DVI Chain
Definition
Disaster Victim Identification chain: the linked sequence of ante-mortem data collection, post-mortem examination, and reconciliation comparison that produces a verified identification. Originally an INTERPOL framework for disaster response, adapted for conflict-related mass casualty events.
- Stages
- Ante-mortem data, post-mortem exam, reconciliation
- Origin
- INTERPOL disaster response framework
- Extended use
- Conflict-related mass casualty events
Common questions
Why is the DVI chain described as a chain rather than a single identification step?+
Each stage depends on the integrity of the one before it: ante-mortem data must be accurately gathered from families or records, post-mortem findings must be documented independently, and only then can reconciliation compare the two data sets, so a failure at any link undermines the final identification.
How was the INTERPOL DVI chain adapted for conflict-related mass graves rather than natural disasters?+
Conflict settings often lack the centralised body recovery of a single disaster site, so organisations adapted the chain to handle scattered clandestine graves, protracted timelines, and ante-mortem data collected from displaced or refugee family members over years rather than days.
Related terms
- EAAF
- The Equipo Argentino de Antropologia Forense (Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team), founded in 1984 to investigate disappearances during the military dictatorship. Widely regarded...
- ICMP
- International Commission on Missing Persons. Intergovernmental body established 1996; operates the world's largest DNA-based identification programme for missing persons from conflict and...
- ICTY
- International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Established by UN Security Council Resolution 827 in 1993; the first international tribunal since Nuremberg...
- Minnesota Protocol
- The UN Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal Executions (1991, updated 2016). The normative baseline for forensic investigation of...
- Rule 94Bis
- The ICTY procedural rule governing expert witness evidence. Required that expert reports be disclosed in advance, that the opposing party could challenge...