UN forensic expert meets with PH justice chief
JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday met with United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz at the Department of Justice (DOJ) office in Manila.
According to Remulla, Tidball-Binz, in his personal capacity, will help Filipino forensic experts in capacity building programs.
“He is also an expert in forensic pathology so I invited him for the capacity building of the government. This will be under the UNJP (United Nations Joint Programme) program. We are asking the UNJP to fund it so that we can continue with the program,” Remulla said.
Tidball-Binz will be in the Philippines until Wednesday, Feb. 8.
Dr. Tidball-Binz is a well-renowned forensic doctor who pioneered the application of forensic science to human rights investigations for disappearances in Argentina.
As a co-founder of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, the organization developed certain scientific methods to apply to the investigation of human rights and humanitarian violations.
In 2004, he joined the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which is the world’s only humanitarian organization that has forensic capacity used exclusively for humanitarian purposes.
He assisted in the creation of the ICRC Forensic Unit and served as the Director until 2017 then proceeded to head the forensic operation for the Humanitarian Project Plan.
The Missing Persons Project was launched by the ICRC in 2018 to assist in the development of new guidelines in the prevention and resolution of missing persons cases, which Tidball-Binz was forensic manager of until 2020.
On April 1, 2021, Tidball-Binz was appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur for extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. His significant contributions to forensic science, human rights, and humanitarian actions have led to the awarding of two Honoris Causa Doctorates.
