Ministry of Justice and Human Rights announces Pilot Plan to address cases of irregular adoption and registration

The initiative involves the joint work of the Legal Medical Service, the Judiciary and Civil Society Organizations.

A Pilot Plan that will allow the creation of a methodology that will expedite and facilitate the meeting of families who are victims of irregular and illegal adoption processes in Chile , within the framework of the judicial processes that are underway, was announced on Monday by the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Hernán Larraín; the Undersecretary of Human Rights, Lorena Recabarren; and the National Director of the Legal Medical Service, Gabriel Zamora; together with representatives of the NGO Nos Buscamos and the group “Hijos y Madres del Silencio”. The ceremony was attended by the deputy Ximena Ossandón.

With the objective of determining existing non-forensic procedures according to experience, technical and technological knowledge that can be used to search for possible relatives of people who are victims of irregular adoptions, whether or not reported to the courts (the Judiciary is investigating around 700 cases).

The initiative aims to contribute to two essential aspects: 1) reduce the difficulty that exists today in carrying out all kinds of procedures with a view to finding a family member who is living in another country, making it easier for those who live in remote places and with precarious means of contact to access a possible DNA sample collection; and 2) speed up and collaborate in both the computer and economic processes , since in addition to having zero cost, the Pilot Plan will provide support to victims in the process of searching for kinship.

This Pilot Plan will last for one year, during which time, through the experience of the NGO Nos Buscamos, compiling a database of more than 7 years of study, the traceability of victims' backgrounds, georeferencing information and constant contact with the global DNA bank, it will be an effective work to achieve family reunions.

The Minister of Justice and Human Rights and the director of the SML have been working on this matter since May 2019, when they intervened before the Special Commission of the Chamber of Deputies that investigates possible irregularities in adoption and registration processes of minors and control of their departure from the country. In the first instance, the creation of a Genetic Fingerprint Bank was sought to be implemented by the Legal Medical Service (SML), as a way of contributing to the search and finding of people with blood ties who have been victims of irregular or illegal adoptions and who are currently searching for their origins or for a relative taken at birth. However, given that some of the victims live abroad and that there is no global DNA database in Chile with which to counteract the samples taken from those looking for their relatives, other alternatives were evaluated that would allow the purpose of contributing to the reunion of families to be fulfilled. In this way, with the participation of all parties, the Pilot Plan that is now being implemented was generated.

Minister Hernán Larraín stressed that  “we are making progress on a commitment we made a few years ago, to collaborate with those people whose children were adopted illegally or were registered falsely, taking them away from their mothers and fathers, committing acts that are truly degrading to human dignity, violating their rights, and which, however, have not been clarified to date.”

The Secretary of State stressed that the work being done “is a task of the State and it is the Judicial Power that is leading it, investigating irregular adoptions and false registrations.” He added that the conversations with the different actors involved in the issue have allowed mechanisms to be found that can help provide information that will allow the reunion of these parents, whose children were torn from their paternity and maternity.” He said that, in this way, in addition to the judicial investigation, which is being carried out by the Courts, the State can help reunite the families.

The national director of the SML, Gabriel Zamora , added that the pilot plan allows “to bring families closer together. And in doing so, to work judicially with Minister Balmaceda so that the pertinent investigation and the taking of samples as required from the forensic legal point of view can proceed.” The participation of the Legal Medical Service, he indicated, “is technical” and aimed at “developing a bank of genetic fingerprints of people adopted in an irregular manner, which allows in some way to establish contact between them and to carry out the corresponding affiliation process.”