Chronicle Editor
Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
POLICE have said it is important for the country to match international standards in the use of DNA evidence when dealing with crime.
Forensic biologist in the Zimbabwe Republic Police Detective Assistant Inspector Donald Mushove said the proposed DNA Act is important as it will establish clear institutional frameworks and their functions to provide for bio-banks, DNA profiling laboratories, a national DNA Database and a Forensic Science Commission.
Dt Asst Insp Mushove was speaking at a law development commission stakeholder consultative workshop in Bulawayo on the DNA Evidence Bill.
Dt Asst Insp Mushove said the use of DNA evidence has proved to be a useful tool in investigating civil and criminal cases.
“The use of DNA evidence is a novel and established science that has proved to be a useful tool in the investigation of both civil and criminal cases. In general this approach would be applied in serious crimes where other avenues of investigation have turned up no leads. It is not an end in itself but a crucial aid to investigation,” he said.
“Prioritising the provision of basic infrastructure support in police and crime laboratories will go a long way in improving our operations. This will help in the acquisition of state- of- the- art automated DNA profiling equipment which can process a large number of samples per day and can also be easily integrated to laboratory information management systems and thus allow for development of DNA profiles database.”
Dt Asst Insp Mushove said it was widely accepted even by the courts that DNA evidence is an objective truth.
He however said there was a need for strict guidelines and training of police officers and legal practitioners in handling DNA evidence.
“There is a need for caution on the use of DNA evidence because of the potential for human error and human bias. The main purpose of DNA evidence is to assist the criminal justice system to prove if a person is guilty or not.
“The manner in which pre-trial DNA evidence is collected, transported, stored and analysed is vital to fair trial processes hence the need to develop standards for protecting the integrity of DNA evidence for trial purposes,” he said.
Dt Asst Insp Mushove said one of the biggest challenges they were facing was the backlog in unanalysed DNA samples and biological evidence from crime scenes, especially in sexual assaults and murder cases.
“Too often, crime scene samples wait unanalysed in police or crime lab storage facilities because of lack of capacity, limited equipment resources, out-dated information systems and overwhelming case management demands,” he said.
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