In Ramallah, the fingerprint processing unit
(BRUXELLES2 in Ramallah) The premises seem a bit 'dated': a few desks, old computers... You don't feel high-tech in a high-tech place. The team is not very large: 25 agents spread over the 11 districts that make up the West Bank. And a lot of the work is still done by hand... But don't be fooled. The work done here is quite effective. And the Palestinian Sherlock Holmes have nothing to be ashamed of with their results...
Going beyond confession as absolute proof
The fingerprint method is a small mental revolution in Palestine. "Before, the confession obtained was 'the' proof par excellence" explains Saïd Issa, the head of this unit whom we meet in these offices. Today, “several people who have been falsely accused have been released. And the real culprits could be arrested..
Recognize the legal quality of fingerprints
Criminal evidence, coming from the collection of fingerprints, has not always been well received in the courts. She was regularly questioned by the judges. “We realized that we needed a legal framework for our work,” says Said Issa. « We looked for a model and we got closer to the German model ". It was necessary to codify a method so that “the legality of our work” be recognised. Fingerprint experts are now recognized by the courts. Seven of them took the oath and received from the Ministry of Justice the paper, bearing the official stamp which allows them to " testify in court".
The criminal fingerprint record
"After discussions with the Ministry of the Interior, we have set up the criminal fingerprint record". It is the Ministry that takes care of the registration (of the imprint) and the instruction of the files. This database set up in 2012 now includes “nearly 50.000 fingerprints are now recorded” and identified.
Imprints are looking for owners, make an offer
This file has made it possible to concretely solve " many files. And others could be even more so in the future. There are still 100.000 fingerprints from files, whose owner is still unknown. But, little by little, the sleuths of the Palestinian police intend to unmask who is hiding behind these suspicious fingerprints.
A very young unit that has its future ahead of it
The special fingerprint processing unit is recent. It was only created within the Palestinian civil police in 2012, barely 4 years ago. A unit equipped and trained largely by the German government and supported by Europeans from the EUPOL COPPS mission. The objective today is to strengthen it: to increase its equipment as well as to have a greater presence in the 11 districts which make up the West Bank.
(Johanna Bouquet, in Ramallah)
