Global forensic experts convene in Türkiye, spotlight human rights, innovation

ANTALYA

Human rights violations in Palestine came under the spotlight at the 20th International Forensic Medicine Days, a week-long congress in the Turkish city of Antalya that brought together nearly 800 forensic experts, academics, and judicial members from 27 countries from Sept. 22 to 28.

Hosted at the Justice Strengthening Foundation’s Antalya Training and Social Facility, the congress brought together representatives from forensic institutions, academics, senior judiciary members, and experts from 28 countries. With the theme “Human Rights and Expertise in the World,” the event featured 24 panels and 164 presentations—64 oral and 102 poster sessions—where local and international experts shared their experiences and innovations in the field.

Throughout the week, a wide range of issues were discussed. Mujo Begic, head of the Missing Persons Institute Bihac Office at the University of Bihac in Bosnia and Herzegovina, presented his country’s experience in the search, exhumation, and identification of genocide victims, while Ditor Haliti, a forensic expert from Kosovo, spoke on the identification of missing persons in Kosovo.

Melahat Elif Gunce Eskikoy, Eurasia regional forensic manager at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Belgrade Delegation in Serbia, outlined the forensic activities of the ICRC under humanitarian law, and Ebu Hazim Esref Nasrullah, a judge at the High Court of Gaza, Palestine, focused on human rights violations and expert testimony in Gaza.

Duarte Nuno Vieira, president of the Portuguese National Academy of Medicine, emphasized the role of forensic medicine in detecting human rights violations, while Agnieszka Lukomska, president of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI) and head of the Polish Police Forensic Laboratory, shared Poland’s experience in identifying disaster victims.

Emerging technologies also took center stage. Ivan Siparov, a forensic audio expert, examined forensic techniques for analyzing AI-generated voices, and Prof. Sebastiano Battiato of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Catania, Italy, discussed methods for evaluating AI-generated images.

Meanwhile, Fa Kebba Darboe, president of The Gambia’s Forensic Medicine Institution, highlighted the organization and functioning of forensic medicine in The Gambia; Col. Muhudin Ahmed Osman, head of Somalia’s Police Criminal Investigation Department, shared Somalia’s approach to forensic expertise; and Prof. Mohammed Ranavaya, vice dean of the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University in the United States, explored fraud, malingering, and exaggerated claims in US injury and disability cases.

The congress featured high-level international figures, including James Louis Caruso, president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences; Nor Aidora, president of the Asian Forensic Sciences Network; Yanko Kolev, president of the International Association of Forensic Sciences; Dina Shokry, president of the Arab Union of Forensic Science and Toxicology; and Michael Thali, director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Zurich, among others.

Dr. Hizir Aslıyuksek, president of the Forensic Medicine Institute and chair of the congress, told Anadolu that the event has been held since 1984, with the last four editions organized at an international level. He noted that with the participation of the United Arab Emirates this year, the number of foreign countries represented reached 27, with 783 participants in total.

The congress concluded on Sunday with a panel on “Forensic Medicine Specialty Training” and a family photo of participants, marking the close of one of the world’s most comprehensive gatherings in forensic sciences.