2009 Programs And Events
Forensic Labs Receive Scientific Equipment (06/26/2009)
The U.S. Embassy provided nearly $400,000 worth of sophisticated scientific equipment and computer systems to forensic science laboratories that provide hard evidence in cases in Uzbekistan’s justice system.
The equipment is able to detect toxic substances in bodily fluids and tissues, help investigators identify evidence from crime scenes and build an electronic system to ensure that evidence is properly handled and evaluated. The equipment also will be used by medical doctors, particularly in cases where they need to identify toxic substances in a body.
The supplies come through the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).
On June 26, U.S. Ambassador Richard Norland signed over the equipment to Dr. Zaynitdin Giyazov, Chief of the Main Forensic Bureau of the Ministry of Health. The scientific equipment will be used in forensics laboratories in Urgench and Ferghana. The laboratory in Tashkent has already received similar equipment from the United States.
“Since we received this equipment, the way we worked in this lab has changed dramatically,” Giyazov said. “We are doing work now that we would not have dreamed about.”
The INL Bureau and U.S. Justice Department have been working with the forensics laboratories as they strive for accreditation under the International Organization for Standardization. Workers have participated in several programs in the U.S. and in Uzbekistan, and Dr. Ashraf Mozayani, the Crime Laboratory Director of the Harris County (Texas) Medical Examiner’s Office, has visited the labs several times to consult on best practices.
Mozayani noted that the evidence analyzed in the forensics laboratories can be used in a wide range of criminal cases, including cases involving deaths and serious injuries, sexual assaults, and cases involving toxic substances such as narcotics. The goal of the lab upgrades and training is to enhance forensic scientists’ ability to provide the hard evidence that is at the heart of many criminal investigations.
Some of the items provided to the laboratories in Urgench and Ferghana were:
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Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GCMS) systems, which detect toxic substances and show the amounts in a body. The systems can aid in determining cause of death, while helping doctors treat living patients;
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Ultraviolet spectrometers, which can find and help identify bodily substances that may have been hidden;
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Microscopes and digital cameras to create images of evidence;
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Forensic pathology tool sets.
The equipment is in support of the Government of Uzbekistan’s work to upgrade the forensic laboratory system. The Government is constructing a new building in Tashkent to house the Bureau of Forensic Medicine of the Ministry of Health.
Workers in the forensic lab in Tashkent spoke enthusiastically about the impact the new equipment has had on their work, and how the similar equipment would improve the labs in Urgench and Ferghana. One example, they said, was how the GCMS had allowed them to analyze fluids from a child who had fallen into a coma after ingesting an unknown pesticide. The GCMS identified the poison within minutes, something that would have been impossible before, they said.
“This equipment has made our lives much easier,” said one of the forensic experts at the Tashkent lab. “Now, one can say we’re comparable with other institutions of its kind around the world.”