The journey to find and identify the remains of martyrs: A sacred duty!

(Chinhphu.vn) - Identifying martyrs is not only a technical issue, but also a sacred duty, responsibility and sentiment of the entire Party, people and political system towards those who heroically fell for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland.

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Long, Deputy Minister of Public Security, speaks at the Conference - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

284,329 martyrs' relatives' information collected for DNA samples

At the online conference to review 1 year of Plan No. 356/KH-BCA-C06 on the implementation of DNA sample collection for relatives of unidentified martyrs nationwide, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Long, Deputy Minister of Public Security, emphasized that this is a noble task, demonstrating the morality of "When drinking water, remember its source", a vivid expression of the deep gratitude that the Party, State and people have for the outstanding children who heroically sacrificed for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland...

Plan No. 356/KH-BCA-C06 has 3 groups of tasks (Input Group, Core Group, Output Group) with 40 main tasks. The Department of Administrative Police for Social Order (C06) has presided over and coordinated with other units of the Ministry of Public Security (V01, V03, H01, H09, X04), the Public Security of local units, the Department of Meritorious People - Ministry of Home Affairs and related units to carry out and complete 24 tasks, regularly carry out 13 tasks and have not carried out 3 tasks.

Specifically, the tasks that have not been completed are: Deploying connection with the Ministry of Home Affairs (Department of Meritorious People) to receive analyzed DNA information data of martyrs and their relatives; Organizing a Summary Conference; Auditing, finalizing and reporting according to regulations.

The tasks that have not been implemented are due to objective factors such as: The Identity Database System has been connected to the information system of the DNA testing and analysis unit, but has not been connected to the system of the Ministry of Home Affairs because the Ministry of Home Affairs has not completed the infrastructure and software to connect and share DNA data. The remaining 2 tasks have not been implemented because the implementation time varies according to the situation of the project development to implement the Identity Law.

The tasks regularly performed are: Propaganda and citizen mobilization; Reviewing, verifying and entering information; Mobilizing and receiving test packages sponsored by socialized funds and allocating and collecting DNA samples according to the sponsored quantity.

Regarding the work of making a list of information about unidentified martyrs and their relatives, C06 has directed the police of local units. collect information on martyrs and their relatives, up to June 30, Local police nationwide have reviewed, verified and updated data into the database: Based on 696,908 martyrs' information provided by the Department of Meritorious People - Ministry of Home Affairs, local police have updated 336,243 Information on unidentified martyrs.

Updated 284,329 Information on martyrs' relatives taking DNA samples reached 42.3%. compared to the total number of information needed to be collected (to identify martyrs by DNA method, it is necessary to collect at least 2 samples from relatives: 336,243 x 2 = 672,486).

C06 has coordinated with relevant units to implement the collection. 57,273 samples for Vietnamese heroic mothers, birth mothers and relatives of martyrs nationwide.

In localities, C06 coordinated with PC06 and local police to organize more than 500 mobile collection sessions for elderly and immobile relatives of martyrs and organized centralized sample collection in 63 localities.

Typically, Thanh Hoa province mobilized social resources to recruit 36,362 relatives and Ninh Binh province recruited nearly 9,000 relatives of unidentified martyrs in the province.

Colonel Tran Hong Phu, Deputy Director of Department C06, said that during the implementation process, officers and soldiers showed their care and enthusiasm with the spirit of serving the people, which was supported and recognized by the local authorities and people. During the collection process, they coordinated with media units inside and outside the industry to produce reports to propagate the Ministry of Public Security's Plan as well as the results in localities to broadcast on television and platforms, social networks, etc.

The Ministry of Public Security has directed local police units to review citizens in their residential areas, coordinate with People's Committees at all levels and local Home Affairs departments to collect, survey and digitize information into the Database.

The linked and digitized information contributes to ensuring accuracy when collecting DNA samples for relatives of martyrs. In addition, the collected information about martyrs is also an especially important source of information to improve the verification and comparison of DNA information on martyrs' remains and relatives' DNA.

Best preparation for the journey to search and identify martyrs' remains

As of July 20, C06 has completed analyzing 11,138 DNA samples of martyrs' relatives and updated the ID database with more than 10,000 DNA data of martyrs' relatives.

On May 6, C06 chaired a meeting with the Department of Social Policy - Ministry of National Defense, the Department of Meritorious People - Ministry of Home Affairs and DNA testing units for remains and martyrs' relatives.

Relatives of martyrs attend an online conference to review one year of implementing DNA sample collection for relatives of unidentified martyrs nationwide - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac

As a result, the laboratories have analyzed 5,493 DNA results out of a total of 17,726 remains and relatives handed over. There are about 12,233 remains that have not been analyzed or tested.

C06 has received, integrated, and stored 4,198 (4,134 samples of 2024 and 64 samples of Duc Co cemetery - Gia Lai) DNA data from the Department of Meritorious People - Ministry of Home Affairs into the Identity Database.

The collection of DNA information from martyrs' relatives, who are priority subjects such as martyrs' biological mothers and martyrs' biological mothers, is the best preparation for the journey to search for and identify martyrs' remains.

The mtDNA format of the biological mother's DNA information is of the highest value in matching the DNA of martyrs' remains. Many biological mothers of martyrs whose identities have not been determined have died before their DNA samples were collected. This is a great loss in the journey of searching for and verifying information about martyrs' remains.

However, up to now, many mothers of martyrs are old and weak, so collecting DNA samples is very difficult.

Based on the information of 128 martyrs' remains gathered at the martyrs' cemetery in Duc Co - Gia Lai district provided by the Policy Department - Ministry of National Defense, C06 directed and coordinated with the local police to review information about martyrs and relatives. Through review and cleaning, it was determined that it was necessary to collect DNA samples from relatives of 89 martyrs.

C06 has coordinated with Genstory Biotechnology Company to collect 149 samples of relatives and complete DNA analysis. On June 18, received DNA analysis data of 64 martyrs whose samples were collected at Duc Co cemetery - Gia Lai from the National Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Through comparing the data on martyrs' remains provided by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine with the data on martyrs' relatives, 16 cases of martyrs' remains' DNA suspected of matching the maternal relationship with the DNA of 27 martyrs' relatives were discovered. C06 coordinated with the Department of Meritorious People - Ministry of Home Affairs to complete the dossier to recognize the martyrs' identities for the above 16 heroic martyrs.

Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Van Long assessed that this is the initial result of implementing the Gene bank (DNA) of relatives of martyrs whose identities have not been determined, with the amount of data and documents collected being small, but certain achievements have been achieved, which is the motivation for the Ministry of Public Security to continue to coordinate with units to build and expand the Gene bank of relatives of martyrs whose identities have not been determined to compensate for the great losses of families of martyrs who have experienced the war and to restore the identities of heroes and martyrs.

All this work needs to be done in a "people-centered" spirit, taking verification efficiency as a measure of quality.

It is necessary to strengthen the application of digital technology, maximize the exploitation of population data, combine biological data and genetic engineering, to strive by 2027 to basically create and collect complete information of all unidentified martyrs, collect and analyze DNA samples for relatives of eligible martyrs to integrate into the gene bank.

Phuong Lien

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/hanh-trinh-tim-kiem-xac-dinh-danh-tinh-hai-cot-liet-si-bon-phan-thieng-lieng-102250725185815179.htm