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Azerbaijanâ€™s Health Ministry: Places of unknown graves appeared during Karabakh war identified

20 April 2012 09:36 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Kamala Guliyeva â€“ APA. We have prepared preliminary text of the Memorandum of Understanding on the project, which considers taking of blood examples from the relatives of missing people during the Nagorno Karabakh war for more intensive searches of them, director general of Forensic-Medical Examination and Pathological Anatomy Union of the Health Ministry Shakir Musayev told APA. He said the International Committee of the Red Cross addressed the Health Ministry on this issue. â€œThis is very serious, delicate and very significant issue. 20 years have passed since those events. Even relatives of those missing people and martyrs died. Therefore we have to take blood examples while they are alive to make identification and determine sibling relations in the futureâ€.

Musayev considers that before the signing Memorandum of Understanding, we have to solve the issues of taking blood examples, its storage, secured management, transfer and legal documentation of this process. â€œAzerbaijanâ€™s relevant organizations raised these issues before the ICRC. Even insignificant inaccuracy could lead to serious mistakes in this issue. Every side should undertake mutual commitments. There are some restrictions and we have to determine it. The work has not been done completely. The Memorandum of Understanding was prepared, but the conditions have not been determined yet. The sides should note their commitments and duties and determine conditions and borders of security principles. This issue passes through several phases. A little mistake in the dynamic of these phases could remove the rings of long chainâ€.

Musayev noted that according to the legislation of Azerbaijan identification of personality for human biomaterials is being carried out in the Forensic- Medical Examination and Pathology Anatomy Union: â€œThe work is being carried out to improve the material-technical basis of the union. A molecular-genetic examination has been carried out since 1999. Molecular-genetic individualization laboratory was established in Pathology Anatomy Union by the Health Ministry in 2005. Identification of personality in gene level is being carried out here. New modern equipment was purchased in 2009. Several experts of the union attended the special trainings in the US and Strasbourg. Special experts will arrive in Azerbaijan from Spain on April 13 and 6-10 experts will be involved in the modern trainings on genetic individualization during a week. The work on it has been done in Azerbaijan for years. We could identify burned bones found at site of plane crash in Afghanistan. The Union has a special scientific platform. Currently identification of personality on a basis of skeletal remains and methods prepared on a basis of it is being used during the examinations in many countries.â€
Director General said that places of majority of unknown graves appeared during the Karabakh war were determined: â€œMajority of these places are located in the zones of intensive battles, but there are graves of unknown soldiers in the Alley of Martyrs of Baku. The ICRC and corresponding organizations of the country are ready to do this work, but it demands much time. It is impossible to finish this process in one or two years. The UN determined a rule on such examinations. These examinations are carried out within that program. First of all, the traditional identification methods are used. It includes DNA and anthropological testing and etc. According to the rules, the untraditional examination methods are also used. All these need time. Despite it, Forensic and Medical Examination Union has this basis. Simply, the material and technical base must strengthen when the process passes to massive formâ€.

Musayev noted the adoption of the State Program covering 2007-2013 due to establishment of biometric identification system. Thereafter, organization of DNA identification system i.e. establishment of DNA application center and national data bank was tasked to Health, Emergency ministries and other organizations from 2008: â€œThere is an order of the president on biometric data. Thereafter organization and regulation of biometric data service, including DNA analyses and identification service were determined. All these normative legal acts are the documents for identification of missing people in Azerbaijan. The results on identification of a person in Azerbaijan are accepted by all countries of the worldâ€.