Member State has implemented the Prüm Decisions, which is expected to occur by spring or summer 2019, the EU Commission is planning on submitting a legislative proposal to amend the Prüm Decisions, possibly broadening its scope both in terms of types of data exchanged and the number of countries involved. Therefore, it is a timely place to review the available literature on the existing data on the cross-border exchange and comparison of DNA. However, due to the limited amount of available data regarding the Prüm regime's contribution to combating crime and terrorism, this article reviews national DNA databases' contribution to national criminal justice systems before it turns to the Prüm regime. Outlining how Prüm represents an "aspirational regime" focused on a secure and safe future, we draft recommendations directed towards rendering cross-border exchange of DNA data more transparent and accountable.
Research Interests:
In this article, I’m interested in the 2,750 victims of the 9/11 attacks in New York City. I consider two connected issues. The first regards bereavement journeys of victims’ families and the significance of receiving a body to bury... more
In this article, I’m interested in the 2,750 victims of the 9/11 attacks in New York City. I consider two connected issues. The first regards bereavement journeys of victims’ families and the significance of receiving a body to bury vis-à-vis the normative assignment to find closure. The second issue I address is how forensic experts, their technologies and managing protocols interact with victims’ families and their emotions. Using insights from Science and Technology Studies, I articulate some of the goods and bads of identification practices, and argue for extensive communication and cooperation between experts and victims’ families.
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This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the LIBE Committee, provides an overview of the Prüm regime. It first considers the background of... more
This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the LIBE Committee, provides an overview of the Prüm regime. It first considers the background of the Prüm Convention and Prüm Decision. The subsequent two chapters summarize the Prüm regime in relation mainly to DNA data looking at value and shortcomings; and ethical, legal and social implications of forensic DNA typing and databasing in relation to the Prüm regime. Finally, based on the analysis, it provides the policy recommendations.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This article empirically analyzes how, after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, victims’ remains were recovered, identified, repatriated and retained. It does so by asking the question whose body is it? This... more
This article empirically analyzes how, after the World Trade Center terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, victims’ remains were recovered, identified, repatriated and retained. It does so by asking the question whose body is it? This question brings to the fore issues related to personhood and ownership: how are anonymous and unrecognizable bodily remains given back an identity; and who has ownership of or custody over identified and unidentified human remains? It is in this respect that the article engages with technoscientific and legal, or ‘technolegal’, trajectories of human remains in the wake of the WTC tragedy. By using the metaphor of ‘materialization’, it becomes possible to simultaneously trace how those remains are forensically identified, and how remains acquire legality. ‘Technolegal materialization’ as a concept and methodological sensitivity adds to current scholarship in ‘actor-network theory’ (ANT) as most ANT analyses focus on legal practices in courtrooms but not beyond them. In this article, 9/11 victims’ remains are followed from Ground Zero to the forensic laboratory and beyond, and articulates five instances of technolegal materialization of bodily remains and their past and contemporary existences.
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In a recent special issue of the journal on new trends in forensic genetics, Manfred Kayser contributed a review of developments, opportunities and challenges of forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP). In his article he argues that FDP... more
In a recent special issue of the journal on new trends in forensic genetics, Manfred Kayser contributed a review of developments, opportunities and challenges of forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP). In his article he argues that FDP technologies—such as determining eye, hair and skin color—should be considered as akin to a "biological witness" with the potential of providing more accurate information than traditional eye witnesses. We share with Manfred Kayser the goal of supporting the scientific progress of forensic genetics. We are, however, less convinced by the assumption that the power to improve the safety of our society lies simply (or even primarily) in technology. Technologies are—as decades of research in Science and Technology Studies have shown—never merely material vehicles of progress. Instead they are a multi-faceted conglomerate of scientific and societal practices. In other words, technology is always technology-in-practice. This is exactly the reason why the ethical evaluation of technological innovation, when done well, is such a difficult trade: a merely principle-driven ethics—although it may be easiest to do—never grasps and addresses the messiness of how technologies are understood and used in the real world. It is in this light that we are concerned about Kayser's call to expedite FDP research, when coupled with his narrow treatment of both personal safety and individual rights. Such a reductionist understanding cannot capture the richness of ethical discussions about notions such as individual freedom, autonomy, and solidarity. Rather, it foregrounds technology without giving due consideration to wider ethical, legal and social dimensions as well as issues around the practical implementation of FDP technologies.
Research Interests:
Terms such as ‘relationship testing’, ‘familial searching’ and ‘kinship analysis’ figure prominently in professional practices of disaster victim identification (DVI). However, despite the dependence of those identification technologies... more
Terms such as ‘relationship testing’, ‘familial searching’ and ‘kinship analysis’ figure prominently in professional practices of disaster victim identification (DVI). However, despite the dependence of those identification technologies on DNA samples from people who might be related to the dead and despite also the prominence of the notion of ‘relatedness’ as a device for identifying the dead, the concepts of ‘relatedness’ and ‘kinship’ remain elusive both in practice and in analyses of the social and ethical aspects of DVI by DNA; they are hidden in full sight. In this article we wish to bring kinship more to the fore. We achieve this through a case study of a setting where bio-legal framings dominate, that is, in the trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of Radovan Karadžić for the Srebrenica genocide in 1995. DNA samples from the families of those massacred in Srebrenica were vital for the identification of individual victims but are now also utilized as ‘evidence’ by both the prosecution and the defence. By viewing practices of science (‘evidence’ and ‘identification’) and legal practices (‘justice’, ‘prosecution’ and ‘defence’) through the lens of kinship studies, we will present some alternative and complementary framings for the social accomplishment of ‘relatedness’.
Research Interests:
Liberalism and communitarianism have figured prominently in discussions of how to govern forensic DNA typing and databasing (hereafter: forensic DNA practices). Despite the prominence of these two political philosophies and their... more
Liberalism and communitarianism have figured prominently in discussions of how to govern forensic DNA typing and databasing (hereafter: forensic DNA practices). Despite the prominence of these two political philosophies and their underlying values, no studies have looked at the governance of forensic DNA practices in a non-democratic country governed by a communitarian logic. To fill this lacuna in the literature, this article will consider Singapore as an authoritarian country governed by a communitarian philosophy. Following the introduction, the article will consider basic innovations and technologies of forensic DNA practices, and will articulate a liberal democratic version of Lynch and McNally’s (2009) “biolegality”. It goes on to consider briefly various (political) philosophies (especially liberalism and communitarianism) and law enforcement models (due process and crime control models). The main part of the article records the trajectory, and hence biolegal progress, of forensic DNA practices in Singapore, and compares it with trajectories in England and the USA. The article ends by summarizing some of the main findings.
Research Interests:
"Barbara Prainsack and Victor Toom’s analysis of the 2008 European Union forensic data sharing convention (the Prüm Treaty) demonstrates that the framing of social problems through their technical solutions operates in political as well... more
"Barbara Prainsack and Victor Toom’s analysis of the 2008 European Union forensic data sharing convention (the Prüm Treaty) demonstrates that the framing of social problems through their technical solutions operates in political as well as legal arenas. Prüm, in their view, enacts a distinctive forensic cultural regime constituted through laws and regulations, technologies, institutions and their ancillary discourses, that seeks to address specific concerns and aspirations which have real consequences for the way individuals live, interact, and conceive of themselves as citizens. Their account shows how discrete units of forensic evidence become enmeshed in broader considerations about balancing national and transnational cultural values (e.g. individual liberties and collective security), and thus how forensic regimes like Prüm participate in the construction of historically-specific modes of citizenship and subjectivity. With the Prüm Treaty forensic bio-data become part of transnational commerce which, like any other goods or services, are at the same time tokens of an idealised ‘open community’ of citizens and a potentially dangerous threat to the integrity and safety of that same community" (editors' introduction)
Keywords: Prüm Decision, transnational bioinformation exchange, apparatus, European Union (EU), performativity, stories""
Keywords: Prüm Decision, transnational bioinformation exchange, apparatus, European Union (EU), performativity, stories""
Research Interests:
"How do liberal democracies govern forensic DNA databasing? That is the question being asked in this contribution by focussing on the rules for inclusion of DNA databases in England & Wales and the Netherlands. The two different modes of... more
"How do liberal democracies govern forensic DNA databasing? That is the question being asked in this contribution by focussing on the rules for inclusion of DNA databases in England & Wales and the Netherlands. The two different modes of governance shall be evaluated by taking into account models and ideas in each society regarding the two imperatives of ‘crime control’ and ‘due process’. Another question tentatively examined in this contribution is how these modes of governance impact the performance of national DNA databases. The analysis provided in this article argues that, when compared with the English mode of governance, the Dutch mode of governance is more beneficial for the protection of individual rights and the effective use of resources.
Keywords: DNA databases; forensics; governance; due process and crime control model; NDNAD; ethics; civil rights"
Keywords: DNA databases; forensics; governance; due process and crime control model; NDNAD; ethics; civil rights"
Research Interests:
How is jurisdiction transferred from an individual’s biological body to agents of power such as the police, public prosecutor and judiciary, and what happens to these biological bodies when transformed from private into public objects?... more
How is jurisdiction transferred from an individual’s biological body to agents of power such as the police, public prosecutor and judiciary, and what happens to these biological bodies when transformed from private into public objects? These questions are examined by analyzing bodies situated at the intersection of science and law. More specifically, the transformation of ‘private bodies’ into ‘public bodies’ shall be analyzed by going into the details of forensic DNA profiling in the Dutch jurisdiction. It will be argued that various ‘forensic genetic practices’ enact different ‘forensic genetic bodies’. These enacted forensic genetic bodies are connected with various infringements of civil rights, which become articulated in exploring these forensic genetic bodies’ ‘normative registers’.
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A recent issue of NG&S included an exchange between Hill (2011) and Turney (2011) discussing an earlier paper on the use of DNA identification in the Australian bush fires disaster of 2009 (Turney, 2010). An editor’s introduction to the... more
A recent issue of NG&S included an exchange between Hill (2011) and Turney (2011) discussing an earlier paper on the use of DNA identification in the Australian bush fires disaster of 2009 (Turney, 2010). An editor’s introduction to the exchange solicited further observations on the issues raised by the two participants (Glasner, 2011). What follows is a response to that solicitation. It has been written jointly by individuals from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds (including forensic genetics, forensic anthropology, sociology, bioethics, and science & technology studies) located within two research centres (the Northumbria University Centre for Forensic Science (NCUFS); the Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Centre at Newcastle University (PEALS)). We currently collaborate on a range of research topics including the uses of the life sciences for Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) . Some of us have worked as scientists commissioned by the UK Government and other agencies in response to particular disasters; others of us have an interest in the formation of policy and in the uses of science and technology as they affect a range of social goods including health, justice and security.
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This is a reply to a review by geneticists Manfred Kayser and Peter Schneider that was published in Forensic Science International: Genetics. The authors describe the forensic motivations for DNA-based prediction of human externally... more
This is a reply to a review by geneticists Manfred Kayser and Peter Schneider that was published in Forensic Science International: Genetics. The authors describe the forensic motivations for DNA-based prediction of human externally visible traits as well as the scientific challenges of finding predictive DNA markers, they discuss examples from genetic research with promising (e.g. sex, eye color and hair color), as well as less promising expectations (e.g. adult body height), in the foreseen future. Kayser and Schneider argue that, despite the complex ethical and legal implications arising from DNA-based prediction of externally visible characteristics, their use does not lead to a violation of privacy. See:
-Manfred Kayser and Peter Schneider, 2009, ‘DNA-based prediction of human externally visible characteristics in forensics: motivations, scientific challenges, and ethical considerations', Forensic Science International: Genetics, 3: 154-161;
-'Reply to “Bracketing off population does not advance ethical reflection on EVCs: A reply to Kayser and Schneider” by A. M’charek, V. Toom, and B. Prainsack'.
-Manfred Kayser and Peter Schneider, 2009, ‘DNA-based prediction of human externally visible characteristics in forensics: motivations, scientific challenges, and ethical considerations', Forensic Science International: Genetics, 3: 154-161;
-'Reply to “Bracketing off population does not advance ethical reflection on EVCs: A reply to Kayser and Schneider” by A. M’charek, V. Toom, and B. Prainsack'.
Research Interests:
External visible characteristics and familial searching are becoming prominent investigative forensic technologies for policing purposes. As such, these genetic technologies promise to contribute to judicial truth and hence to justice. At... more
External visible characteristics and familial searching are becoming prominent investigative forensic technologies for policing purposes. As such, these genetic technologies promise to contribute to judicial truth and hence to justice. At the same time, both technologies produce new kinds of ‘suspect’ or ‘interesting’ persons. The question being asked in this contribution what vocabulary we need in attempting to balance the use of these technologies against infringements of civil rights and legal principles of these newly produced categories.
PDF can also be downloaded here: http://dare.uva.nl/record/382724
PDF can also be downloaded here: http://dare.uva.nl/record/382724
Research Interests:
De tijd dat DNA uitsluitend gebruikt werd als identificatie en bewijsmiddel ligt achter ons. Forensisch DNA-onderzoek wordt vandaag de dag steeds vaker ingezet als opsporingsinstrument. Het wordt steeds vaker gebruikt om een poule van... more
De tijd dat DNA uitsluitend gebruikt werd als identificatie en bewijsmiddel ligt achter ons. Forensisch DNA-onderzoek wordt vandaag de dag steeds vaker ingezet als opsporingsinstrument. Het wordt steeds vaker gebruikt om een poule van mogelijke verdachten te genereren, bijvoorbeeld door voorspellingen te doen over uiterlijk waarneembare persoonskenmerken (zoals in de zaak Marianne Vaatstra is gedaan) of door een zogenaamde DNA-verwantschapsonderzoek te doen. Omdat het hierbij niet gaat om een simpele routinetoepassing is meer voorzorg op zijn plaats.
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This paper takes critique of surveillance studies scholars of the shortcomings of the panoptic model for analyzing contemporary systems of surveillance as a starting point. We argue that core conceptual tools, in conjunction with an... more
This paper takes critique of surveillance studies scholars of the shortcomings of the panoptic model for analyzing contemporary systems of surveillance as a starting point. We argue that core conceptual tools, in conjunction with an under-conceptualization of agency, privilege a focus on the oppressive elements of surveillance. This often yields unsatisfying insights to why surveillance works, for whom, and at whose costs. We discuss the so-called Prüm Decision, pertaining to transnational data exchange for forensic and police use in the EU, to illustrate how—by articulating instances of what we call ‘situated dis/empowerment’—agency can be better conceptualized, sharpening our gaze for the large extent to which the empowering and disempowering effects of surveillance depend on each other.
Key words: surveillance, forensic DNA technologies, Prüm Decision, situated dis/empowerment, European Union
Key words: surveillance, forensic DNA technologies, Prüm Decision, situated dis/empowerment, European Union
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In Chapter 9 of the volume, Victor Toom describes how Dutch DNA profiling became governed through legal measures and the inquisitorial orientation of the Dutch legal system. Second, he describes the trajectory – the lines of development –... more
In Chapter 9 of the volume, Victor Toom describes how Dutch DNA profiling became governed through legal measures and the inquisitorial orientation of the Dutch legal system. Second, he describes the trajectory – the lines of development – of Dutch DNA profiling practices, outlining who and what has been involved in DNA profiling. This account provides insight into the strategies employed by various stakeholders to deploy DNA profiling extensively and routinely in volume crimes and to apply DNA profiling in the process of crime investigations. Toom’s analysis contributes to the understanding of how current DNA profiling practices were realised in a country – the Netherlands – with what he refers to as an ‘inquisitorial legal orientation’, where judges and other involved jurists in legal cases act impartially. Finally, he highlights some implications for current directions in the governance of Dutch forensic DNA profiling practices, especially the view that broad and informed public debates need to better address and resolve the many issues arising with regard to forensic genetic bodies and the civic protection of genetic suspects. .
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""This is a review of Williams, R. and Johnson, P. (2008), Genetic Policing. The Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations, Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing, see... more
""This is a review of Williams, R. and Johnson, P. (2008), Genetic Policing. The Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations, Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing, see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genetic-Policing-Use-Criminal-Investigations/dp/1843922045.
The PDF of the review is freely accessible via INFORMAWORLD.""
The PDF of the review is freely accessible via INFORMAWORLD.""
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Drawing on ethnographic research in a Dutch laboratory for DNA research, the analysis presented in this contribution aims to contribute to closing the gap between scientists at the one hand and legal professionals on the other. I show how... more
Drawing on ethnographic research in a Dutch laboratory for DNA research, the analysis presented in this contribution aims to contribute to closing the gap between scientists at the one hand and legal professionals on the other. I show how a drop of blood is transformed into a statistical number. I conclude by arguing that the use of statistics in forensic genetics makes invisible the world behind DNA evidence.
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The paper analyses a Dutch ‘mile stone case’ as to analyse forensic DNA practices in the Netherlands in late 1980s. It describes how “reliabilities” of forensic DNA practices were achieved. Attention is being devoted to an individual who... more
The paper analyses a Dutch ‘mile stone case’ as to analyse forensic DNA practices in the Netherlands in late 1980s. It describes how “reliabilities” of forensic DNA practices were achieved. Attention is being devoted to an individual who was suspected of having committed a rape. He was asked to deliver tissue for DNA typing, but refused to do so. Hence DNA typing could not be used to connect the suspect to a cervical smear collected from the body of the victim, which led first to questions in the Dutch parliament and then to the Dutch forensic DNA law passed in 1994. Subsequent amendments are also discussed. I argue that, by means of the various forensic DNA laws and new forensic genetic techniques, the application of forensic DNA practices shifted from identification and evidence to a tool for criminal investigation and prevention of future crimes. In the final part of the paper, the right to inviolability of the body and its synonym bodily integrity are emphasised. It is argued that forensic DNA technologies interfere with the traditional meaning of the right to an inviolable body – in other words: in the forensic genetic era, this right needs re-conceptualization.
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Kirejczyk, M., Rip, A., Berkel, D. van., Oortwijn, W., Reuzel, R., Berg-Schroer, I. van de. and Toom, V. (2003), Ruimte voor Rechtvaardigheid. Reconstructie van de Dynamiek in de Processen van Besluitvorming over Toelating van Vier... more
Kirejczyk, M., Rip, A., Berkel, D. van., Oortwijn, W., Reuzel, R., Berg-Schroer, I. van de. and Toom, V. (2003), Ruimte voor Rechtvaardigheid. Reconstructie van de Dynamiek in de Processen van Besluitvorming over Toelating van Vier Medische Interventies: IVF, Maternale Serumscreening, Taxoiden, en Rivastigmine, Enschede: Universiteit Twente. (Room for justice: reconstruction of the dynamics in governance processes of regarding admittance of four medical interventions: IVF, maternal serum screening, taxoids and rivastigmine)
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In accordance with Dutch law, a body of a deceased person can be buried, cremated or donated to science. New techniques are being developed, like alkaline hydrolysis and composting. At the request of the Ministry of the Interior and... more
In accordance with Dutch law, a body of a deceased person can be buried, cremated or donated to science. New techniques are being developed, like alkaline hydrolysis and composting. At the request of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the Health Council of the Netherlands proposed a framework that can be utilised to assess the admissibility of such new techniques. Three values should be taken as guidelines: safety, dignity and sustainability. Alkaline hydrolysis fulfills the conditions, according to the Council. Too little is known about composting and hence it cannot be assessed whether this technique fulfills the conditions.
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Preparing for the next crisis mainly means being aware that it will inevitably come. This is the conclusion drawn by the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), the Health Council of the Netherlands (GR) and the... more
Preparing for the next crisis mainly means being aware that it will inevitably come. This is the conclusion drawn by the Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), the Health Council of the Netherlands (GR) and the Council for Public Administration (ROB) in their essay ‘Acquiring, assessing and weighing. The use of knowledge in policy advice in times of crisis’ (Verwerven, waarderen en wegen. De inzet van kennis bij beleidsadvisering in crisistijd). The essay is the result of a conference convened by the three councils to examine the role of knowledge in dealing with an acute, chronic or predicted crisis. The essay highlights three key lessons: adaptivity (politicians, administrators and advisory councils must be able to adapt appropriately and on time), multidisciplinarity (different perspectives are important) and division of responsibility (science, advice and politics must not become too intertwined).
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Według badań obywatele często uważają, że sprawiedliwy podział kosztów klimatycznych jest ważniejszy niż szybka redukcja emisji CO2. Najwyższy czas stworzyć mechanizmy mające na celu wczesne i systematyczne rozwiązywanie tej kwestii –... more
Według badań obywatele często uważają, że sprawiedliwy podział kosztów klimatycznych jest ważniejszy niż szybka redukcja emisji CO2. Najwyższy czas stworzyć mechanizmy mające na celu wczesne i systematyczne rozwiązywanie tej kwestii – piszą prof. Suzanne HULSCHER, Annick de VRIES i Victor TOOM
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We staan voor enorme opgaves de komende decennia. Broeikasgassen dienen te worden gereduceerd en we gaan het land bestendig maken tegen overstromingen, hitte en droogte. Daarnaast gaan we ook last krijgen van steeds meer schade als gevolg... more
We staan voor enorme opgaves de komende decennia. Broeikasgassen dienen te worden gereduceerd en we gaan het land bestendig maken tegen overstromingen, hitte en droogte. Daarnaast gaan we ook last krijgen van steeds meer schade als gevolg van extreem weer. Dit kost geld. En alhoewel exacte bedragen niet betrouwbaar zijn te schatten, staat buiten kijf dat deze ‘klimaatkosten’ flink gaan stijgen. Beleidsmaatregelen worden nu geïntensiveerd en de gevolgen van klimaatverandering gaan steeds vaker gevoeld worden.
Dit essay is geschreven door Suzanne Hulscher, Annick de Vries en Victor Toom voor Energeia, hét platform voor discussie en kennisdeling in de energiesector. Het essay is gepubliceerd op 16 maart 2023.
Dit essay is geschreven door Suzanne Hulscher, Annick de Vries en Victor Toom voor Energeia, hét platform voor discussie en kennisdeling in de energiesector. Het essay is gepubliceerd op 16 maart 2023.
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Wat als China de eigen export van zeldzame metalen inperkt? Daar denken we nog te weinig over na, schrijven Ron Stoop en Victor Toom. Idee: leg strategische voorraden aan.
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Die Anwendung von DNA-Technologien in der Ermittlungsarbeit ist weder einfach noch trivial. Wer eine Ausweitung der polizeilichen Möglichkeiten in diesem Bereich fordert, sollte zunächst die Komplexität dieser Ermittlungsinstrumente zur... more
Die Anwendung von DNA-Technologien in der Ermittlungsarbeit ist weder einfach noch trivial. Wer eine Ausweitung der polizeilichen Möglichkeiten in diesem Bereich fordert, sollte zunächst die Komplexität dieser Ermittlungsinstrumente zur Kenntnis nehmen: Sie birgt rechtliche, ethische und soziale Risiken, die jeden einzelnen Bürger treffen können. Der Mord an einer Medizinstudentin hat die Freiburger Stadtgesellschaft in den vergangenen Wochen tief bewegt und verunsichert. Die Ermittlungen, vor allem der Fund einer DNA-Spur an der Leiche, haben Forderungen nach einer Gesetzesänderung provoziert: Neue DNA-Analysen sollten, so der Tenor bis in Regierungskreise, für Ermittlungen genutzt werden dürfen, um den Täterkreis hinsichtlich der geografischen Herkunft sowie der Haar-, Haut-und Augenfarbe einzugrenzen. Erst vor kurzem fanden die Ermittler ein schwarzes Haar am Tatort. Die natürliche Farbe hätte man eventuell auch von der DNA ableiten können, wobei diese Technologie in einem von zehn Fällen irrt. Aber selbst ein korrektes Ergebnis hätte die Ermittler nicht viel weitergebracht, denn schwarzhaarige Personen gab es auf den Video-Aufnahmen sicherlich viele. Entscheidend waren die Hinweise auf die auffällige Färbung, die Länge, die ungewöhnliche Frisur. Nur so konnten Videoaufnahmen und Haardaten zusammenwirken. DNA hätte diese Umstandsdaten niemals liefern können. Vielmehr sind solch neue DNA-Analysen hochkomplexe Technologien, deren technische Zuver-lässigkeit für forensisches Arbeiten im Polizeidienst keineswegs einwandfrei geklärt ist. Verschiedene Länder haben unterschiedliche Erfahrungen mit diesen Technologien gemacht: Es hat spektakuläre Fahndungserfolge gegeben, wie etwa in einem Mordfall in den Niederlanden; aber auch desaströse Beispiele für technische Fehler sowie verfehlte Anwendungen und Interpretationen, wie etwa im Fall des " Heilbronner Phantoms " (s.u.). Es ist also keineswegs eins-zu-eins möglich, in der DNA wie in einem perfekt verschlagworteten Katalog bestimmte Personeneigenschaften nachzuschlagen. Zudem steht eine wissenschaftlich fundierte Evaluation ihrer Anwendbarkeit im rechtlichen Kontext noch aus, und es ist ungewiss, wie sie erreicht werden kann: Weder gibt es derzeit genügend Ressourcen noch Strukturen, um die technische Zuverlässigkeit und die gesellschaftlichen, ethischen und sozialen Risiken solcher Technologien schnell und umfassend zu erfassen.
Research Interests: Criminal Law, Ethics, Forensic Science, Anthropology of Science, Privacy, and 15 moreLaw and Society, Legal Anthropology, Information Ethics, Forensic Genetics, Critical Security Studies, STS (Anthropology), PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION, Legal Ethics, Anthropology of Police & Policing, Social Studies Of Science, Information Security and Privacy, Racial Profiling, Privacy and data protection, Big Data Ethics, and Science and Technology Studies
Vinden we het proportioneel dat 15.000 individuen gevraagd wordt aan te tonen dat zij onschuldig zijn om een moordzaak op te lossen?
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In mei 2017 liet het OM weten dat aan 15.000 mannen gevraagd zal worden DNA af te staan in de onopgeloste moord op Nicky Verstappen uit 1998. Dat is bijna een verdubbeling van de hoeveelheid uitgenodigde mannen in de Marianne... more
In mei 2017 liet het OM weten dat aan 15.000 mannen gevraagd zal worden DNA af te staan in de onopgeloste moord op Nicky Verstappen uit 1998. Dat is bijna een verdubbeling van de hoeveelheid uitgenodigde mannen in de Marianne Vaatstra-zaak, die in 2012 opgelost werd. Om zo’n grote groep mannen te selecteren, wordt DNA-onderzoek uitgevoerd op bij het slachtoffer aangetroffen biologisch sporenmateriaal om zodoende uitspraken te doen over ‘zijn’ meest waarschijnlijke uiterlijk waarneembare persoonskenmerken.
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This is a verbatim translation of our Offener Brief zum kritischen Umgang mit erweiterten DNA-Analysen (which you find in the German original below or here https://stsfreiburg.wordpress.com/). It first appeared on Dec 8, 2016.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Law, Forensic Science, Human Rights Law, Anthropology of Science, and 20 moreLaw and Society, Forensic Genetics, Critical Security Studies, Minority Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, DNA (Forensic Science), STS (Anthropology), PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION, Legal Ethics, Anthropology of Police & Policing, Information Security and Privacy, Racial and ethnic discrimination, Minority Rights, Racial Profiling, Medical Ethics & Law, Police and Policing, Privacy and data protection, Strafrecht, Big Data Ethics, and Science and Technology Studies
Die Anwendung von DNA-Technologien in der Ermittlungsarbeit ist weder einfach noch trivial. Wer eine Ausweitung der polizeilichen Möglichkeiten in diesem Bereich fordert, sollte zunächst die Komplexität dieser Ermittlungsinstrumente zur... more
Die Anwendung von DNA-Technologien in der Ermittlungsarbeit ist weder einfach noch trivial. Wer eine Ausweitung der polizeilichen Möglichkeiten in diesem Bereich fordert, sollte zunächst die Komplexität dieser Ermittlungsinstrumente zur Kenntnis nehmen: Sie birgt rechtliche, ethische und soziale Risiken, die jeden einzelnen Bürger treffen können. Der Mord an einer Medizinstudentin hat die Freiburger Stadtgesellschaft in den vergangenen Wochen tief bewegt und verunsichert. Die Ermittlungen, vor allem der Fund einer DNA-Spur an der Leiche, haben Forderungen nach einer Gesetzesänderung provoziert: Neue DNA-Analysen sollten, so der Tenor bis in Regierungskreise, für Ermittlungen genutzt werden dürfen, um den Täterkreis hinsichtlich der geografischen Herkunft sowie der Haar-, Haut-und Augenfarbe einzugrenzen. Erst vor kurzem fanden die Ermittler ein schwarzes Haar am Tatort. Die natürliche Farbe hätte man eventuell auch von der DNA ableiten können, wobei diese Technologie in einem von zehn Fällen irrt. Aber selbst ein korrektes Ergebnis hätte die Ermittler nicht viel weitergebracht, denn schwarzhaarige Personen gab es auf den Video-Aufnahmen sicherlich viele. Entscheidend waren die Hinweise auf die auffällige Färbung, die Länge, die ungewöhnliche Frisur. Nur so konnten Videoaufnahmen und Haardaten zusammenwirken. DNA hätte diese Umstandsdaten niemals liefern können. Vielmehr sind solch neue DNA-Analysen hochkomplexe Technologien, deren technische Zuver-lässigkeit für forensisches Arbeiten im Polizeidienst keineswegs einwandfrei geklärt ist. Verschiedene Länder haben unterschiedliche Erfahrungen mit diesen Technologien gemacht: Es hat spektakuläre Fahndungserfolge gegeben, wie etwa in einem Mordfall in den Niederlanden; aber auch desaströse Beispiele für technische Fehler sowie verfehlte Anwendungen und Interpretationen, wie etwa im Fall des " Heilbronner Phantoms " (s.u.). Es ist also keineswegs eins-zu-eins möglich, in der DNA wie in einem perfekt verschlagworteten Katalog bestimmte Personeneigenschaften nachzuschlagen. Zudem steht eine wissenschaftlich fundierte Evaluation ihrer Anwendbarkeit im rechtlichen Kontext noch aus, und es ist ungewiss, wie sie erreicht werden kann: Weder gibt es derzeit genügend Ressourcen noch Strukturen, um die technische Zuverlässigkeit und die gesellschaftlichen, ethischen und sozialen Risiken solcher Technologien schnell und umfassend zu erfassen.
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The blessings of forensic DNA profiling are numerous. Yet, the same technologies used for evidence and police investigations pose social, legal and ethical challenges that go beyond the interest of the 'usual suspects' and law enforcement... more
The blessings of forensic DNA profiling are numerous. Yet, the same technologies used for evidence and police investigations pose social, legal and ethical challenges that go beyond the interest of the 'usual suspects' and law enforcement officials. So what are these challenges, and why does it matter for Singapore?
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Climate change and climate policies relate to various regimes of time: geological epochs, the long-term consequences of the use of fossil fuels, investment cycles, technology development trajectories, the length of regulatory and... more
Climate change and climate policies relate to various regimes of time: geological epochs, the long-term consequences of the use of fossil fuels, investment cycles, technology development trajectories, the length of regulatory and legislative procedures, the periods elected governments have executive power, tipping points and points of no-return, subjective time perceptions, and even eschatological vision of the end of times. The panel 'Climate change and the governance of time' seeks to investigate how climate policies interrelate with different regimes of time, which challenges this poses and which novel issues arise. It is interested in particular in how different regimes of time problematize the coming-into-being of collective climate agreements and long-term collaborations; and how different institutions and technologies 'mediate' time regimes and connect and disconnect them to climate policies. The panel welcomes empirical, normative, conceptual and speculative analyses regarding long-term climate policies that consider the relations between humans, other earthlings, climate change and policy in relation to their various cycles, rhythms and tempi. Taking into account questions of transnational, intergenerational and ecological justice, differences of scale and (uncertain) knowledge in the realms of the commons, our aim is to collect empirical and conceptual papers dealing with the large question of the governance of time in relation to climate policies. Deadline for submission: March 8, 2021, for details see: https://www.4sonline.org/36-climate-change-and-the-governance-of-time/ Organizers: Victor Toom,
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We aim to explore the intersections between the use of genetic technologies in criminal investigation, disaster victim identification and commercial uses. Our goal is to stimulate a debate on the mutable social, political and commercial... more
We aim to explore the intersections between the use of genetic technologies in criminal investigation, disaster victim identification and commercial uses. Our goal is to stimulate a debate on the mutable social, political and commercial meanings attributed to genetic technologies. Long abstract Genetic technologies are playing a pivotal role about identity, how someone may look or where someone originate from. Such applications have been deployed in inter alia practices of disaster victim identification, criminal investigation and in commercial genealogy testing. Despite the similarity of deployed genetic technologies in these three domains, so far, their implications have been framed differently. The current academic debate on the use of genetic technologies in the field of criminal identification tends to emphasize the risks of disproportionate citizens' surveillance, and threats to privacy and presumption of innocence. The uses of genetic technologies in disaster victim identification tends to be associated with a humanitarian rationale and a form of respecting and honouring victims and their families' rights to 'know the truth'. Lastly, commercial genealogy testing has been framed within a 'economy of hope' that allegedly allows to 'find your roots'. In this panel we welcome contributions that draw on diverse case studies to critically engage with the mutable social, political and commercial meanings attributed to genetic technologies in these three domains of practice. Our aims are twofold: first, to scrutinize the development, stabilization and politicization of genetic technologies in particular case scenarios; secondly, to critically discuss the values and infrastructures they carry.
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https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/kijk/Podcast/Future-Shock-15.html In Estland staan de inwoners massaal hun DNA af. Hun gegevens worden opgeslagen in biobanken en vervolgens ingezet voor gezondheidsadvies op maat. Dat klinkt... more
https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/kijk/Podcast/Future-Shock-15.html
In Estland staan de inwoners massaal hun DNA af. Hun gegevens worden opgeslagen in biobanken en vervolgens ingezet voor gezondheidsadvies op maat. Dat klinkt allemaal leuk en aardig – en de voordelen zijn er wel degelijk - maar er kleven ook gevaren aan. Willen we zo’n massale DNA-opslag ook in Nederland? Researcher Tom Reijner spreekt hierover wetenschapssocioloog Victor Toom. Toom weet alles over forensisch DNA-onderzoek en de mogelijke gevolgen wanneer elke inwoner zijn genetische gegevens laat opslaan. Weten de veiligheidsdiensten dan straks echt alles over ons? Interview met Tom Reijner.
In Estland staan de inwoners massaal hun DNA af. Hun gegevens worden opgeslagen in biobanken en vervolgens ingezet voor gezondheidsadvies op maat. Dat klinkt allemaal leuk en aardig – en de voordelen zijn er wel degelijk - maar er kleven ook gevaren aan. Willen we zo’n massale DNA-opslag ook in Nederland? Researcher Tom Reijner spreekt hierover wetenschapssocioloog Victor Toom. Toom weet alles over forensisch DNA-onderzoek en de mogelijke gevolgen wanneer elke inwoner zijn genetische gegevens laat opslaan. Weten de veiligheidsdiensten dan straks echt alles over ons? Interview met Tom Reijner.
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Interview Vakblad Uitvaart
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Afgelopen zaterdag 2 mei zijn er weer zeven kisten met menselijke resten van de MH17-ramp in Nederland aangekomen. Dit zal voorlopig de laatste keer zijn, de repatriëringsmissie is afgerond, liet missieleider Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg... more
Afgelopen zaterdag 2 mei zijn er weer zeven kisten met menselijke resten van de MH17-ramp in Nederland aangekomen. Dit zal voorlopig de laatste keer zijn, de repatriëringsmissie is afgerond, liet missieleider Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg vorige week weten.
De afgelopen negen maanden zijn er veel berichten in de media geweest dat er weer menselijke resten in het rampgebied zijn gevonden. Voor de nabestaanden komt dit elke keer weer als een klap.
Velen van hun hebben inmiddels hun dierbaren begraven of gecremeerd, omdat de kans dat er nog meer identificaties zouden komen, klein zou zijn. Zo ook Robbert van Heijningen en Evert van Zijtveld. Beide hebben hun dierbaren inmiddels begraven en na de begrafenis kregen zij kort daarna een bericht dat er meer resten waren gevonden.
Wat moet je dan doen? Herbegraven of doe je afstand? Robbert van Heijningen heeft er voor gekozen om afstand te doen van de resten van zijn broer Erik. Eind oktober is Erik samen met zijn vrouw en zoon begraven. Niet veel later kreeg de familie van Heijningen het bericht dat er opnieuw resten waren geïdentificeerd van Erik. De familie heeft besloten afstand te doen van de resten, deze zullen op een later moment gecremeerd worden samen met de andere stoffelijke resten waar afstand van is gedaan.
Evert van Zijtveld en zijn vrouw Grace hebben juist om te voorkomen dat er meerdere identificaties zouden komen gewacht met de begrafenis van hun dochter Frederique en zoon Robert-Jan. Eind december zijn broer en zus begraven, een paar dagen later kregen Evert en Grace te horen dat er opnieuw botresten van hun kinderen waren gevonden. En dat terwijl Evert diverse gesprekken met de betrokken partijen heeft gehad om juist dit te voorkomen. ‘Ik dacht dat ik alles onder controle had maar dat blijkt dus niet zo te zijn’ zegt Evert.
In EenVandaag een gesprek met Robbert van Heijningen en Evert van Zijtveld over de meerdere identificaties en de keuzes waar je als familie voor komt te staan. Had de communicatie van de LTFO beter gekund? Ook spreken we met Victor Toom, hij heeft onderzoek gedaan naar het identificatieproces bij de aanslagen in New York op 9 september 2001. Hij ziet veel gelijkenissen met de MH17-ramp.
De afgelopen negen maanden zijn er veel berichten in de media geweest dat er weer menselijke resten in het rampgebied zijn gevonden. Voor de nabestaanden komt dit elke keer weer als een klap.
Velen van hun hebben inmiddels hun dierbaren begraven of gecremeerd, omdat de kans dat er nog meer identificaties zouden komen, klein zou zijn. Zo ook Robbert van Heijningen en Evert van Zijtveld. Beide hebben hun dierbaren inmiddels begraven en na de begrafenis kregen zij kort daarna een bericht dat er meer resten waren gevonden.
Wat moet je dan doen? Herbegraven of doe je afstand? Robbert van Heijningen heeft er voor gekozen om afstand te doen van de resten van zijn broer Erik. Eind oktober is Erik samen met zijn vrouw en zoon begraven. Niet veel later kreeg de familie van Heijningen het bericht dat er opnieuw resten waren geïdentificeerd van Erik. De familie heeft besloten afstand te doen van de resten, deze zullen op een later moment gecremeerd worden samen met de andere stoffelijke resten waar afstand van is gedaan.
Evert van Zijtveld en zijn vrouw Grace hebben juist om te voorkomen dat er meerdere identificaties zouden komen gewacht met de begrafenis van hun dochter Frederique en zoon Robert-Jan. Eind december zijn broer en zus begraven, een paar dagen later kregen Evert en Grace te horen dat er opnieuw botresten van hun kinderen waren gevonden. En dat terwijl Evert diverse gesprekken met de betrokken partijen heeft gehad om juist dit te voorkomen. ‘Ik dacht dat ik alles onder controle had maar dat blijkt dus niet zo te zijn’ zegt Evert.
In EenVandaag een gesprek met Robbert van Heijningen en Evert van Zijtveld over de meerdere identificaties en de keuzes waar je als familie voor komt te staan. Had de communicatie van de LTFO beter gekund? Ook spreken we met Victor Toom, hij heeft onderzoek gedaan naar het identificatieproces bij de aanslagen in New York op 9 september 2001. Hij ziet veel gelijkenissen met de MH17-ramp.
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Afgelopen zaterdag 2 mei zijn er weer zeven kisten met menselijke resten van de MH17-ramp in Nederland aangekomen. Dit zal voorlopig de laatste keer zijn, de repatriëringsmissie is afgerond, liet missieleider Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg... more
Afgelopen zaterdag 2 mei zijn er weer zeven kisten met menselijke resten van de MH17-ramp in Nederland aangekomen. Dit zal voorlopig de laatste keer zijn, de repatriëringsmissie is afgerond, liet missieleider Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg vorige week weten.
De afgelopen negen maanden zijn er veel berichten in de media geweest dat er weer menselijke resten in het rampgebied zijn gevonden. Voor de nabestaanden komt dit elke keer weer als een klap.
Velen van hun hebben inmiddels hun dierbaren begraven of gecremeerd, omdat de kans dat er nog meer identificaties zouden komen, klein zou zijn. Zo ook Robbert van Heijningen en Evert van Zijtveld. Beide hebben hun dierbaren inmiddels begraven en na de begrafenis kregen zij kort daarna een bericht dat er meer resten waren gevonden.
Wat moet je dan doen? Herbegraven of doe je afstand? Robbert van Heijningen heeft er voor gekozen om afstand te doen van de resten van zijn broer Erik. Eind oktober is Erik samen met zijn vrouw en zoon begraven. Niet veel later kreeg de familie van Heijningen het bericht dat er opnieuw resten waren geïdentificeerd van Erik. De familie heeft besloten afstand te doen van de resten, deze zullen op een later moment gecremeerd worden samen met de andere stoffelijke resten waar afstand van is gedaan.
Evert van Zijtveld en zijn vrouw Grace hebben juist om te voorkomen dat er meerdere identificaties zouden komen gewacht met de begrafenis van hun dochter Frederique en zoon Robert-Jan. Eind december zijn broer en zus begraven, een paar dagen later kregen Evert en Grace te horen dat er opnieuw botresten van hun kinderen waren gevonden. En dat terwijl Evert diverse gesprekken met de betrokken partijen heeft gehad om juist dit te voorkomen. ‘Ik dacht dat ik alles onder controle had maar dat blijkt dus niet zo te zijn’ zegt Evert.
In EenVandaag een gesprek met Robbert van Heijningen en Evert van Zijtveld over de meerdere identificaties en de keuzes waar je als familie voor komt te staan. Had de communicatie van de LTFO beter gekund? Ook spreken we met Victor Toom, hij heeft onderzoek gedaan naar het identificatieproces bij de aanslagen in New York op 9 september 2001. Hij ziet veel gelijkenissen met de MH17-ramp.
De afgelopen negen maanden zijn er veel berichten in de media geweest dat er weer menselijke resten in het rampgebied zijn gevonden. Voor de nabestaanden komt dit elke keer weer als een klap.
Velen van hun hebben inmiddels hun dierbaren begraven of gecremeerd, omdat de kans dat er nog meer identificaties zouden komen, klein zou zijn. Zo ook Robbert van Heijningen en Evert van Zijtveld. Beide hebben hun dierbaren inmiddels begraven en na de begrafenis kregen zij kort daarna een bericht dat er meer resten waren gevonden.
Wat moet je dan doen? Herbegraven of doe je afstand? Robbert van Heijningen heeft er voor gekozen om afstand te doen van de resten van zijn broer Erik. Eind oktober is Erik samen met zijn vrouw en zoon begraven. Niet veel later kreeg de familie van Heijningen het bericht dat er opnieuw resten waren geïdentificeerd van Erik. De familie heeft besloten afstand te doen van de resten, deze zullen op een later moment gecremeerd worden samen met de andere stoffelijke resten waar afstand van is gedaan.
Evert van Zijtveld en zijn vrouw Grace hebben juist om te voorkomen dat er meerdere identificaties zouden komen gewacht met de begrafenis van hun dochter Frederique en zoon Robert-Jan. Eind december zijn broer en zus begraven, een paar dagen later kregen Evert en Grace te horen dat er opnieuw botresten van hun kinderen waren gevonden. En dat terwijl Evert diverse gesprekken met de betrokken partijen heeft gehad om juist dit te voorkomen. ‘Ik dacht dat ik alles onder controle had maar dat blijkt dus niet zo te zijn’ zegt Evert.
In EenVandaag een gesprek met Robbert van Heijningen en Evert van Zijtveld over de meerdere identificaties en de keuzes waar je als familie voor komt te staan. Had de communicatie van de LTFO beter gekund? Ook spreken we met Victor Toom, hij heeft onderzoek gedaan naar het identificatieproces bij de aanslagen in New York op 9 september 2001. Hij ziet veel gelijkenissen met de MH17-ramp.
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De lichamen van de slachtoffers zijn eindelijk op weg naar Nederland. Eenmaal hier worden ze geïdentificeerd door het Landelijk Team Forensische Opsporing (LFTO). En het terugbrengen en identificeren van de slachtoffers van rampvlucht... more
De lichamen van de slachtoffers zijn eindelijk op weg naar Nederland. Eenmaal hier worden ze geïdentificeerd door het Landelijk Team Forensische Opsporing (LFTO). En het terugbrengen en identificeren van de slachtoffers van rampvlucht MH17 is niet alleen een complexe taak, maar emotioneel zwaar voor familie en vrienden van de slachtoffers van de ramp met de MH17.
Identificatie van een slachtoffer kan klemmende onzekerheid bij nabestaanden wegnemen, schreef rampenidentificatie-expert Victor Toom in de Volkskrant. Hij legt vanavond in EenVandaag uit hoe het proces van identificeren nu verder moet, en hoe de nabestaanden daarmee kunnen omgaan.
Identificeren
In Nederland aangekomen worden de slachtoffers naar een locatie getransporteerd, die speciaal is ingericht voor de identificatiewerkzaamheden. Dat vindt plaats in de kazerne in Hilversum.
De identificatie wordt gedaan op basis van door Interpol vastgestelde regels. Het gebeurt op basis van vingerafdrukken, gebitsstatus of DNA of een combinatie van deze drie methoden.
Match
De informatie die hierdoor beschikbaar is gekomen, wordt vervolgens vergeleken met gegevens en materiaal van het slachtoffer voor het overlijden. Familierechercheurs zijn druk doende om de nabestaanden om meer te weten te komen over zaken als uiterlijke kenmerken.
Als de informatie van de twee afzonderlijke trajecten met elkaar overeenkomen, legt de leider van het LTFO de 'match' ter goedkeuring voor aan de autoriteiten. Die moeten de identificatie formeel vaststellen.
Hierna kunnen de lichamen worden vrijgegeven en overgedragen aan de nabestaanden. Of strafrechtelijk onderzoek naar de mogelijke veroorzakers van de crash nog vertraging kan opleveren voor het vrijgeven van de lichamen, kon een woordvoerder van de politie niet zeggen.
Identificatie van een slachtoffer kan klemmende onzekerheid bij nabestaanden wegnemen, schreef rampenidentificatie-expert Victor Toom in de Volkskrant. Hij legt vanavond in EenVandaag uit hoe het proces van identificeren nu verder moet, en hoe de nabestaanden daarmee kunnen omgaan.
Identificeren
In Nederland aangekomen worden de slachtoffers naar een locatie getransporteerd, die speciaal is ingericht voor de identificatiewerkzaamheden. Dat vindt plaats in de kazerne in Hilversum.
De identificatie wordt gedaan op basis van door Interpol vastgestelde regels. Het gebeurt op basis van vingerafdrukken, gebitsstatus of DNA of een combinatie van deze drie methoden.
Match
De informatie die hierdoor beschikbaar is gekomen, wordt vervolgens vergeleken met gegevens en materiaal van het slachtoffer voor het overlijden. Familierechercheurs zijn druk doende om de nabestaanden om meer te weten te komen over zaken als uiterlijke kenmerken.
Als de informatie van de twee afzonderlijke trajecten met elkaar overeenkomen, legt de leider van het LTFO de 'match' ter goedkeuring voor aan de autoriteiten. Die moeten de identificatie formeel vaststellen.
Hierna kunnen de lichamen worden vrijgegeven en overgedragen aan de nabestaanden. Of strafrechtelijk onderzoek naar de mogelijke veroorzakers van de crash nog vertraging kan opleveren voor het vrijgeven van de lichamen, kon een woordvoerder van de politie niet zeggen.
"De identificatie van slachtoffers van een ramp zoals de vliegtuigcrash in Oekraïne vergt veel tijd. Er wordt zowel informatie ingewonnen over de slachtoffers thuis als op de plek van de ramp. Dat zegt Victor Toom, wetenschapsantropoloog... more
"De identificatie van slachtoffers van een ramp zoals de vliegtuigcrash in Oekraïne vergt veel tijd. Er wordt zowel informatie ingewonnen over de slachtoffers thuis als op de plek van de ramp. Dat zegt Victor Toom, wetenschapsantropoloog en onderzoeker naar rampenidentificaties.In Nederland zijn op dit moment politierechercheurs bezig met het inwinnen van informatie over mensen die op de passagierslijst van het verongelukte Maleisische vliegtuig zaten. Aan de hand van een wel "zes tot zeven pagina's tellende lijst" worden allerlei lichaamseigenschappen en andere relevante gevens opgetekend.RampplekDie informatie wordt vervolgens doorgespeeld aan het team van forensisch experts in Oekraïne. Afhankelijk van onder meer de situatie in het land waar de ramp plaats vond kan het totale forensisch onderzoek weken tot een paar maanden in beslag nemen.
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The Bosnian War (1992-1995) took the lives of approximately 100,000 persons. This number includes an estimated 31,500 missing persons. Since the early 2000s, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) made a substantial effort... more
The Bosnian War (1992-1995) took the lives of approximately 100,000 persons. This number includes an estimated 31,500 missing persons. Since the early 2000s, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) made a substantial effort to find and forensically identify inter alia missing persons related to the Bosnian War. Writing in 2018, and despite successfully rolling out ICMP’s mechanisms, some 9,000 missing persons are still missing. While they are absent, their remains should be somewhere. More precisely, those remains are in undiscovered mass graves, in mortuaries throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, or in family graves after being misidentified.
My paper attends to an initiative by the ICMP and other organizations to reach out to families whose kin got killed and buried in the 1990s. Those families never participated in ICMP’s efforts to identify missing person because they had buried their kin—they were not missing, but death; not scattered around in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but in a grave nearby. In the 1990s, identification was based mainly on personal items found on a body (e.g. cloths, official documents, jewelry). But from research and records we now know that these mechanisms to identify remains are highly unreliable. Thus, it is likely that those killed and buried in the 1990s were misidentified. ICMP is now collecting reference samples from families whose kin got killed and buried in the 1990s based on the assumption that some victims were misidentified. The newly collected reference material will be compared with DNA profiles obtained from thus-far unidentified remains in the mortuaries. Would they find a match, it is likely that the person thought to be buried in a family grave actually are the remains of another person.
Based on interviews with experts from the ICMP as well as other stakeholders in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this paper narrates the many hurdles encountered when a scientific organization involved in human rights work attempts to find more missing persons. As such, it addresses scientific, legal and emotional issues of identification, exhumation and repatriation.
My paper attends to an initiative by the ICMP and other organizations to reach out to families whose kin got killed and buried in the 1990s. Those families never participated in ICMP’s efforts to identify missing person because they had buried their kin—they were not missing, but death; not scattered around in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but in a grave nearby. In the 1990s, identification was based mainly on personal items found on a body (e.g. cloths, official documents, jewelry). But from research and records we now know that these mechanisms to identify remains are highly unreliable. Thus, it is likely that those killed and buried in the 1990s were misidentified. ICMP is now collecting reference samples from families whose kin got killed and buried in the 1990s based on the assumption that some victims were misidentified. The newly collected reference material will be compared with DNA profiles obtained from thus-far unidentified remains in the mortuaries. Would they find a match, it is likely that the person thought to be buried in a family grave actually are the remains of another person.
Based on interviews with experts from the ICMP as well as other stakeholders in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this paper narrates the many hurdles encountered when a scientific organization involved in human rights work attempts to find more missing persons. As such, it addresses scientific, legal and emotional issues of identification, exhumation and repatriation.
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Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs PRESENTATION by Dr. Victor Toom for the Preparatory Meeting for the Third Security Dialogue with Commissioner Julian King on the “Implementation of EU Prüm and EU PNR” Tuesday, 21... more
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
PRESENTATION by Dr. Victor Toom for the
Preparatory Meeting for the Third Security Dialogue with Commissioner Julian King on the “Implementation of EU Prüm and EU PNR”
Tuesday, 21 June 2018, 12:30h – 13:30h
Brussels (Room: ASP 3G3)
PRESENTATION by Dr. Victor Toom for the
Preparatory Meeting for the Third Security Dialogue with Commissioner Julian King on the “Implementation of EU Prüm and EU PNR”
Tuesday, 21 June 2018, 12:30h – 13:30h
Brussels (Room: ASP 3G3)
Research Interests:
Albeit it is never possible to anticipate the full range of difficulties after a catastrophe, efforts to identify victims of mass casualty events have become institutionalized and standardized with the aim of effectively and efficiently... more
Albeit it is never possible to anticipate the full range of difficulties after a catastrophe, efforts to identify victims of mass casualty events have become institutionalized and standardized with the aim of effectively and efficiently addressing the many challenges and contingencies. Such ‘disaster victim identification’ (DVI) practices are dependent on the forensic sciences, are subject of national legislation, and are reliant on technical and organizational protocols to mitigate the many complexities in the wake of catastrophe. Apart from such technological, legal and bureaucratic elements constituting a DVI operation, victims’ families and their emotions are also part and parcel of any effort to identify casualties of mass human fatality incidents. Take for example the fact that forensic experts require (antemortem) information from the group of relatives to make identification possible. An identified body or body part is also repatriated to kin. Relatives are thus main stakeholders in DVI operations. Much has been achieved in years past regarding facilitating victims’ families’ issues and their emotions. Yet, how families are dealt with by experts and authorities is still considered a difficult topic. Due to sensitivities and required emphatic interaction with families on the one hand, and the rationalized DVI efforts, on the other hand, there is still scope for improving communication, providing information and meaningful inclusion of relatives in the DVI effort. This paper aims to bridge the standardized world of DVI efforts and families’ experienced realities and makes suggestions to further improve DVI efforts through inclusion of victims’ families. Based on qualitative interviews, the paper narrates involvement and experiences of inter alia DVI practitioners, victims’ families, advocates and clergy in the wake of the 1995 Srebrenica genocide which killed approximately 8,000 men, and the 9/11 in New York City with 2,750 victims. The paper shows that there are several models of including victims’ families into a DVI operation, and it argues for a model of where victims’ families become a partner in DVI operations.
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Efforts to identify victims of disasters often receive public as well as (non) governmental support. Funding, public encouragement, and the provision of expertise and facilities are all articulations of the broad support to ‘bring back... more
Efforts to identify victims of disasters often receive public as well as (non) governmental support. Funding, public encouragement, and the provision of expertise and facilities are all articulations of the broad support to ‘bring back home’ victims of aviation crashes or other mass fatality incidents. While identification of victims of atrocities often are advocated for by surviving family members, community leaders or international organizations, such efforts may simultaneously be hampered by governments under who’s rule atrocities took place or locals who participated in human rights violations.
This paper aims to articulate some of the built-in normativities and politics in the practices to identify victims of disaster and atrocity. It does so by contrasting disaster victim identification (DV) practices with those practices in atrocity victim identification (AVI). It uses insights acquired through interviews and literature research in relation to the 9/11 DVI effort, the 1995 Srebrenica AVI operation as well as other mass human fatality instances. Questions being asked include: who’s doing the identification, and who’s identified? Who’s not identified? Based on what arguments are victims identified, or not? Which forensic technologies are deployed? And how are families and local communities included or excluded in efforts to identify victims and missing persons? Conceptually, the paper intervenes in actor-network theory, necropolitics, and social studies of forensic science.
This paper aims to articulate some of the built-in normativities and politics in the practices to identify victims of disaster and atrocity. It does so by contrasting disaster victim identification (DV) practices with those practices in atrocity victim identification (AVI). It uses insights acquired through interviews and literature research in relation to the 9/11 DVI effort, the 1995 Srebrenica AVI operation as well as other mass human fatality instances. Questions being asked include: who’s doing the identification, and who’s identified? Who’s not identified? Based on what arguments are victims identified, or not? Which forensic technologies are deployed? And how are families and local communities included or excluded in efforts to identify victims and missing persons? Conceptually, the paper intervenes in actor-network theory, necropolitics, and social studies of forensic science.
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Extended DNA analyses in forensic use: Possibilities, Challenges, Risks June 9-10 2017 Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) Organized by Prof. Dr. Anna Lipphardt and rof. Dr. Veronika Lipphardt The extended use of forensic DNA... more
Extended DNA analyses in forensic use: Possibilities, Challenges, Risks
June 9-10 2017
Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS)
Organized by Prof. Dr. Anna Lipphardt and rof. Dr. Veronika Lipphardt
The extended use of forensic DNA analysis, in particular forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) and the determination of what is known as “biogeographic ancestry,” is currently being discussed nationwide in Germany. Extremely positive and uncritical media reports, which focus almost exclusively on possibilities and opportunities, have shaped the public perception since November 2016. Rarely discussed, however, are risks, error rates, as well as ethical issues. Reflective or critical opinions have only recently begun to appear in the public debate (see “Media”).
Outside Germany, where these technologies are already in use, however, researchers have been critically assessing the context of these technologies’ uses and the consequences of its use for some time. They have shown that misapplications of these technologies can occur and have occurred and have tried to demonstrate ways to avoid future misuses. This constructive debate has already prompted many improvements in the dialogue among investigators, lawyers, and decision-makers. Furthermore, as members of ethics groups, boards, and committees, they were able to directly participate in existing governing structures and decision-making processes, regarding questions of when and how the technique can be used meaningfully (or when and how they cannot).
In contrast, this field of research is currently still missing in Germany, and we are far from comparable multidisciplinary decision-making-structures and regulatory structures. So far, expertise in this area is exclusively the province of natural scientists, engineers, as well as investigators. As a result, a balanced and constructively critical discussion capable of producing cautious and prudent regulation of these techniques cannot take place.
The goal of this symposium is to make a complementary contribution to the current debate over extended DNA analysis in Germany, with an emphasis on the social scientific and ethical perspectives that have so far been omitted from the debate. We hope that this will contribute to the development of a sustained, comprehensively informed, interdisciplinary, and balanced debate. In addition, the scientific and technical limitations of extended DNA analysis, and of the draft legislation proposed by the state of Baden-Württemberg, have to be openly discussed with the experts in the relevant disciplines. This is the only way to identify and avoid undesirable and unexpected consequences of one-sided legislative initiatives.
The symposium will take place at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS). Talks and discussions will be in German.
June 9-10 2017
Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS)
Organized by Prof. Dr. Anna Lipphardt and rof. Dr. Veronika Lipphardt
The extended use of forensic DNA analysis, in particular forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) and the determination of what is known as “biogeographic ancestry,” is currently being discussed nationwide in Germany. Extremely positive and uncritical media reports, which focus almost exclusively on possibilities and opportunities, have shaped the public perception since November 2016. Rarely discussed, however, are risks, error rates, as well as ethical issues. Reflective or critical opinions have only recently begun to appear in the public debate (see “Media”).
Outside Germany, where these technologies are already in use, however, researchers have been critically assessing the context of these technologies’ uses and the consequences of its use for some time. They have shown that misapplications of these technologies can occur and have occurred and have tried to demonstrate ways to avoid future misuses. This constructive debate has already prompted many improvements in the dialogue among investigators, lawyers, and decision-makers. Furthermore, as members of ethics groups, boards, and committees, they were able to directly participate in existing governing structures and decision-making processes, regarding questions of when and how the technique can be used meaningfully (or when and how they cannot).
In contrast, this field of research is currently still missing in Germany, and we are far from comparable multidisciplinary decision-making-structures and regulatory structures. So far, expertise in this area is exclusively the province of natural scientists, engineers, as well as investigators. As a result, a balanced and constructively critical discussion capable of producing cautious and prudent regulation of these techniques cannot take place.
The goal of this symposium is to make a complementary contribution to the current debate over extended DNA analysis in Germany, with an emphasis on the social scientific and ethical perspectives that have so far been omitted from the debate. We hope that this will contribute to the development of a sustained, comprehensively informed, interdisciplinary, and balanced debate. In addition, the scientific and technical limitations of extended DNA analysis, and of the draft legislation proposed by the state of Baden-Württemberg, have to be openly discussed with the experts in the relevant disciplines. This is the only way to identify and avoid undesirable and unexpected consequences of one-sided legislative initiatives.
The symposium will take place at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS). Talks and discussions will be in German.
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After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, forensic practitioners faced the monumental task of identifying the estimated 2,750 World Trade Center victims. Identification of disaster victims is by and large organized in accordance... more
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, forensic practitioners faced the monumental task of identifying the estimated 2,750 World Trade Center victims. Identification of disaster victims is by and large organized in accordance with standardized ‘disaster victim identification’ (DVI) protocols. These guidelines are designed to mitigate scientific, legal and bureaucratic challenges. Whilst advocated and celebrated by practitioners, DVI protocols have also attracted critical commentary by scholars and advocacy groups. They argue that DVI protocols unduly objectify the deceased and their surviving kin. Interviews with forensic practitioners involved in the DVI in New York and 9/11 victims’ families however suggest a much more complex relationship where DVI practitioners and victims’ families engage in a respectful ‘dance’. During this choreography, or so the paper argues, relatives are objectified while maintaining agency, autonomy and language.
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Erica Haimes and Toom, V, 2012, Kinship, science and law: alternative framings of disaster victim identification (5 December), paper presented at the international workshop Naming the dead: social, ethical and legal issues of Disaster... more
Erica Haimes and Toom, V, 2012, Kinship, science and law: alternative framings of disaster victim identification (5 December), paper presented at the international workshop Naming the dead: social, ethical and legal issues of Disaster Victim Identification by DNA, Brocher Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland
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"The use of forensic DNA technologies in criminal proceedings has changed considerably since its discovery in the mid 1980s. Its initial use on a case-by-case basis in mostly violent crimes has been supplemented by its routine utilization... more
"The use of forensic DNA technologies in criminal proceedings has changed considerably since its discovery in the mid 1980s. Its initial use on a case-by-case basis in mostly violent crimes has been supplemented by its routine utilization in volume crimes. In addition, the national DNA database of England and Wales (NDNAD) matches many subjects genetically to DNA traces collected at crime scenes. Hence, the NDNAD has been rendered a mechanism that provides the police with names of persons who may be the perpetrator of an unsolved crime.
In the past decade, the police have been using a technique called ‘familial searching’. A familial search is a search algorithm that tries to identify individuals in the DNA database who possibly are close relatives of the potential suspects; it is a method to identify perpetrators through DNA of their biological relatives. The police in England and Wales have utilized this technology successfully in several cases. Yet, and despite these successes, familial searching has also been critically discussed by inter alia privacy advocates and scholars from bioethics and sociology.
In this presentation, Dr Chris Maguire will explain familial searching and provide the audience with some data regarding the efficacy of familial searching. Dr Victor Toom will address some of the social, ethical and legal implications of this technique."
In the past decade, the police have been using a technique called ‘familial searching’. A familial search is a search algorithm that tries to identify individuals in the DNA database who possibly are close relatives of the potential suspects; it is a method to identify perpetrators through DNA of their biological relatives. The police in England and Wales have utilized this technology successfully in several cases. Yet, and despite these successes, familial searching has also been critically discussed by inter alia privacy advocates and scholars from bioethics and sociology.
In this presentation, Dr Chris Maguire will explain familial searching and provide the audience with some data regarding the efficacy of familial searching. Dr Victor Toom will address some of the social, ethical and legal implications of this technique."
In a recent special issue of the journal on new trends in forensic genetics, Manfred Kayser contributed a review of developments, opportunities and challenges of forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP). In his article he argues that FDP... more
In a recent special issue of the journal on new trends in forensic genetics, Manfred Kayser contributed a review of developments, opportunities and challenges of forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP). In his article he argues that FDP technologies—such as determining eye, hair and skin color—should be considered as akin to a "biological witness" with the potential of providing more accurate information than traditional eye witnesses. We share with Manfred Kayser the goal of supporting the scientific progress of forensic genetics. We are, however, less convinced by the assumption that the power to improve the safety of our society lies simply (or even primarily) in technology. Technologies are—as decades of research in Science and Technology Studies have shown—never merely material vehicles of progress. Instead they are a multi-faceted conglomerate of scientific and societal practices. In other words, technology is always technology-in-practice. This is exactly the reason why the ethical evaluation of technological innovation, when done well, is such a difficult trade: a merely principle-driven ethics—although it may be easiest to do—never grasps and addresses the messiness of how technologies are understood and used in the real world. It is in this light that we are concerned about Kayser's call to expedite FDP research, when coupled with his narrow treatment of both personal safety and individual rights. Such a reductionist understanding cannot capture the richness of ethical discussions about notions such as individual freedom, autonomy, and solidarity. Rather, it foregrounds technology without giving due consideration to wider ethical, legal and social dimensions as well as issues around the practical implementation of FDP technologies.
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In 2005, seven European countries signed the so-called Prüm Treaty to increase transnational collaboration in combating international crime, terrorism and illegal immigration. Three years later, the Treaty was adopted into EU law. EU... more
In 2005, seven European countries signed the so-called Prüm Treaty to increase transnational collaboration in combating international crime, terrorism and illegal immigration. Three years later, the Treaty was adopted into EU law. EU member countries were now obliged to have systems in place to allow authorities of other member states access to nationally held data on DNA, fingerprints, and vehicles by August 2011. In this paper, we discuss the conditions of possibility for the Prüm network to emerge, and argue that rather than a linear ascent towards technological and political convergence and harmonisation, the (hi)story of Prüm is heterogeneous and halting. This is reflected also in the early stages of implementing the Prüm Decision which has proven to be more challenging than it was hoped by the drivers of the Prüm process. In this sense, the Prüm network sits uncomfortably with success stories of forensic science (many of which served the goal of justifying the expansion of technological and surveillance systems). Instead of telling a story of heroic science, the story of Prüm articulates the European dream: one in which goods, services, and people live and travel freely and securely.
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Het rechercheren op verdachte populaties herbergt een nieuwe set van juridische, normatieve en ethische problemen. Een weigering van een ‘interessant persoon’ uit een verdachte populatie om celmateriaal af te staan, maakt die persoon... more
Het rechercheren op verdachte populaties herbergt een nieuwe set van juridische, normatieve en ethische problemen. Een weigering van een ‘interessant persoon’ uit een verdachte populatie om celmateriaal af te staan, maakt die persoon extra interessant. Daarmee staat het vrijwilligheidsprincipe onder druk. Personen behorend tot de verdachte populatie wordt gevraagd aan te tonen dat zij onschuldig zijn. In juridische zin is dat een omkering van de bewijslast en een erosie van de onschuldpresumptie.
This paper takes critique of surveillance studies scholars of the shortcomings of the panoptic model for analysing contemporary systems of surveillance as a starting point. We argue that core conceptual tools, in conjunction with an... more
This paper takes critique of surveillance studies scholars of the shortcomings of the panoptic model for analysing contemporary systems of surveillance as a starting point. We argue that core conceptual tools, in conjunction with an under-conceptualization of agency, privilege a focus on the oppressive elements of surveillance. This often yields unsatisfying insights to why surveillance works, for whom, and at whose costs. We discuss the so-called Prüm regime, pertaining to transnational data exchange for forensic and police use in the EU, to illustrate how—by articulating instances of what we call ‘situated dis/empowerment’—agency can be better conceptualized, sharpening our gaze for the large extent to which the empowering and disempowering effects of surveillance depend on each other.
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The capacity of contemporary forensic genetics has rendered “race” into an interesting tool to produce clues about the identity of an unknown suspect. Whereas the conventional use of DNA profiling was primarily aimed at the individual... more
The capacity of contemporary forensic genetics has rendered “race” into an interesting tool to produce clues about the identity of an unknown suspect. Whereas the conventional use of DNA profiling was primarily aimed at the individual suspect, more recently a shift of interest in forensic genetics has taken place, in which the population and the family to whom an unknown suspect allegedly belongs, has moved center-stage. Making inferences about the phenotype or the family relations of this unknown suspect produces suspect populations and families. We discuss the criminal investigation following the Marianne Vaatstra murder case in the Netherlands and the use of forensic (genetic) technologies therein. It is in many ways an interesting case, but in this paper we focus on how race surfaced in science and society. We show that race materializes neither in the technologies used nor in the bodies at stake. Rather, race emerges through a material semiotic relation that surfaces in the translation that occurs as humans and things move across sites. We argue that race is enacted, firstly, in the context of legislation as biology reduced to bodily characteristics; secondly, in the forensic analyses as patterns of absent presence; and, thirdly, in society as a process of phenotypic othering.