The newly formed Centre for Forensic and Support to the Department for Crime Investigation – Techniques was opened on Friday, 14 November 2008 in Sarajevo. Mr. Ferdinand Kopp, Head of Section for Justice and Home Affairs of the European Commission Delegation to BiH, H.E. Ambassador of the United States of America to BiH, Charles L. English and Mr. Nedžad Branković, FBiH Prime Minister attended the opening ceremony.
European Union and US Government provided significant financial and technical assistance in equipping and opening of this Centre. With the objective to pave the way for the establishment of a centralised and autonomous Forensics Institute within the BiH Ministry of Security, the specialised equipment has been provided to the two existing laboratories at entity level in BiH following a complementary strategy between them; the two laboratories are committed to serve all the Law Enforcement Agencies and Prosecutors’ offices in BiH.
On this occasion, Mr. Kopp stressed that citizens had the right to expect from the police and legal system to enforce the law and find, prosecute and punish crime offenders, thus improving the safety of citizens. “It is now your responsibility to work on it further and to develop it. It is your responsibility to make the best use of this Centre and its tools and possibilities it provides and to effectively contribute to carrying out modern investigations, increase the number of resolved criminal cases and increase security of the country and its citizens.”, stated Mr. Kopp.
He mentioned some of the important equipment provided under this project: the national Automated Fingerprint Identification System and Automated Palm Identification System on the highest standards of modern technique, the DNA Laboratory for forensic Genetic analysis, DNA profiling of biological samples and comparison of DNA profiles obtained from crime scene samples with those prepared from individual reference samples; the Ultra-Violet Visible Spectrometer used for identification of chemical substances based on their behaviour under the ultra-violet and visible light and the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer for measuring of metal concentrations in solution, in the forensic chemistry.
Ambassador English said that BiH law enforcement agencies have passed a long way in almost 13 years, since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. He emphasised that this Centre is an achievement at several levels and a big step forward. “We are particularly pleased with the fact that this facility, now part of FBiH Ministry of Interior, will, under police reform agreement, become part of a new state level organisation in the forensics field. And I know that you will use this facility to advance greatly in the interest of law enforcement in BiH and once again to further entrench the role of law in this country.”, concluded Ambassador English.
At the opening ceremony, Mr. Branković thanked the EU and Government of the USA for the comprehensive assistance in this field, underlining importance of the provided training programs. “Provided assistance is more significant because in parallel with provision of equipment, training programs were provided to employees, so they could acquire knowledge and skills without which this equipment would be less significant.”, said Mr. Branković.
Director of FBiH Police Administration Mr. Zlatko Miletić said that this institution is constantly working on development of the Centre for Forensics. "We are building this Centre in order to hand it over, when legal conditions are met, to the state Ministry of Security, or to the relevant institution that will conduct police work at the state level.” – explained Miletić.
Following official handover of the building, present international and BiH officials visited the premises of the new Centre. The Centre for Forensic and Support to the Department for Crime Investigation – Techniques is a part of the European Union’s assistance project worth over 2.75 million €.
