The announcement was made during the opening of the second course on Disaster Victim Identification, held at the Eastern Mangroves Hotel, under the supervision of the Victims Affairs Office at the Ministry of the Interior, in the collaboration and coordination with the International Criminal Police Organization. The opening session was attended by Central Operations Directors and a number of concerned police entities and external partners from different institutions in the state.
During the opening of the International course, Major General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Police Central Operations, said that collaboration in exchanging information and expertise between the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the Victims Affairs Office of Abu Dhabi Police Crisis and Disasters Management Department has contributed a quantum leap in developing the work mechanisms and the professional level of the employees.
The course included a number of topics related to Victims Identification, during disasters and crisis. The topics were discussed by experts from the International Criminal Police Organization such as Steve Sergeant, victim identification expert from the Victims Affairs Office of the Crisis and Disaster Management Department, who highlighted the social and legal responsibility to identify the victims of disasters and crisis and how to determine their identities.
The expert Simon Dzedrofski, Director of Victims Identification branch in the INTERPOL in Lyon, France, commended the UAE’s keenness to identify the victims, pointing out that UAE is the first country in the Middle east to acquire membership at the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) specialized in DVI.
Dzedrofski talked about the history of the INTERPOL, established in 1923, and the reasons behind its establishment, its different development stages to finally becoming the biggest international police organization, including 188 countries, pointing out that it was recognized by the United Nations in 1971. Moreover, he added that more countries will be joining the INTERPOL in the upcoming years.
He also mentioned that the official languages used at the organization are: Arabic, English, French and Spanish. Establishing the Victims affairs Office constituted a landmark in the terms of decision-making, and the use of work mechanisms in accordance with international standards, thus proving the commitment ofVictims Affairs Office employees to work as per these standards, which earned the office a an important status in the region.
In the same context, Joan Coetzee, Victim identification expert at the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), talked about the importance of the INTERPOL and its role in identifying victims; stressing that the task of identifying disaster victims is a complex task, and no entity or state can individually identify victims without help, particularly since these “helpers” includes volunteer experts, health services and other organizations.
Joan confirmed that the process of Victims Identification faced several challenges which may affect the search and selection processes. One the challenge is the public opinion which asks for a speedy completion of the work without taking into consideration the difficulties involved. As challenges, we can also mention the media that plays a significant role in guiding the public opinion; as well as the political positions of some countries represented by the direct intervention in the organization’s work during the victim’s identification process, or through practicing political pressure in order to accelerate the completion of the mission.
Saturday 20 October 2012
http://www.adpolice.gov.ae/en/News/uae.first.identify.victims.aspx
0 comments:
Post a Comment