A Study of Computer-Mediated Evidence in Cases of Human Rights Violations

本研究项目是一个关于计算机技术和法医学的案例研究，研究了智利在人权犯罪之后对真相和正义的追求。它将使用历史的方法来研究政府官员，多个科学界的成员，以及受人权犯罪影响的公民如何利用技术来确定不确定的过去。智利政府试图通过使用计算机成像技术来识别受害者，以促进公众对奥古斯托·皮诺切特将军（1973-1990）镇压政府期间犯下的3000起失踪和谋杀案的了解，作为随后政府和解努力的一部分。计算机和它们产生的图像具有说服力，可以通过创造被视为客观的表征来进行说服。然而，这些表述的确切含义是有争议的，即使在相关的科学界。拟议中的研究提供了一个详细研究这类数据和实践的机会，以了解它们对真理、记忆和权力关系的看法。调查员将以英语和西班牙语广泛传播她的研究成果，并使用开放获取的知识库，提供有关计算机生成证据形式背后的人类实践的重要见解，政府对人权暴行的反应的有效性，以及科学和技术在国家真相和正义进程中的作用。拟议的研究将通过本科生和研究生参与该项目以及开设一个关于计算机技术和人权的新课程，促进发现和理解，同时促进教学、培训和学习。为了培养国际交流和形成新的研究网络，研究人员将邀请一名智利研究生参与研究过程，并指导他/她的专业发展。技术摘要拟议的研究将探讨使用计算机辅助颅面叠加，然后一个有前途的，但有争议的技术，以确定从一个匿名的万人坑挖掘出来的尸体。智利法医科学家使用这种方法来识别大多数挖掘出的尸体，为死者亲属提供关闭，并推动政府努力寻求真相与和解。然而，后来人们知道，这些做法导致近40%的尸体被错误识别。通过研究特定形式的计算机技术和法医学与法律，和解和正义的关系，拟议的研究将提供有关国家如何解决大规模暴行的历史以及这些行动对更广泛公民的影响的新知识。它还阐明了在人权方面将技术视为客观性和真理的提供者所产生的后果，以及对历史进程和受人权罪行影响最严重的人的生活的潜在影响。这将导致对智利案例进行丰富的历史研究，并将利用这一研究制定分析框架和方法工具，以便更广泛地思考人权工作领域的技术。

General Audience Summary This research project is a case study of computer technologies and forensic science of an episode that shaped the pursuit of truth and justice in Chile in the aftermath of human rights crimes. It will use historical methods to study how government officials, members of multiple scientific communities, and the citizens affected by human rights crimes made use of technology to make knowledge of an uncertain past definitive. The Chilean government attempted to advance public knowledge of the 3000 disappearances and murders that were committed during the repressive government of General Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990) by using computer imaging technology to identify the victims as part of the subsequent administration's efforts towards reconciliation. Computers and the images they produce have the power to persuade by creating representations that are perceived as objective. However, the precise meaning of these representations is subject to debate, even within relevant scientific communities. The proposed research provides an opportunity to study such kinds of data and practices in detail to see what they say about truth, memory, and power relationships. The investigator will disseminate her research results broadly in both English and in Spanish, and using open-access repositories, to provide important insights about human practices behind the creation of computer-generated forms of evidence, the effectiveness of government responses to human rights atrocities, and the role of science and technology in national processes of truth and justice. The proposed research will advance discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and learning through the involvement of undergraduate and graduate students in the project and the creation of a new class on computer technology and human rights. To cultivate international exchange and form new research networks, the investigator will involve a Chilean graduate student in the research process and mentor his/her professional development.Technical Summary The proposed research examines the use of computer-assisted craniofacial superimposition, then a promising but controversial technique, to identify the bodies exhumed from an anonymous mass grave. Chilean forensic scientists used this method to identify most of the exhumed bodies, offer closure to relatives of the deceased, and advance government efforts toward truth and reconciliation. However, it later became known that these practices had resulted in the misidentification of nearly 40% of the bodies exhumed. By studying the relationship of particular forms of computer technology and forensic science to law, reconciliation, and justice, the proposed research will offer new knowledge about how nations address histories of mass atrocity and the effects these actions have on the broader citizenry. It also illuminates the ramifications of taking technologies for granted as purveyors of objectivity and truth in the context of human rights and the potential repercussions for historical processes and the lives of those most affected by human rights crimes. It will result in a rich historical study of the Chilean case and will use this study to develop analytical frameworks and methodological tools for thinking more broadly about technology in the domain of human rights work.