El Salvador seeks to reduce impunity

“Achieving this scientific certainty will result in a real decrease in homicides and in a fiscal investigation that can drastically reduce crimes and, above all, drastically reduce impunity, which is the most important thing.”

This is how José Miguel Fortín Magaña sums up the importance that the National DNA Data Bank will have for criminal investigation, which was approved this Wednesday by the Legislative Assembly.

Fortín Magaña, a psychiatrist by profession, speaks with authority since he was director of the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) for five years until he resigned from the position on December 31, 2015 for personal reasons.

During his administration, the Department of Genetics of Forensic Medicine was created, equipped with cutting-edge technology that cost several hundred thousand dollars, without going into debt, Fortín Magaña recalls.

“When I arrived at the Forensic Medicine department, the DNA team only had one capillary and I left it with several dozen capillaries, meaning that several DNA tests can be done at the same time,” Fortín Magaña said.

The creation of the DNA Data Bank was promoted by ARENA deputy Patricia Valdivieso.

he said, after the aforementioned law was approved, that “good Salvadorans will witness the blow that crime will receive in El Salvador when the DNA bank is up and running.”

According to the former director of Forensic Medicine, many things could change with the operation of the DNA database, such as, for example, the use of witnesses (accused with criminal benefits) less frequently in court cases.

These witnesses are often involved in the crimes being investigated and are also capable of incriminating third parties in order to be excluded from the accusations.

“Scientific evidence is important in criminal investigations and genetic data banks are used to obtain scientific evidence… as well as the certainty of a conviction,” Fortín Magaña said.

He believes that this scientific tool will be valuable in reducing crimes committed by gangs. “Now, there is the political will to stop the gangs. Nowadays, a gang member is arrested, no DNA tests are carried out and he is released shortly after, but now we could know who the murderer of a certain person is,” he said.

This genetic database will contain the DNA of people who are convicted, those who are charged, and those who are arrested.

It will also store the DNA of people who have been victims of a crime, missing persons and their families, voluntary contributors, and personnel involved in the collection and processing of DNA, according to article 8 of the aforementioned law.

For the former director of Forensic Medicine, taking DNA samples from the people mentioned in the new law does not violate any constitutional right because it is similar to taking fingerprints from detainees or defendants in order to be registered.

“There is no way this can happen, because it was necessary to have a law, and we already have one, without the law the legal order could be broken,” Fortín Magaña said.

According to Fortín, other advantages of having a bank of this nature are that it will improve the search for missing persons and will also refute the authorities’ thesis that most of the missing persons go to the United States.

He hopes that President Nayib Bukele will not veto this law because “the president has a defect in that he does not tolerate any law that does not occur to him and is correct, if that happens, it would be very sad.”

Regarding the people who will be in the DNA bank, it must contain the genetic profiles of people who have been convicted in a judicial process by a final judgment. In this database, a report will be made of the criminal process that led to the taking of the sample, the expert opinion, and any other important background information, without prejudice to the fact that they are also included in the case that gave rise to it.

It will also have to store the genetic profiles of people who are arrested for any crime, and also those who are accused of any crime.

It will have a database of missing persons and their relatives. This database will contain the genetic profiles of corpses or unidentified human remains with their background.

Biological material presumably from missing persons. People who, having a missing or lost relative, voluntarily agree to donate a biological sample that may be useful for their identification.

Victims of crimes will also be included, and due to their nature, the crime can be determined or determinable on the basis of biological samples obtained from them.

Another database will be used by volunteers, personnel involved in processing DNA samples and evidence collected at crime scenes.