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

本研究项目是对计算机技术和法医科学的案例研究，该事件在人权犯罪发生后影响了智利对真相和正义的追求。它将使用历史方法来研究政府官员、多个科学团体的成员和受人权犯罪影响的公民如何利用技术使不确定的过去成为确定的知识。智利政府试图通过使用计算机成像技术来识别受害者，以提高公众对奥古斯托·皮诺切特将军（1973-1990）镇压政府期间发生的3000起失踪和谋杀事件的了解，这是随后政府努力实现和解的一部分。计算机和它们产生的图像具有通过创造被认为是客观的表征来说服人的能力。然而，即使在相关的科学界，这些表述的确切含义也存在争议。拟议中的研究提供了一个机会来详细研究这类数据和实践，看看它们对真相、记忆和权力关系的看法。她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、政府对人权暴行的反应有效性以及科学和技术在国家真相和正义进程中的作用的重要见解。拟议的研究将促进发现和理解，同时通过让本科生和研究生参与该项目以及开设计算机技术和人权新课程，促进教学、培训和学习。为了促进国际交流和形成新的研究网络，研究者将让一名智利研究生参与研究过程，并指导他/她的专业发展。技术总结：这项拟议的研究检查了计算机辅助颅面叠加的使用，这是一项有前途但有争议的技术，用于识别从一个匿名的乱葬坑中挖掘出来的尸体。智利法医科学家用这种方法辨认了大部分被挖出的尸体，向死者亲属提供了最后的消息，并推动政府努力寻求真相与和解。然而，后来人们知道，这些做法导致了近40%被挖出的尸体被认错。通过研究特定形式的计算机技术和法医科学与法律、和解和正义的关系，拟议的研究将为各国如何处理大规模暴行的历史以及这些行为对更广泛的公民产生的影响提供新的知识。它还阐明了在人权范围内将技术理所当然地视为客观和真理的提供者的后果，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。它将导致对智利案例进行丰富的历史研究，并将利用这项研究开发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问题。

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.