DNA Evidence May Be Key in Saddam Trial [View All]

[Khephra]

WASHINGTON -- Saddam Hussein has already been convicted in the court of international public opinion for crimes against the Iraqi people, but more will be needed to get a guilty verdict from an Iraqi court -- and DNA evidence may be the key.

Analysts say prosecutors should have ample evidence when Saddam goes to trial, pointing to dramatic advances in DNA technology as a prosecutorial tool in recent years. They say DNA will help to clearly establish the identity of many of Saddam's victims who ended up in the country's mass graves.

The process has been used widely in the former Yugoslavia, especially Bosnia, where DNA has helped identify about 7,000 missing victims of the war there a decade ago -- and helped the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in pursuing perpetrators.

Identifying victims is a grisly business. Their remains must be carefully exhumed, and the bones ground to extract the genetic code. Blood samplings help match the victim and the family. All this permits a dignified burial of long-lost loved ones and helps grieving families achieve closure.

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