13th June 2012, Good Hope Chambers, Parliament (Cape Town)

Following a morning of presentations by the Civilian Secretariat for Police (Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane), the Secretariat’s Chief Policy Drafter (Bilkis Omar)  as well as a representative from the Forensic Science Laboratory (General Adeline Shezi), the Portfolio Committee for Police (PCP) finally accepted the DNA Policy which will underpin the drafting of the second version of the DNA Bill. The DNA Policy was accepted with the proviso that once the Minister of Police has signed off the Policy, the state law advisors must be instructed to have the DNA Bill ready for review for the Committee by no later than the end of August 2012/beginning September 2012.

Summary of Proceedings:

The morning started off somewhat awry, as we were informed that the Chairperson of the Committee, Sindi Chikunga, had the previous day been appointed as Deputy Minister of Transport by the President. This meant that her position as Chair of the PCP was immediately vacated. The Committee therefore had to nominate an acting Chair, which they (thankfully) did expeditiously and Annelize van Wyk (ANC MP) was voted in as acting chairperson of the Committee until such time as a permanent position has been found.

Gen. Shezi discussing the Policy with the Civilian Secretariat for Police, Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane

The Secretariat’s Chief Policy Drafter, Bilkis Omar, then proceeded to provide an overview of the recommendations contained in the Secretariat’s DNA policy which they had prepared for the Committee.

In summary, the Secretariat’s Policing Policy on the establishment and administration of a DNA Database in South Africa recommended that:

1. the DNA Bill allowed for the current repository of DNA profiles to be expanded by populating it with more DNA profiles from different categories of people in an effort to utilise the DNA Database as a criminal intelligence tool and not just on a case by case basis.

2. the FSL make it a priority to fast track the accreditation process of the forensic science lab. (FSL) and to this end, they requested that the FSL prepare a road map for the Committee as to where they are and how long it will take to complete this crucial process.

3. the custodianship of the Database must remain under the security of the FSL.

4. five categories of indices be created on the Database, namely an arrestee (reference) index, volunteers index, crime scene index, convicted offender index and elimination index.

5. authorised members of SAPS be appointed to collect DNA samples from arrestees and convicted offenders after undergoing training from appointed medical practitioners.

6. reference samples must be taken at specially appointed police stations and in dedicated sample taking rooms at the courts, the location of which must be selected by an oversight body.

7. a framework for the retention, destruction and expungement of different types of samples: crime scene samples to be retained indefinitely; reference samples to be destroyed once a complete profile has been obtained

Vanessa Lynch reading the DNA Policy as presented to the Committee

8. a framework for the retention, destruction and expungement of different types of profiles: arrestees profile to be expunged within 6 months if acquitted or non conviction results; convicted offender profiles to remain on the database for 6 years after release; crime scene profiles to remain indefinitely, volunteer profiles to be expunged within 3 months of being searched against a particular crime and victims’ profiles to be expunged immediately after finalisation of a case.

9. Human rights issues to be considered in the Bill to ensure it falls within the parameters of the rights entrenched in the Constitution, bearing in mind that the rights of individuals have to be balanced against individuals right to safety and security.

10. CODIS, the DNA Database management software which is available free of charge internationally, to be used for the administration of the Database.

11. other relevant departments be consulted where the Bill may have an impact.

12. a phased in implementation to be adopted: two phases were recommended of 18 months each, namely:
Phase 1:
- legislation to be adopted
- oversight body to be established
- identified stations to be accredited
- capacity to be expanded
- forensic awareness campaign to be conducted
- collection of convicted offenders samples to begin
- collection of samples in respect of all other indices to begin

Phase 2:
- Monitoring & Evaluation (‘M&E’) of the first 18 months to be conducted
- impact studies of improvement of hits to be concluded
- sample collection to continue

a two phased implementation plan was proposed

13. An Oversight Body be established which must report to Parliament Annually.

14. DNA legislation to be reviewed every 5 years to address gaps, technological needs and developments and human rights issues, where and if applicable.

Conclusion:

The DNA Policy recommended that South Africa establish a DNA Database as a criminal intelligence tool, to aid in fighting crime and to enhance public confidence while taking into consideration peoples’ Constitutional rights.

Where to from here?

The DNA Project considers the acceptance of the DNA Policy a huge step towards the passing of appropriate legislation to regulate and expand the DNA Database in South Africa. It is however only one step in the process and the next two big steps are going to be:

1. the drafting of the legislation by the state law advisors based on the recommendations contained in the policy.

2. the tabling of the Bill timeously so that the review process may begin.

Vanessa Lynch leaving Parliament, happy that the DNA Policy has been accepted

We will of course keep close tabs on the above two processes and will continue to apply much needed pressure to ensure that this process is not delayed unnecessarily.

The FSL have a huge task ahead of them, as the overall implementation plan presented to the Committee yesterday will not suffice in the review process: it will need to be more fully costed and explained if it is to withstand the rigorous questioning of the Committee in the future.

For now however, let us be happy that for the most part, the most important provisions have been accepted in the policy,  which is what we had hoped for. While some provisions may not be as extensive as we had hoped for, we still have an opportunity during public submissions to argue a case for those points.

And once the Bill has been passed? Then the real work begins…

Vanessa Lynch

Gen Shezi with the Civilian Secretariat Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane

Chief Policy Drafter, Bilkis Omar with the Civilian Secretariat

The Portfolio Committee for Police in session to discuss the DNA Policy

The DNA Policy prepared by the Secretariat for Police will be presented to the Portfolio Committee for Police in Parliament (CT) on Wednesday 13th June 2012 @ 09h00 in the Good Hope Chambers.

The DNA policy will look at the establishment and administration of a National DNA Database in South Africa and is expected to provide guidelines and recommendations as to how South Africa can use a DNA database as a criminal intelligence tool which will help in fighting crime whilst at the same time taking into consideration the rights entrenched in the Constitution.

Vanessa Lynch outside Parliament, Cape Town

Vanessa Lynch, Director and Founder of The DNA Project, will be attending the parliamentary hearing and will be writing up a full report on Wednesday, following the considerations and discussions held in parliament around the above issues on the day.

Parliamentary proceedings are open to the public and press. Should anyone wish to attend this presentation, they must report to Parliament on Wednesday 13th June 2012 and proceed to the Good Hope Chambers before 09H00, at which time the DNA Policy will be discussed.

The following article appeared in the June 2012 edition of The Big Issue

By Gina Ginsberg

Hundreds or more perpetrators of violent crime are getting off scot-free because of a failure to preserve crime scenes that could contain DNA evidence crucial to identifying criminals and putting them behind bars.

This is according to the DNA Project, a non-profit organisation working to ensure justice is meted out to criminals through the proper use of DNA analysis and a national DNA database which would help to nab repeat offenders.

“Crime is so high in South Africa because people act with impunity. There does not seem to be any consequence because there is no evidence collected [to conclusively link them to the crime], so they are able to get away with it,” said Vanessa Lynch, founder and executive director of the DNA Project,

The Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill of 2009, referred to as the DNA Bill and expected to be tabled in parliament in September, may force important changes in the way police collect and use DNA evidence and how it is stored in a national database.

Lynch welcomed the Bill but slammed government’s tardiness in pushing it through parliament.

“There is no good reason for why we don’t already have a law which regulates the expansion of a DNA database,” she stressed. “Government has a lack of momentum…Delays are unacceptable, the forensic DNA Bill should have been looked at last year.”

Lynch claimed the country’s high violent crime rate, especially rape and murders, could have been reduced had an effective DNA database already been in place.

She added that proper collection of DNA samples from suspects and all convicted criminals could lead to a drastic reduction in the number of crimes committed by repeat offenders.

According to Lynch, many crimes which remain unsolved are committed by repeat offenders.

“This why DNA technology is so vital,” she argued. “By collecting DNA evidence from victims of rape, for example, you create criminal intelligence by linking serial rapists to victims. You will then be able to take them off the streets and we will probably find that rape statistics will go down dramatically. But at the moment, the impunity in which criminals act allows them the freedom to do what they want, and to act without consequences.”

Public awareness key

Lynch said there is still a huge amount of groundwork to be done to educate both the public, the SAPS and emergency response staff about the importance of preserving a crime scene in order for the Bill to have any meaningful impact.

“One of the greatest challenges we have in this country is that people need to understand that, in some cases, it can take a few days for officials to arrive and collect all of the evidence,” she explained. “We need to be vigilant. We need to be part of the process to ensure that crime scenes are protected in that time…If we can achieve this very basic act, it will be incredible how much evidence can be collected from a crime scene and how we can then link perpetrators to their crimes.”

In the meantime, the NGO is continuing to raise public awareness of the importance of DNA evidence.

The DNA Project holds regular free workshops and assists in training paramedics and other emergency responders on how to leave a crime scene intact for forensic investigators.

The project also recently created a public installation at the Cape Town train station which simulated the destruction of a crime scene.

A large sand box was placed in the centre of the station with stones depicting the face of a convicted felon. Early morning commuters were encouraged to walk over the scene, eventually making the face unidentifiable. The process was filmed using time-lapse videography and will serve to inform the public how disturbing a crime scene causes evidence to quickly be destroyed and prevents criminals from being identified. © The Big Issue SA