German Parliament Approves Creation
of Gene Bank
OTC 25.06.98 01:33
to Trace Criminals
BONN (June 24) XINHUA - The lower house of German parliament on Wednesday approved a new
law to legalize the creation of a central genetic databank in Germany to help track down
criminals.
Under the new law, which still needs the endorsement of the upper house of the parliament,
German police could conduct DNA testing during investigations of serious crimes such as
murder and rape.
The new law would also allow the police to keep the genetic data of people already
convicted of serious crimes in the new data bank.
Pressure for the new law came after a large-scale DNA testing in the western German city
of Cloppenburg last month had helped the police to arrest the criminal who raped and
murdered a 11-year-old girl.
The criminal was arrested after his DNA matched evidence found at the scene of the rape.
He had already been jailed for three years for another sexual abuse in 1990.
The German Interior Ministry noted that the case showed the need for a genetic file on all
people convicted of serious crimes.
Genetic testing has been used for years in Germany to clarify crimes. However, until
recently, the DNA data of offenders should be scrapped after their conviction for reasons
of privacy protection. Enditem
24/06/98 23:31 GMT
Copyright 1998